Russia accused of killing 20,000 Chechens

European human rights groups today condemned Moscow’s campaign in Chechnya, claiming Russian forces have killed up to 20,000 civilians over the past three years.

At a conference on Chechnya, International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights director Aaron Rhodes said the non-governmental organisations believe Russia deliberately targets civilians in its campaign against separatist rebels.

Though Russia agreed to a ceasefire with the rebels in the mid 1990s, Russian forces resumed fighting in Chechnya in 1999, after rebels were blamed for several bombings and attacks in the region.

Russian president Vladimir Putin says the rebels are terrorists and likens Russia’s campaign against them to President George Bush’s “war on terror.”

But Rhodes rejected that comparison, saying it was ”an insult to the victims of terrorism, an insult to their ghosts.”

Also present at the Hague meeting were representatives of Human Rights Watch, Russian rights group Memorial, the German-Caucasian Society, and Lord Judd, who reports on Chechnya to the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe is Europe’s oldest human rights body, with 44 member states. It has long been critical of Russia, and temporarily suspended Russia’s vote over its record in Chechnya. But Lord Judd said that Russian abuses continue.

“Our job now is to build concern over Chechnya in the political community,” he said.

He said he would work both with members of the Russian parliament and with other European countries to pressure the Russian government to reform, but added that he was disappointed at the lack of protest from European governments.

Lord Judd said his dialogue with the Russians had largely been halted since a group of Chechen rebels held over 800 people hostage in a Moscow theatre last month. The rebels were killed, along with at least 128 hostages, when Russian troops stormed the theatre.