The Associated Press President Vladimir Putin called indirectly Tuesday for an
end to abuses by federal forces trying to flush out rebels in Chechnya,
saying laws must not be violated during search operations.
"You are aware of signals about the violation of laws during various operations"
in Chechnya, Putin said during a meeting of his Security Council. "They
have been thoroughly investigated and will be investigated in the future."
Critics, however, say that few cases of abuses of civilians during the so-called
mopping up operations are prosecuted, and Putin warned against violations
during the searches and other operations in Chechnya. "I want to draw your
attention [to the fact] that it is indispensable to meet all provisions
of law, relevant government instructions and orders in force," Putin said.
He mentioned one that requires the presence of a prosecutor's office representative
during search operations.
The search operations have been widely criticized by civilians and human rights
groups that say they are rife with abuses including illegal detentions, rapes
and killings of civilians in Chechnya.
Federal forces pressed ahead with the operations, detaining at least 130 people
in the Shali district in southern Chechnya and in and around the capital, Grozny,
in the previous 24 hours, an official in the region's Moscow-backed administration
said Tuesday.
The administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said that
four servicemen were killed and four others wounded when federal posts came rebel
fire in the past day.
Putin told the Security Council that the number of checkpoints and command posts
operated by federal forces in Chechnya should be reduced, saying that their effectiveness
is "extremely low." He said checkpoints should remain only where they are needed
to provide law and order.
Putin has pinned Kremlin hopes for peace on a constitutional referendum that is
to be held in Chechnya next month. Tens of thousands of Chechen refugees living
in Ingushetia will be allowed to vote in the March 23 referendum, but Akhmad Kadyrov,
the chief of Chechnya's Moscow-backed administration, said Tuesday that they will
have to travel to Chechnya to cast ballots, Interfax reported. He said the refugees
will have to vote where they are registered.
However, Interfax and Itar-Tass quoted Russia's chief election official, Alexander
Veshnyakov, as saying buses would deliver refugees to Chechnya for the vote and
that polling places would be set up near the border with Ingushetia, suggesting
they might not have to travel to their place of registration to vote.
A pro-rebel news agency, Kavkaz Center, said Tuesday it had received an e-mail
message sent on behalf of Chechen rebel warlord Shamil Basayev that said a group
he leads, referred to as Riyadus Salikhiin, was behind the Dec. 27 bombing of
the headquarters of the Kremlin-backed government, which killed at least 61 people.
The e-mail contained photographs of the truck bombing and said it was carried
out by "a simple Chechen family" -- a 43-year-old man, his 17-year-old son and
15-year-old daughter, Kavkaz Center said. Russian officials have blamed the attack
on Basayev and an Arab militant, Abu al-Walid.