Mass graves in Chechnya
Encyclopedia
In Chechnya, mass graves containing hundreds of corpses have been uncovered since the beginning of the Chechen wars
in 1994.
As of June 2008, there were 57 registered locations of mass grave
s in Chechnya
. According to Amnesty International
, thousands may be buried in unmarked grave
s including up to 5,000 civilian
s who disappeared since the beginning of the Second Chechen War
in 1999.
In 2008, the largest mass grave found to date was uncovered in Grozny
, containing some 800 bodies from the First Chechen War
in 1995. Russia's general policy to the Chechen mass graves is to not exhume them.
(HRW) has documented eight unmarked graves in Chechnya, all of which were discovered in 2000 and 2001; HRW has also documented eight cases in which dead bodies were simply dumped by roadsides, on hospital grounds or elsewhere. The Memorial Human Rights Center
also has documented numerous cases. The majority of the bodies showed close-range bullet wounds, typical of summary execution
s, and signs of mutilation
(examinations of some of these bodies by doctors have revealed that some of the mutilations were inflicted while the detainees were still alive, indicating that the victims were also severely torture
d). On March 29, 2001, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Mary Robinson
, called for a thorough investigation of the mass grave sites in Chechnya. In a statement given to the 57th session of the UNHCR, Robinson stated that the mass graves "must be followed up and thoroughly investigated."
In 2003, residents and human rights campaigners alleged that fragments of blown-up bodies were being found all over the war-ruined region. The critics alleged that rather than put a stop to the human rights violations, the military appeared to be doing its best to hide them. Families were reported to paying ransom
to Russian troops for bodies. On March 31, 2003, the Russian government's human rights commissioner
Oleg Mironov called on the authorities to open the mass burial sites in Chechnya to identify the bodies and establish the reasons for their deaths, "and then bury them as humans deserve." At the same time, Mironov rejected the proposal by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
(PACE) to establish an international tribunal
to investigate alleged war crimes committed in Chechnya.
On June 16, 2005, the local pro-Russian government announced that there were 52 mass graves in Chechnya. The chairman of the Chechen government committee for civil rights, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying that the graves have not been opened, so the total number of dead was difficult to determine. By 2005, AI estimated that up to 5,000 people who had disappeared since 1999, out of the population of roughly one million, were still missing.
As of 2008, exhuming and identifying the bodies in almost 60 identified but unopened mass burial sites remains a problem. European human rights organizations are financing the construction of a laboratory to identify the bodies. It is not unusual for reconstruction crews in Grozny to run across collections of bodies, and some of them have been quietly moved to make room for the rebuilding. According to the pro-Moscow Chechen government, 4,825 people disappeared, without a trace, in the republic from 1994 to July 2008.
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
in 1994.
As of June 2008, there were 57 registered locations of mass grave
Mass grave
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple number of human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. There is no strict definition of the minimum number of bodies required to constitute a mass grave, although the United Nations defines a mass grave as a burial site which...
s in Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
. According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, thousands may be buried in unmarked grave
Unmarked grave
The phrase unmarked grave has metaphorical meaning in the context of cultures that mark burial sites.As a figure of speech, a common meaning of the term "unmarked grave" is consignment to oblivion, i.e., an ignominious end. A grave monument is a sign of respect and fondness, erected with the...
s including up to 5,000 civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s who disappeared since the beginning of the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
in 1999.
In 2008, the largest mass grave found to date was uncovered in Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
, containing some 800 bodies from the First Chechen War
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
in 1995. Russia's general policy to the Chechen mass graves is to not exhume them.
Summary
In a March 2001 report, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(HRW) has documented eight unmarked graves in Chechnya, all of which were discovered in 2000 and 2001; HRW has also documented eight cases in which dead bodies were simply dumped by roadsides, on hospital grounds or elsewhere. The Memorial Human Rights Center
Memorial (society)
Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
also has documented numerous cases. The majority of the bodies showed close-range bullet wounds, typical of summary execution
Summary execution
A summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial or after a show trial. Summary executions have been practiced by the police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, counter-insurgency, terrorism, and...
s, and signs of mutilation
Mutilation
Mutilation or maiming is an act of physical injury that degrades the appearance or function of any living body, usually without causing death.- Usage :...
(examinations of some of these bodies by doctors have revealed that some of the mutilations were inflicted while the detainees were still alive, indicating that the victims were also severely torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d). On March 29, 2001, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR), Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
, called for a thorough investigation of the mass grave sites in Chechnya. In a statement given to the 57th session of the UNHCR, Robinson stated that the mass graves "must be followed up and thoroughly investigated."
In 2003, residents and human rights campaigners alleged that fragments of blown-up bodies were being found all over the war-ruined region. The critics alleged that rather than put a stop to the human rights violations, the military appeared to be doing its best to hide them. Families were reported to paying ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
to Russian troops for bodies. On March 31, 2003, the Russian government's human rights commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
Oleg Mironov called on the authorities to open the mass burial sites in Chechnya to identify the bodies and establish the reasons for their deaths, "and then bury them as humans deserve." At the same time, Mironov rejected the proposal by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
(PACE) to establish an international tribunal
Tribunal
A tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title....
to investigate alleged war crimes committed in Chechnya.
On June 16, 2005, the local pro-Russian government announced that there were 52 mass graves in Chechnya. The chairman of the Chechen government committee for civil rights, Nurdi Nukhazhiyev, was quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency as saying that the graves have not been opened, so the total number of dead was difficult to determine. By 2005, AI estimated that up to 5,000 people who had disappeared since 1999, out of the population of roughly one million, were still missing.
As of 2008, exhuming and identifying the bodies in almost 60 identified but unopened mass burial sites remains a problem. European human rights organizations are financing the construction of a laboratory to identify the bodies. It is not unusual for reconstruction crews in Grozny to run across collections of bodies, and some of them have been quietly moved to make room for the rebuilding. According to the pro-Moscow Chechen government, 4,825 people disappeared, without a trace, in the republic from 1994 to July 2008.
Selected discoveries
(The dates often relate to the media reports, not the discoveries themselves.)- February 2000: GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
N24N24 (Germany)N24 is a television news channel based in Germany. It is owned N24 Media GmbH. It was previously owned and operated by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. N24 provides regular news updates to ProSiebenSat.1 Media properties like kabel eins and ProSieben.-History:...
television company aired a video tape showing a mass grave of people said to be Chechens, many of whom appeared to be bound and tied at the ankles or wrapped in barbed wireBarbed wireBarbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
and some to be mutilated (including one with his ear seemingly cut off). The footage also showed a dead Chechen dragged by a lorryLorry-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
across a field and Russian soldiers dumping a dead body from a tankTankA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
. "I was shocked by what I saw," commented Alvaro Gil-RoblesÁlvaro Gil-RoblesÁlvaro Gil-Robles is a Spanish jurist and human rights activist.He was Commissioner for Human Rights of Council of Europe from 15 October 1999 to 31 March 2006...
, the Council of EuropeCouncil of EuropeThe Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
's human rights commissioner. Some Moscow officials argued that it showed the burial of rebels killed in fighting, rather than having been executed, some called it "propagandaPropagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
and falsificationFalsificationFalsification may refer to:* The act of disproving a proposition, hypothesis, or theory: see Falsifiability* Mathematical proof* Falsified evidence...
" by the rebels, while still others said Russia opened an investigation regarding the circumstances of the Chechens' death. - July 2000: The bodies of about 150 people were reported to have been found in a mass grave near the village of Tangi-Chu, Urus-Martanovsky District in southern Chechnya. People who happened to witness the exhumations claimed that the hands of the dead bodies had been tied with barbed wireBarbed wireBarbed wire, also known as barb wire , is a type of fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strand. It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property...
. A pro-Moscow official stated that around half the bodies were of Chechen rebels as they had Chechen rebel uniforms on them. The rest were of civilians who "appeared to have no marks of violence on them". - February 21, 2001: More than 50 (an official in pro-Moscow administration put the number at 80) bodies of men, women and children, showing signs of torture and military-style summary execution, were uncovered across the main Russian KhankalaKhankalaKhankala is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population:...
military base at the abandoned holiday settlemnt of Dachny (also called Zdorovye) near Grozny, sparking an international-scale scandal. Many were booby-trappped and some bore signs of mutilation including stabStabbingA stabbing is penetration with a sharp or pointed object at close range. Stab connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others.Stabbing differs from slashing or cutting in that the motion of the object used in a stabbing...
wounds, broken limbs, severed fingernail and dismembered ears, and many had their hands tied behind them and were blindfoldBlindfoldA blindfold is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. It can be worn when the eyes are in a closed state and thus prevents the wearer from opening them...
ed. The vast majority (16 out of 19) of the victims whose corpses were identified were last seen when Russian federal forces took them into their custody. Human rights groups suggested that Russian servicemen at the Khankala base used the Zdorovye dachaDachaDacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
settlement as a disposal site for executed prisoners. Among the identified victims was the corpse of Nura LuluyevaNura LuluyevaNura Luluyeva was a Chechen woman who was kidnapped and murdered by a Russian death squad in 2000.In the morning of June 3, 2000, Nura Luluyeva, an unemployed nurse and kindergarten teacher and the mother of four children , was selling strawberries on Mozdokskaya Street of Grozny, the capital of...
, a Chechen woman who was later proven in the European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human RightsThe European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
(ECHR) to have been kidnapped and bludgeonBludgeonBludgeon may refer to:* Bludgeon , a fictional character* Bludgeon , a club-like weapon* Crabtree's Bludgeon, a foil to Occam's Razor...
ed to death by the Russian servicemen in 2000. The authorities, which had strongly denied involvement in the deaths, had buried the rest of the bodies without prior notice and without performing adequate autopsiesAutopsyAn autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
or collecting crucial evidence which could have helped in identifying the perpetrators. The HRW called the official investigation a "charade". - April 10, 2001: Pro-Moscow Grozny MayorMayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Bislan Gantamirov announced that 17 bodies with gunshotGunshotA gunshot is the discharge of a firearm, producing a mechanical sound effect and a chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a gunshot wound caused by such a discharge. Multiple discharges of a firearm or firearms are referred to as gunfire. The word can connotate either the sound of a...
wounds had been discovered in the basement of a bombed-out dormitoryDormitoryA dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
next to Oktyabrskoye city district police stationPolice stationA police station or station house is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, along with locker rooms, temporary holding cells and interview/interrogation rooms.- Facilities...
, manned by the OMONOMONOMOH is a generic name for the system of special units of militsiya within the Russian and earlier the Soviet MVD...
special police troops from SiberiaSiberiaSiberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
's Khanty-MansiyskKhanty-MansiyskKhanty-Mansiysk experiences a subarctic climate . The climate is extreme, with temperatures as low as -49 C° and as high as 34.5 C°. On average, however, the region is very cold, with an average tempurature of -1.1 C°...
. An initial examination of the corpses showed that the majority of those killed were middle-aged men and that the bodies were approximately six months old. The OMON officer in charge of the station claimed the unit had nothing to do with the disappearance of local residents, adding that mass graves in Chechnya are commonplace. In March 2005, one of the unit's officers, Sergei LapinSergei LapinSergei Lapin, also known by his radio communications call sign Kadet , is a former Russian police officer who had served in Grozny, Chechnya as a Lieutenant in the OMON from the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug...
, has been convictedConvictionIn law, a conviction is the verdict that results when a court of law finds a defendant guilty of a crime.The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal . In Scotland and in the Netherlands, there can also be a verdict of "not proven", which counts as an acquittal...
for the torture of a Chechen man who remains missing. In June 2006, Russia's human rights groups produced a documentary evidence of a secret torture centerTorture chamberA torture chamber is a room where torture is inflicted.- Methods of coercion :According to Frederick Howard Wines in his book Punishment and Reformation: A Study Of The Penitentiary System there were three main types of coercion employed in the torture chamber: Coercion by the cord, by water and...
in the basement of a former school for deaf children in Oktyabrsokye district of Grozny, which the Russian police allegedly used the dungeonDungeonA dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...
to torture and murder hundreds of people. The activists said they collected the evidence just in time before building housing the cellar has since been demolished in another crude attempt at a cover-up. - April 22, 2001: A Russian reconnaissance unit has found the remains of at least 18 up to 30 people in a mass grave near a rough mountain road in southern Chechnya. According to a spokesman for the KremlinKremlinA kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the victims appeared to have been prisoners of war or kidnapping victims killed during the First Chechen WarFirst Chechen WarThe First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996...
and all appeared to have been shot in the head and then beheadedDecapitationDecapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. - June 25, 2001: The remains of 10 men were uncovered in a ditch on the outskirts of Grozny, while more 16 corpses (two without heads) were found near the Russian military headquarters at Khankala just few days earlier.
- March 3, 2002: ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
reported that the Chechen rebels said they found a mass grave containing more than 20 bodies of civilians in a grain silo in the town of ArgunArgun, Chechen RepublicArgun is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Argun River. Population: 22,000 ....
, of whom they recovered three. Human rights groups said many civilians went missing there during the sweep operation three months earlier. - April 9, 2002: A mass grave containing remains of about 100 people was found in a mountain cave in Achkhoy-Martanovsky District. Local people who discovered the grave, claimed on the basis of the examination of the skeletal remains that they were of children, all of them reportedly beheaded. Lieutenant-General Vladimir Moltenskoi, who commanded combined federal forces in Chechnya, promptly announced the bodies might be of Russian soldiers captured by Chechen fighters in 1994-1996 and held in an alleged death camp. However, eyewitnesses say porkPorkPork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
tins and bottles of vodkaVodkaVodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....
found on the spot prove roistering Russian soldiers stayed there. Local people also allege that, as early as in December 2000, several detainees, including children held during "mopping-up" operations, were held by the troops stationed in the area of the caves. - September 8, 2002: Police from IngushetiaIngushetiaThe Republic of Ingushetia is a federal subject of Russia , located in the North Caucasus region with its capital at Magas. In terms of area, the republic is the smallest of Russia's federal subjects except for the two federal cities, Moscow and Saint Petersburg...
discovered a common grave near Goragorsk, on the border with neighboring Chechnya, containing the bodies of 15 ethnic Chechen men. The seven who were identified were last seen being taken into custody by the Russian troops at different times and in different places in May 2002. The grave was reportedly found after relatives of the victims bribed Russian soldiers for information. - April 6, 2003: Police in Chechnya said they had discovered four graves filled with disfigured bodies over the past 24 hours. Chechnya's Emergency Situations Ministry claimed that three sites were found in the northern Nadterechny DistrictNadterechny DistrictNadterechny District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fifteen in the Chechen Republic, Russia. Its administrative center is the rural locality of Znamenskoye. District's population: 51,755 ; Population of Znamenskoye accounts for 18.6% of the district's population....
, a relatively peaceful area of Chechnya. The heads and arms had been cut off of the corpses. - October 8, 2004: A mass grave of three women, all of whom were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, was discovered in Grozny. The women were buried a few metres from buildings which housed Russian Federation forces in 2000-2001, and near a checkpointCivilian checkpointCivilian checkpoints or Security checkpoints are distinguishable from border or frontier checkpoints in that they are erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary control...
manned by federal troops between 2000 and 2003. - November 20, 2004: A mass grave containing the bodies of 11 unidentified young people, aged 12 to 20, was reportedly discovered near the Gudermessky District village of Jalka. Earlier same week, local residents discovered three male corpses in the vicinity of a dairy farm in the Grozny rural district; the bodies showed multiple signs of torture.
- April 2, 2006: The remains of 57 bodies were discovered in unmarked graves during de-mining work in the Sergey KirovSergey KirovSergei Mironovich Kirov , born Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov, was a prominent early Bolshevik leader in the Soviet Union. Kirov rose through the Communist Party ranks to become head of the Party organization in Leningrad...
Park in Grozny's Leninsky district. Valery Kuznetsov, Chechnya's prosecutor, claimed that an examination of the corpses buried in the unmarked graves indicated that they were "ordinary citizens" who had died from explosions of artillery shells and bombs during siege between 1999 and 2000; he added that there would be no investigations on the finding. Six bodies from that dig were never identified and were reburied in numbered graves. Local authorities planned to build a large entertainment centreEntertainment centreAn entertainment centre is a venue similar to a theatre in that it hosts concerts by musical artists or comedians and such. Entertainment centres usually range up to around 30,000 people. Many entertainment centres usually have small snack stands in which people can buy food and drinks...
, to be called after Akhmad KadyrovAkhmad KadyrovHajji Akhmad Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov , also spelled Akhmat, was the Chief Mufti of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the 1990s during and after the First Chechen War...
, on the site of the former Kirov Park, where nine other graves were uncovered in April-May 2000. - June 27, 2006: The Federal Security Service's (FSB) branch for Chechnya said it has discovered a grave containing the bodies of nine federal soldiers and local supporters of the federal government executed by Chechen militants in 1996-1997.
- May 5, 2008: A Special Battalion Vostok serviceman revealed the location of a secret burial ground at the decommissioned Gudermes biochemical fertilizerFertilizerFertilizer is any organic or inorganic material of natural or synthetic origin that is added to a soil to supply one or more plant nutrients essential to the growth of plants. A recent assessment found that about 40 to 60% of crop yields are attributable to commercial fertilizer use...
plant, from which seven completely decomposed corpses were recovered. The next day, the man revealed the burial site of a Vostok officer Vakharsolt Zakayev, who was shot in 2003 on suspicion of having murdered Vostok commander Dzhabrail YamadayevDzhabrail YamadayevDzhabrail Yamadayev was a Chechen rebel field commander during the First Chechen War. He switched sides together with his brothers, Ruslan and Sulim in 1999 during the outbreak of the Second Chechen War and then became the commander of the Russian special forces unit Vostok...
. - June 21, 2008: A large burial site containing about 800 bodies was reported in the area of the Russian OrthodoxRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
cemeteryCemeteryA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
in Grozny's Leninsky district. The bodies, mostly civilians but also some Chechen fighters and federal troops killed during the fighting for the city, had been reportedly first collected from the streets and ruins of Grozny by civilian volunteers and then recorded and buried there by the Russian military between January and October 1995. The authorities has confirmed that there is data on everyone buried in the grave, and the archive could establish their names. - July 3, 2008: A suspected mass grave contains the bodies of around 250 to 300 people killed by federal artilleryArtilleryOriginally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and tank fire in October 1999 was announced to had been discovered near the village of Goryachevodsk. Human rights groups and the media at the time reported the October 30, 1999 attack on a refugeeRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
convoy fleeing Grozny under white flagWhite flagWhite flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
s via the so-called "safe corridor" opened by the federal forces along the road between Goryachevodsk and the village of Petropavlovskaya. According to eyewitnessWitnessA witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
es, decided to go public about the mass grave only after an official investigation of the mass grave in Grozny began in June, the wounded were finished-off by sniperSniperA sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s and the bodies were then collected by the military and buried together with their smashed vehicles in an enormous pit on the territory of asphaltAsphaltAsphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
factory. Later the same month, superficial surveySurvey-Quantitative research:* Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population* Paid survey, a method that companies use to collect consumer opinions about a product by paying consumers for participating in the survey...
of the incident site detected fragments of a passenger car and clothes, but the investigators decided not to dig deeper. According to Memorial, the people buried in the grave were exhumed by the organization already in early June 2000. - March 27, 2009: Fellow-villagers of Elza Kungayeva, the victim of former Colonel Yuri BudanovYuri BudanovYuri Dmitrievich Budanov was the Russian military officer convicted by a Russian court of kidnapping and murder in Chechnya.Budanov was highly controversial in Russia: despite the conviction, Budanov enjoyed widespread support of Russian households, as polled by public opinion. At the same time,...
, showed journalists a mass burial site in the village of Tanga-Chu. The collective grave keeps remains of 23 persons. Human rights ombudsman of the Chechen Republic Nurdi Nukhazhiev has reported that local residents assert that soldiers from Budanov's regiment were involved in the crimes.
External links
- THE "DIRTY WAR" IN CHECHNYA: FORCED DISAPPEARANCES, TORTURE, AND SUMMARY EXECUTIONS, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
March 2001 - Bodies discovered near Khankala - irrefutable evidence of war crimes committed by federal forces, MemorialMemorial (society)Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
/ReliefWebReliefWebReliefWeb is an on-line gateway to information on humanitarian emergencies and disasters. An independent vehicle of information, designed specifically to assist the international humanitarian community in effective delivery of emergency assistance, it provides information as events unfold, while...
, 29 Mar 2001 - Burying the Evidence: The Botched Investigation into a Mass Grave in Chechnya, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
May 2001 - CHECHNYA: THE FORGOTTEN WAR, United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
, April 23, 2003 - Official Confirms Chechen Horror, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 16 June, 2005 - Les faux semblants d’une guerre coloniale, Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, October 2005 - Chechnya’s Capital Rises From the Ashes, Atop Hidden Horrors, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, April 30, 2008 - (Photography) Thomas Dworzak: Town of Grozny. Mass grave of several hundred, mostly Russian, civilians killed during the Russian storm of Grozny. An elderly Russian woman.