Without the right to life

On February 24, 2005, the European Court of Human Rights announced its decision on the first six “Chechen” claims against the Russian Federation, relating to three episodes: rocket attack from the air on a column of refugees on the Rostov-Baku highway near the village of Shaami-Yurt on October 29, 1999, the killings of residents occupied by federal troops of the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny in January 2000 and the death of residents of the village of Katyr-Yurt during bombing and shelling in early February 2000. The applicants were represented by lawyers from Memorial and the European Center for Human Rights. In all cases, the court found a violation of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in terms of Article 2 - the right to life, and Article 13 - the right to effective legal protection. According to the court, the state is responsible for the deaths of people - they were killed by government officials, and the state did not investigate these murders. The work of Russian law enforcement agencies was also recognized as unsatisfactory.

The first case is based on the complaint of Roza Akayeva and Magomed Khashiev, whose relatives were shot along with dozens of other residents of the Staropromyslovsky district. During correspondence with the court, the Russian side put forward various assumptions: “since during this period there were robbers in the territories controlled by the gangs who could lay claim to the property that belonged to them,” they killed. Meanwhile, all the modest property in the houses of those executed was intact. In addition, by that time the area had long been controlled by federal troops: the generals proudly reported this on television news, and then wrote in their memoirs. In this case, the Russian side had prepared another version: “the participation of those killed in illegal armed groups cannot be ruled out,” and they were killed in battles with federal forces. The people who were shot were wearing slippers—good warriors... Those killed had in their hands documents prepared for verification. Adlan Akayev, the dean of the faculty of one of the institutes and the head of the department of general physics of another, a candidate of sciences, did not even look at his passport: otherwise the killers would definitely have taken the money that was there. Also in that passport were newspaper clippings with Okudzhava’s poems...

Based on the death of Magomed Khashiev’s family, the Russian court made a decision in 2003: soldiers killed, and the state bears responsibility. Witnesses spoke at the trial who saw how the military took away people who were later found killed, and Khashiev was even awarded compensation - 675 thousand rubles. But that was a civil trial, and the criminal case was never brought to an end. The investigation was suspended and resumed eight times, the case was transferred four times from the republican prosecutor's office to the city prosecutor's office and back. But despite all this hectic activity, many witnesses from among local residents were not questioned, and no attempt was even made to identify the military unit whose soldiers might have been involved in the murder.

Now a verdict has been reached in this case in Strasbourg: the murder was committed by soldiers representing the Russian government, and other government officials did not properly investigate this crime. Meanwhile, there were witnesses who could identify the killers by sight - for example, Elena Goncharuk. She was shot along with her neighbors of all other nationalities, but Elena survived. She was found, but not by the investigative authorities: instead of presenting Goncharuk with albums with photographs of possible killers in uniform, they pressured her to withdraw her statement from Strasbourg...

But if in this case the Russian authorities could blame everything on undisciplined soldiers, then in the other two cases we are talking about planned crimes.

Moreover, one of the crimes was committed almost live.

Around noon on October 29, 1999, from the site of the Sunzhensky ridge, rising several kilometers north of the village of Shaami-Yurt and from the Rostov-Baku highway, from the location of the 752nd motorized rifle regiment of Colonel Yuri Petrov, NTV channel correspondent Aleksey Pobortsev reported. According to the commander of the regimental reconnaissance, he said that below were moving “vehicles such as Nivas and UAZs, in which militants usually move.”

Meanwhile, there were thousands of refugees in the cars who believed Russian television reports that the Kavkaz-1 checkpoint would be opened for exit on October 29. Another NTV correspondent worked precisely at this checkpoint, where Colonel Anatoly Khrulev was in command. Both colonels, by the way, were subordinate to the same general - the commander of the West group, Anatoly Shamanov. One colonel did not let the refugees through and “turned back” the refugees, while aviation worked “in the interests” of another.

The pilots later said during interrogations that the order was: to destroy the trucks in which the militants were traveling. They did just that, and the cars were noticed only after the missiles left the guides. The representative of Russia in the European Court was even more original: they shot at a Kamaz with militants while the missiles were flying towards the target, it drove away, and in its place was a convoy of cars - absurd!

In fact, it is almost certain that at that time the command considered any moving objects as an authorized target - “whoever did not hide, it’s not my fault” - as if it was happening in the desert and there were not hundreds of thousands of people rushing about in search of salvation between the federals and the militants. And then the authorities did everything to remove from responsibility those who could and were obliged to prevent the tragedy. The attack aircraft pilots were found not guilty. Vladimir Shamanov became a Hero of Russia, a governor, and now an adviser to the prime minister. Yuri Petrov also became a Hero of Russia, and Anatoly Khrulev is currently a major general and chief of staff of the 41st Army of the Siberian Military District.

The third of the cases considered in Strasbourg is also connected with General Shamanov, with the famous operation “Wolf Hunt”. As part of the investigation into the death of the residents of Katyr-Yurt, Shamanov, the commander of the storming of the village, General Nedobitko, the commander of the special forces detachment that fought in the village, and many residents of the village were interrogated - the prosecutor’s office dug in earnest. According to Shamanov, “well-armed gangs that had broken through from Grozny” settled in the village at that time. The general, apparently, forgot what he said in those days: “We managed to lure the bandits out of Grozny, bring them to the flat part... The corridor of the Western group of troops was built in such a way that to the left or to the right is equivalent to execution, we drive them along the corridor... “And in that “corridor” there were villages - Alkhan-Kala, Zakan-Yurt, Shaami-Yurt, Katyr-Yurt. The latter, by the way, was declared a “safety zone” - refugees accumulated there in addition to local residents. The village was blocked in the dark, leaving the northern outskirts free, and the militants were allowed in. And in the morning they began to destroy them - along with the residents, who were given no more than an hour to leave. The head of the administration should have notified them - I wonder how? A helicopter with loudspeakers flew over the outskirts - the residents did not hear or understand anything. They realized that to save their lives they needed to flee the village too late - only after noon. Artillery and mortars hit the village, and attack aircraft were at work. General Nedobitko in his testimony speaks of the use of UR-77 mine clearance charges: a 93-meter “sausage” made of plasticite weighing more than a ton, intended for making six-meter-wide passages in minefields, was thrown along the streets. Another general in his book “Caucasian Cross” wrote about the use of “Buratino” in Shaami-Yurt, a device that fires “vacuum” thermobaric ammunition. The investigation has done its job. It would seem that the crime of the generals, who destroyed the militants along with the village overcrowded with civilians, was obvious. And then a military-tactical examination carried out by other generals recognized: everything was correct...

Now, five years later, in Strasbourg they decided: no, it’s wrong. The court accepted that the military had a legitimate goal, but the means used were disproportionate to it. The weapons used were such that anyone under fire risked their lives, and in planning an operation with such weapons, knowing that there were civilians in the village, the State did not take adequate measures to eliminate or reduce casualties. And then this case was not properly investigated because it was not brought to court.

In Strasbourg, a decision has been made on the first six complaints, and another 120 cases are at various stages of consideration. What can we expect now? Most likely, the Russian Federation will pay the compensation awarded to the applicants. But will the intimidation of other people whose complaints lie in Strasbourg stop?

The European Court itself does not imply punishment for the perpetrators, it determines the responsibility of the state and compensation for the victims. The Russian Federation is guilty of not investigating the crimes, and it now depends on the authorities whether the investigation of criminal cases will be resumed, whether trials will take place - or whether they will simply pay money and pretend that everything is in order. In the meantime, the Russian representative in Strasbourg said that the court's decisions will be appealed.