10 October 2003, 11:05
"Memorial": most of crimes against peaceful people in Chechnya remain unpunished
Most of crimes committed against peaceful people of Chechnya remain unpunished. As head of the human rights organization "Memorial" Oleg Orlov told in Moscow on Wednesday, the greater part of investigations ends without results. About 60 Russian military men have been convicted during the second Chechen war for crimes committed in Chechnya. Most of them have been sentenced to fines and suspended terms. In spite of the court practice existing in Russia, suspended sentences were passed even for such grave crimes as rapes, stressed Orlov. At the same time he noted that, according to the data of "Memorial", two thirds of grave crimes against peaceful Chechen people were committed by Russian military men and officers of special services. The victims of such crimes are mostly women.
Source: The Chechen Times Website