Alkhan-Yurt massacre
Encyclopedia
The Alkhan-Yurt massacre was the December 1999 incident in the village of Alkhan-Yurt near the Chechen
capital Grozny
involving Russia
n troops under command of general
Vladimir Shamanov
. The villagers claimed approximately 41 civilian
s were killed in the spree, while the human rights
groups confirmed and documented 17 incidents of murder
and three incidents of rape
.
According to Human Rights Watch
(HRW), it was not an isolated incident, as Russian troops have been systematically looting
villages and towns under their control.
,
Nikolai Koshman and a committee of Russian generals inspected the village, the officials discovered several caches of goods looted by Russian soldiers, including some splattered with blood. In addition, one drunken soldier reportedly even threatened to "shoot" Koshman. The officials promised an investigation, which was soon closed by the military "for lack of evidence of a crime."
The villagers and Malik Saidullayev, one of the most prominent of pro-Moscow Chechen leaders, identified the soldiers responsible for the abuses as the unit under the command of Major-General Vladimir Shamanov. Despite his role in presiding over the abuses in Alkhan-Yurt, Shamanov received Russia's highest honor, the Hero of Russia medal, on December 28, 1999, from the hands of then Russian President Boris Yeltsin
who described the army's conduct in Chechnya as "faultless."
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
capital Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
involving Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n troops under command of general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Vladimir Shamanov
Vladimir Shamanov
Vladimir Anatolyevich Shamanov is a Lieutenant General in the Russian Army, the commander of the Russian Airborne Troops since May 2009 and a former Russian politician...
. The villagers claimed approximately 41 civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s were killed in the spree, while the human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
groups confirmed and documented 17 incidents of murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and three incidents of rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
.
According to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
(HRW), it was not an isolated incident, as Russian troops have been systematically looting
Looting
Looting —also referred to as sacking, plundering, despoiling, despoliation, and pillaging—is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe, such as during war, natural disaster, or rioting...
villages and towns under their control.
Rampage
Russian forces took control of Alkhan-Yurt, a village just south of Grozny on December 1, 1999, after weeks of heavy fighting. The Chechen fighters, who included many foreign fighters among their ranks and were reportedly led by Akhmed ZakayevAkhmed Zakayev
Akhmed Khalidovich Zakayev is the former Deputy Prime Minister and the current Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , which is unrecognised by other countries...
,
(Russian soldiers) first expelled, temporarily, hundreds of civilians from Alkhan-Yurt, and then began systematically looting and burning the village, killing anyone in their way. Among the dead were: centenarianCentenarianA centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...
Nabitst Kornukayeva, and her elderly son Arbi, who were found shot to death in the yard of their looted home; fifty-seven-year-old Khamid Khazuyev, who was shot in the yard of his home when he tried to stop looting soldiers; Akhanpash Dudayev, sixty-five, who was killed in his basement, and his body burned in his looted home; and Taus Sultanov, forty-nine, who was shot in a cellar and left to bleed to death while soldiers robbed other civilians with him of their belongings. The killings went on for more than two weeks, without any apparent attempt by Russian authorities to stop it. Aindi Altimirov, the last to die, was killed and beheaded by Russian soldiers on December 18. (...) The looting of Alkhan-Yurt was systematic and organized, involving a large number of soldiers who acted with impunity throughout their stay in the village. Looted goods were stored in the homes occupied by Russian commanders as well as the tents of soldiers, and were transported openly in military vehicles out of Alkhan-Yurt. It is simply impossible that such widespread looting could take place in broad daylight without the knowledge and, at a minimum, the tacit consent of Russian commanders. The looting that took place in Alkhan-Yurt was not an isolated incident of such misconduct by Russian forces in Chechnya: since the beginning of the Chechen conflict, Russian troops have been systematically looting villages and towns under their control, and there is no evidence that the Russian command has taken any steps to prevent it.
Aftermath
Initially, the Russian Defence Ministry denied that anything happened in the village of Alkhan-Yurt. However, when Russia's Deputy Prime MinisterDeputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some counties, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, but is significantly different, though both...
Nikolai Koshman and a committee of Russian generals inspected the village, the officials discovered several caches of goods looted by Russian soldiers, including some splattered with blood. In addition, one drunken soldier reportedly even threatened to "shoot" Koshman. The officials promised an investigation, which was soon closed by the military "for lack of evidence of a crime."
The villagers and Malik Saidullayev, one of the most prominent of pro-Moscow Chechen leaders, identified the soldiers responsible for the abuses as the unit under the command of Major-General Vladimir Shamanov. Despite his role in presiding over the abuses in Alkhan-Yurt, Shamanov received Russia's highest honor, the Hero of Russia medal, on December 28, 1999, from the hands of then Russian President Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
who described the army's conduct in Chechnya as "faultless."
External links
- Russian Troops Rampage in Chechnya Village: Scores Killed, Homes Looted and Burned in Alkhan-Yurt, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, 12/11/99 - 'Village massacre' near Grozny, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 20 December, 1999 - Eyewitness: Anger and despair at Alkhan-Yurt, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 20 December, 1999 - New evidence of Chechen massacre, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 22 December, 1999 - Chechens Say Real Horror Began After Battle Ended, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, December 27, 1999 - "NO HAPPINESS REMAINS" CIVILIAN KILLINGS, PILLAGE, AND RAPE IN ALKHAN-YURT, CHECHNYA, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
investigation report, April 2000 - Bush Meets Russian Faulted For Atrocities, Washington Post, March 29, 2007