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Monday, Mar. 11, 2002. Page 3
Chechen Rebels Seek War Crimes Tribunal
By Karl Emerick HanuskaReuters
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AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands -- The Chechen rebel leadership is pushing for the creation of a war crimes tribunal like that for the former Yugoslavia to try alleged atrocities by federal forces, Akhmed Zakayev, chief envoy of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, said Friday. "Those who committed genocide against the Chechen people must answer for their crimes. A forum for this is our key goal," Zakayev said in an interview. He was speaking in Amsterdam a day after meeting Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at the Hague Yugoslav war crimes tribunal. "No matter what the war's outcome is and whether we are acknowledged as an independent state, the Chechen people must be guaranteed the same human rights as anyone else in Europe," Zakayev said. He said the talks with Del Ponte were purely "consultative," part of a series of steps to get the international community involved in ending violence in Chechnya. The creation of a UN institution comparable to the Hague tribunal to deal with Chechnya is highly improbable given that the court for Yugoslavia was set up by the UN Security Council -- on which Moscow has a permanent power of veto. Russia denies systematic abuses by its forces and says any wrongdoing by individual soldiers is properly investigated and punished. But rights groups note that few cases are brought to trial and not one federal serviceman has yet been convicted. Zakayev praised Del Ponte, who is Swiss, for what he called courage in ensuring that the victims of war atrocities had been given the chance to speak out. "One can only be overwhelmed by her courage in a sea of hypocrisy," he said. "This tiny woman like no one before has demonstrated the mettle and the courage to try and show the world that crimes will not be left unpunished." Zakayev faulted Western nations for failing to force a settlement in Chechnya and said that without the involvement of the international community there could be no peace there. "We are a part of Europe and so Europe and the rest of the West must be a part of the solution," he said.
Meanwhile, federal troops conducted search operations across several towns and cities, detaining hundreds of people over the past week on suspicion of complicity in rebel actions or as accomplices of guerrilla groups, the official said. The so-called mopping-up operations were carried out in towns southeast and southwest of Grozny, as well as in some districts of Grozny and Gudermes. Local news agencies, quoting army officials in the region, said federal forces had killed 10 rebels, including two senior commanders, in several days of operations. General Vladimir Moltenskoi, the commander of federal troops in Chechnya, told NTV television Saturday that forces in the town of Stariye Atagi had killed rebel commander Zelimkhan Sadayev, accused of killing servicemen and civilians working with federal authorities, Reuters reported. Mairbek Barayev, commander of a local rebel band, was killed in a skirmish near the town of Urus-Martan, AP said. http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/03/11/014.html |
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