Impunity Watch: Europe

Prominent Critic of Kremlim Shot While in Police Custody

By Sarah Benczik
Impuninty Watch Reporter, Europe

NAZRAN, Russia - Mogomed Yevloyev, a vocal critic of Russian action in Ingushetia and owner of a controversial internet site (ingushetiya.ru) was shot while in Russian police custody today.

Yevloyev was shot shortly after being escorted into a Russian police car to be taken in for questioning after he arrived in Ingushetia's airport.  The lawyer for the website, Kaloi Akhilgov, reported that Russian police met Yevloyev at the steps of his aircraft, put him in a Volga saloon car, and drove him away, and "as they drove he was shot in the temple... They threw him out of the car near the hospital."

Ingush opposition activist Magomed Khazbiyev said Yevloyev was found lying near a Nazran hospital with a bullet in his temple.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee in the Prosecutor General's Office, reported that Yevloyev died at the hospital while on the operating table. He also reported that the Investigative Committee has opened an investigation into the death that might lead to charges being filed against the local police.

A Russian police spokesman said Yevloyev was detained and died in an "incident" while being taken for interrogation.  Interfax reported that Ingush police detained Yevloyev in connection with an investigation into an explosion in Nazran, the main city in Ingushetia.  The Moscow Times reports that while inside the police car, Yevloyev attempted to wrestle an assault rifle away from one of the officers and was accidentally shot in the head during the scuffle.

Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media-rights watchdog, issued a statement today declaring that "It is essential that the international community, and especially the European Union, demands an explanation for what really happened."  The Moscow division of Human Rights Watch said Yevloyev's death "in such suspicious circumstances, can only raise questions."  The Moscow Helsinki Group and Memerial have also called on authorities to investigate Yevloyev's death.

According to the Moscow Times, in August the Moscow City Court upheld a lower court's decision to close Ingushetiya.ru on charges of carrying extremist content. The web site's editor-in-chief, Rosa Malsagova, has fled Russia with her three sons and applied for political asylum in France, saying she and her family had received threats from Ingush officials.

Officals and spokesmen for the Russian government as well as opposition leaders fear that Yevloyev's death may lead to an escalation in violence in Ingushetia.  Akhilgov warned, "There might be a civil war in Ingushetia after the relatives bury Yevloyev." 

Ingushetia's southern border touches Georgia; Chechnya lies to the east.

For more information, please see:

Associated Press - Deputy says Russian Police kill web site owner - 31 August 2008

BBC - Kremlin critic shot in Ingushetia - 31 August 2008

The Moscow Times - Ingushetiya.ru Owner Shot Dead - 1 September 2008

Telegraph - Anti-Kremlin website founder dies in police 'incident' - 1 September 2008

Russia Faces Increasing Pressure to Withdraw From Ossetia

by Dan Forrest
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia - Moscow is facing increasing pressure from leaders around the globe to end its occupation of the Ossetia region in Georgia.  Pursuant to a cease fire agreement reached between the parties last week, Russia is required to pull its forces back from this region by the end of this week.  Unfortunately, recent developments suggest that Russia may not honor the contract. 

As of Wednesday, Russian forces were digging deep sentry posts inside Georgia, a move that would seem unlikely if their intention was truly to withdraw.

In response, nations throughout Europe are organizing themselves to determine the best way to bring a peaceful resolution to this conflict.  Convincing Russia to withdraw, many believe, will be no easy task.  Top governments from Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Baltic states are now coordinating with Germany, a country that hasn't always been friendly to them, to ask Russia to withdraw.  Germany may have the most influence with Russia, given close ties between the leaderships of the two nations.

In a related development, Abkhazia has asked Russia to recognize its independence from Georgia.  This brings the question of territorial rights and authority once again to the forefront of the debate.  Russia insists that Abkhazia should be allowed to determine its own national allegiances, while the western powers strongly believe that Georgia should retain its current boundaries.

"South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia," President Bush recently declared.  He also said that "the United States will work with our allies to assure Georgia's independence and territorial integrity." 

President Bush also declared Russia's recent invasion of Georgia a "disproportionate response" to Georgia's military action following several separatist attacks in the region.

For more information, please see:

CNN - Breakaway region asks Russia to recognize independence - 20 August 2008

Impunity Watch - BRIEF: Officials flee as Russia Assault in South Ossetia Continues - 9 August 2008

International Herald Tribune - Merkel and Georgia: The Pressure's on her - 20 August 2008

Yahoo - In Georgia, Russia digs in as pullback date nears - 20 August 2008

BRIEF: Refugees Flee as Russian Assualt in South Ossetia Continues

by Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

ARDON RIVER VALLEY, Russia - Thousands of refugees have begun to pour out of South Ossetia as the day-old outbreak of violence continues to escalate.  Former Russian President Vladimir Putin reported that thus far 34,000 refugees have been registered in North Ossetia.

Today Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili characterized the conflict as a "full-scale war," and further stated the region was "all going to hell."  He also offered a cease-fire immediately if Russia would stop its attack.  The violence erupted on Thursday when Georgian forces entered South Ossetia, which is territorially part of Georgia, but an unstable break-away region with close ties to Russia.

Russia characterizes its actions as an appropriate response to "Georgia's assult" on its citizens and peacekeepers in South Ossetia.  In addition to continuing its attacks, Russia has begun to move additional military support closer to Abkhazia, another highly unstable break-away area in the region.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that thus far 1,500 Russian civilians and 15 peace-keepers have been killed in the violence. 

Edmond Mulet, Assistant UN Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, reported to the UN Security Council today that there had already been “very substantial numbers of casualties, refugees and destruction” in South Ossetia since fighting erupted there earlier this week," and the UN New Center reported that latest reports suggest that hundreds of people, mostly civilans, have been killed because of the clashes. 

Mulet further warned that the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) expects Abkhaz forces to launch a military operation in the Upper Kodori Valley as early as tomorrow morning.

For more information, please see:

BBC - Eyewitness: Scenes of panic in Gori - 9 Augusut 2008

Bloomberg - Russia Is Waging 'Full-Scale War' Over S. Ossetia - 9 August 2008

AP - South Ossetia: Russian armor in, refugees out - 9 August 2008

Reuters - South Ossetia refugee buses arrive in Russia - 8 August 2008

UN News Centre - Georgian conflict widening beyond South Ossetia, UN official warns - 9 August 2008

UPDATE: Rwanda Formally Accuses Senior French Officials

by Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIGALI, Rwanda – The Rwandan government has officially called for French authorities to be brought to justice for their involvement in the Rwandan genocide.  In a report published at the end of a two-year inquiry into France’s role in the 1994 genocide, commission members allege that “the French support was of a political, military, diplomatic and logistic nature. . . Considering the gravity of the alleged facts, the Rwandan government asks competent authorities to undertake all necessary actions to bring the accused French political and military leaders to answer for their acts before justice.”  The commission attached a list of 33 accused French political and military officials to the report. 

Among those listed are former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the late President Francoise Mitterand, as well as then Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, a senior figure in current President Nicolas Sarkozy's party and Edouard Balladur and Hubert Vedrine, both current senior French politicians.

Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama presented the report to the press in Kigali.  A statement released by the justice ministry after the release of the report stated that "French forces directly assassinated Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis... French forces committed several rapes on Tutsi survivors." The statement also alleged that the French military and humanitarian Operation Turquoise abetted the killings perpetrated by the extremist Interahamwe Hutu militia.

An official at the French Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the French government had not yet received any official communication from Kigali and so could not comment.

For more information, please see:

AFP – France took part in genocide: Rwandan report – 5 August 2008

Reuters - Rwanda accuses France directly over ’94 genocide – 5 August 2008

Rwanda to Release Report on French Role in Genocide; Montenegrin Court Finds Albanian Separatists Guilty; Eta Terrorist Released Amidst Protest

by Sarah Benczik
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIGALI, Rwanda - After a two-year investigation, Rwanda has announced that it will release a report detailing France’s role in the Rwandan genocide.  The report was privately submitted to the Rwandan government last November, but was not made public at that time.

The report was the work of a special commission established to scrutinize France’s alleged role in the genocide that took place in 1994 in the days following the assassination of Hutu then-president Juvenal Habyarimana.  It is estimated that Hutu extremists, in a violent backlash, sought and killed 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Many have accused France of training and arming the Interahamwe militia of Hutu extremists, and allege that France has further interfered with the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) by sheltering suspected leaders of the genocide within its borders.

Aloys Mutabingwa, Rwandan envoy to the ICTR said yesterday that the ICTR’s investigations had produced “sufficient and credible” evidence to bring French government officials before the ICTR.  He also stated that it was only because the ICTR wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident that French officials had not been charged.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame said last week that Rwanda has strong evidence implicating France’s role.  The BBC reports that Rwanda now intends to release the 500-page report resulting from the two-year commission.

For more information, please see:

Afrol News – France “should be charged” for Rwanda genocide – 9 August 2008

BBC - Rwanda to reveal ‘genocide role’ - 5 August 2008

Reuters – Rwanda’s Kagame blasts France over genocide – 7 April 2007

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PODGORICA, Montenegro – A Montenegrin court has convicted 12 ethnic Albanians of plotting a rebellion to carve out a separate region of Montenegro for Albanians during the months following the country’s separation from Serbia.

The court sentenced 17 defendants to prison terms ranging between three months to six years.  All 17 had been arrested in September 1996 during a police raid on the eve of Montenegro’s parliamentary election.  Police recovered a stockpile of weapons.  Four of the defendants are U.S. citizens, including the “mastermind,” Doda Ljucaj. 

Katrina Dedvukaj, sister of two of the defendants, said, “I am not happy. …We are not terrorists.”  Defense lawyers have stated that the defendant plan to appeal the decision.
With the exception of Ljucaj, the defendants were released on bail after their travel documents were confiscated. 

Montenegro has been accused of police brutality against the defendants.

For more information, please see:

B92 – 12 Albanians get 49 years for armed rebellion – 5 August 2008

International Herald Tribune - Montenegro court convicts 17 ethnic Albanians – 5 August 2008

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BARCELONA, Spain - Iñaki de Juana Chaos, convicted of a series of murders during the 1980s, was released from prison on Saturday.  De Juana Chaos had been sentenced to 3,000 years in prison, but under the 1987 penal code, he could only serve a maximum of 30 years. 

According to The Guardian, Spain's prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, said that the Basque separatist "generates a perfectly understandable feeling of contempt" among all citizens "and of course the head of government. But we must respect the law." 

De Juana Chaos, who is now 52, had actually earned the right to a 12-year-early release, but earned further jail time after writing newspaper articles from prison deemed to be terrorist threats.  He is now under a new investigation into a recent letter he wrote to be read at a welcoming ceremony held in his honor in San Sebastian, in which he allegedly praises terrorism by calling Domingo Iturbe Abasolo “a great man.”  It is illegal in Spain to express support for terrorism. 

De Juana Chaos’s release was protested by victim’s groups and family members, who, according to AFP, called his release “an insult to the judicial system and an affront to the victims of ETA.”

For more information, please see:

AFP – ETA killer’s release from Spanish jail sparks protests – 3 August 2008

International Herald Tribune – Spanish judge begins new probe of Basque militant – 4 August 2008

The Guardian – Spain: Families of victims protest at Eta terrorist’s release after 21 years – 4 August 2008