Following are open letters from Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, addressed to Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev.





Dear President Yeltsin:


We write you today concerning the current conflict in Chechnya, where fierce fighting between troops from the Russian Army and Interior Ministry and forces supporting Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev has raged since early December. While Human Rights Watch/Helsinki takes no position on the ultimate status of Chechnya, a republic within the Russian Federation, we urge you to respect humanitarian law in military operations in Chechnya, to allow free, unfettered coverage of the conflict, and to ensure that security measures enacted throughout Russia are not used to harass non-Slavs or refugees and displaced persons.


We have received disturbing accounts of attacks on civilians by Russian forces in spite of a Dec. 17 Russian government statement that "force will be employed with due consideration of the principle of humanity." On Dec. 17, Russian troops reportedly shot and killed nine displaced persons fleeing Chechnya at the border town of Sleptsovsk in neighboring Ingushetia.


Eyewitnesses, as well as Lieutenant General Valery Vostrokin, a Russian Deputy Emergency Situations Minister in Ingushetiya, reported the incident. On Dec. 13, several civilians were reported killed in Pervomaiskoye, 10 miles north of Grozny, after an attack by Russian helicopter gunships.


There are also reports of widespread civilian damage during a heavy attack on Dec. 19 by Russian artillery, helicopter gunships, and rockets in Dolinskoye, about 35 kilometers north of Grozny. According to official figures, there are 14,000 displaced persons, though unofficial figures are four times this number.


We are disturbed by reports that press freedom was restricted in the region of conflict and that there have been attacks on journalists. Free access to the press and to outside observers is essential.


On Dec. 16, First Deputy Prime Minister Oleg Soskovets suggested that the independent Russian television station NTV lose its license because he was not satisfied with its reporting. It has also been rumored that the Russian government intends to jam the European Broadcasting Union satellite dish in Grozny that serves as an independent source of information from Chechnya.


On Dec. 14, The Washington Post reported that a group of Russian and American journalists were fired on by a Russian armored vehicle.


The Russian government has also tightened security in Moscow and in several other large cities to prevent a feared attack by Chechens living outside of Chechnya. These measures should be strictly controlled to respect the rights of individual citizens. They must not, like security introduced in Moscow after the October 1993 attempted coup, generate into the wholesale, arbitrary harassment, arrest, and beatings of displaced persons, refugees, or so called "individuals of Caucasian nationality."


We urge that every safeguard be taken to protect civilian life, both inside Chechnya and throughout the Russian Federation. The past conduct of Russian forces in Moldova, Tajikistan and Georgia has unfortunately resulted in serious human rights violations; this behavior must not be repeated. We also call on you to allow full, unrestricted coverage of the conflict by accredited journalists and non-government observers. Every effort must be made to prevent civilian casualties and destruction and to minimize the suffering of all caught up in the fighting, both military and civilian.


We have also written to President Dudayev about abuses by Chechen forces, and we enclose a copy of our letter to him for your information.


Dear President Dudayev:


We write you today concerning the recent unrest in Chechnya, where fierce fighting between troops from the Russian Army and Interior Ministry and forces under your control has raged since early December. While Human Rights Watch/Helsinki takes no position on the ultimate status of Chechnya, we urge to respect humanitarian law in military operations, especially concerning the treatment of prisoners.


There are reports that your forces have mistreated and possibly even killed prisoners. The killing of prisoners is a serious violation of humanitarian law, which is applicable to all forces in armed conflict, including rebels.


On Dec. 14, 1994, Chechen forces shot down an Mi-8 helicopter near the village of Novo-Shurvoi. Film taken after the helicopter was shot down showed Chechen soldiers throwing the co-pilot, who may have been alive, into a nearby ditch. Two other crewman were allegedly shot while trying to escape. On Dec. 17, the Chechen press office stated that 20 Russian military prisoners held in Grozny would be executed if Russia carried out threats to bomb Grozny.


We call on you to order forces under your control to abide by humanitarian law and treat captured prisoners humanely, including providing medical attention. In general, every effort must be made to prevent civilian casualties and destruction and to minimize the suffering of all caught up in the fighting, both military and civilian.


We have also written to President Yeltsin about abuses by Russian forces and we enclose a copy of that letter for your information.


Jeri Laber


Executive Director


Human Rights Watch/Helsinki