During a visit by a parliamentary delegation of the Council of Europe,Vladimir Kalamanov vowed to narrow the gap between the high numbers of complaints registered and the small number of cases that made it to the court system.
British peer Lord Judd raised the issue during a meeting between local judges in this small town in northwestern Chechnya and his delegation from the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly.
The assembly stung Russia last year by suspending its voting rights because of alleged widespread abuses in Chechnya. The assembly is to review that decision later this month.
Kalamanov told Judd the disparity between complaints and court cases had been caused by a breakdown in the judicial system linked to the 16-month conflict: "Now a system has been created, so the gap will get smaller and smaller."
Judd asked: "Can I say in my report that Mr Kalamanov has given us an assurance that the gap between the number of cases reported and those brought to court will decrease?"
"Yes, I promise that. There is no other way," replied Kalamanov, who said he needed three months to ensure similar improvements were made in the military courts.
RIGHTS RECORD SLAMMED
Rights groups have savaged Moscow's record during the military operation in Chechnya, but Western states, with the exception of France, have made only muted criticism of the crackdown launched in October 1999.
And European leaders rebuffed an appeal by Council of Europe parliamentarians to kick Russia out of the pan-European rights and democracy body.
Last October, the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch issued a 99-page report documenting widespread abuse by Russian troops in Chechnya, including mass killing of civilians, indiscriminate bombings and shelling, and widespread pillage.
U.N. rights chief Mary Robinson has also expressed concern about reports of beatings of suspects, arbitary arrests and forcing civilians to "buy" freedom for detained relatives.
The Russian authorities have consistently rejected reports of systematic abuse of human rights during the campaign to subdue separatists, and pledged that any isolated crimes would be punished.
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