Chernokozovo
Encyclopedia
Chernokozovo is a small village in Naursky District of northern Chechnya
which is a site of an infamous Russia
n prison.
-era maximum-security penitentiary facility. It was re-opened by Russian federal interior ministry forces at the end of 1999 during the Second Chechen War
, officially as a "temporary reception center for the persons detained on the grounds of vagrancy and begging".
In early 2000, Chernokozovo SIZO prison gained worldwide notoriety for atrocities including severe torture
, rape
s and other prisoner abuse
and extortion
(widespread practice of releasing prisoners ransom
) when it served as an unnoficial prison camp for captured separatist fighters as well as one of at least four main "filtration camps" (or "filtration points") for male and female civilians (including children and the Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky
) who were detained as "suspicious persons" at hundreds of checkpoints and non-selectively rounded-up during indiscriminate "cleansing operations" (zachistka) and then kept there without any charges.
Officially, about 10,000 people passed through the "filtration point" at Chernokozovo, however the leading Russian human rights group Memorial
has alleged that the real figure is many times as high, and the overall number of those having passed through the estabilished and ad-hoc "filtration points" might be as high as about 200,000 (out of the population of less than one million). According to Memorial, the purpose of the "filtration" system in Chechnya, besides being part of the general terror system of suppression and intimidation of the population, was to create a network of informers through the enforced recruitation.
Since 2005, Chernokozovo detention center's status is of a "penal colony" for convicts, run by interior ministry forces of the local government of the Chechen Republic led by Ramzan Kadyrov
, who is personally taking part in its management. Living conditions there reportedly improved vastly since 2000, however still remain bad (for example, healthy persons are kept together with tuberculosis
patients) and reports of continued beatings, torture and other abuse persist.
found Russia guilty of torturing two Chechen brothers, Adam and Arbi Chitayev, at Chernokozovo during their detention between April and October 2000, finding "that their suffering was particularly serious and cruel".
Zura Bitiyeva
, another former Chernokozovo detainee who had filed a case with the Court relating to her torture, was killed in 2003 along with three members of her family. In a 2008 ruling, the Court ruled that her detention in Chernokozovo had been in "total disregard of the requirement of lawfulness" and that the killings could be attributed to the Russian state.
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...
which is a site of an infamous 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 prison.
Chernokozovo prison
Chernokozovo prison is a former SovietSoviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-era maximum-security penitentiary facility. It was re-opened by Russian federal interior ministry forces at the end of 1999 during the Second Chechen War
Second Chechen War
The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus, was launched by the Russian Federation starting 26 August 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade ....
, officially as a "temporary reception center for the persons detained on the grounds of vagrancy and begging".
In early 2000, Chernokozovo SIZO prison gained worldwide notoriety for atrocities including severe torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, 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...
s and other prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse
Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated.Abuse falling into this category includes:* Physical abuse: Needless beating, hitting, or other corporal punishment....
and extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
(widespread practice of releasing prisoners ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
) when it served as an unnoficial prison camp for captured separatist fighters as well as one of at least four main "filtration camps" (or "filtration points") for male and female civilians (including children and the Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky
Andrei Babitsky
Andrei Babitsky is a Russian journalist and war reporter, who has worked for Radio Liberty since 1989, covering the 1991 August Coup, Civil War in Tajikistan and, most notably, both Chechen Wars from behind Chechen lines...
) who were detained as "suspicious persons" at hundreds of checkpoints and non-selectively rounded-up during indiscriminate "cleansing operations" (zachistka) and then kept there without any charges.
Officially, about 10,000 people passed through the "filtration point" at Chernokozovo, however the leading Russian human rights group Memorial
Memorial (society)
Memorial is an international historical and civil rights society that operates in a number of post-Soviet states. It focuses on recording and publicising the Soviet Union's totalitarian past, but also monitors human rights in post-Soviet states....
has alleged that the real figure is many times as high, and the overall number of those having passed through the estabilished and ad-hoc "filtration points" might be as high as about 200,000 (out of the population of less than one million). According to Memorial, the purpose of the "filtration" system in Chechnya, besides being part of the general terror system of suppression and intimidation of the population, was to create a network of informers through the enforced recruitation.
Since 2005, Chernokozovo detention center's status is of a "penal colony" for convicts, run by interior ministry forces of the local government of the Chechen Republic led by Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Kadyrov
Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov is the President of Chechnya and a former Chechen rebel.Ramzan is a son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, assassinated in May 2004. In February 2007 Kadyrov replaced Alu Alkhanov as President, shortly after he had turned 30, which is the minimum age for the post...
, who is personally taking part in its management. Living conditions there reportedly improved vastly since 2000, however still remain bad (for example, healthy persons are kept together with tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
patients) and reports of continued beatings, torture and other abuse persist.
ECHR rulings
In 2007, in the first ruling on a torture case from Chechnya, the European Court of Human RightsEuropean Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
found Russia guilty of torturing two Chechen brothers, Adam and Arbi Chitayev, at Chernokozovo during their detention between April and October 2000, finding "that their suffering was particularly serious and cruel".
Zura Bitiyeva
Zura Bitiyeva
Zura Bitiyeva was a locally well-known Chechen human rights activist who was extrajudicially executed by a Russian government death squad in 2003 after she complained to the European Court of Human Rights of ill treatment during an earlier illegal detention...
, another former Chernokozovo detainee who had filed a case with the Court relating to her torture, was killed in 2003 along with three members of her family. In a 2008 ruling, the Court ruled that her detention in Chernokozovo had been in "total disregard of the requirement of lawfulness" and that the killings could be attributed to the Russian state.
See also
- Komsomolskoye massacreKomsomolskoye massacreKomsomolskoye massacre allegedly occurred following the Battle of Komsomolskoye during the Second Chechen War in March 2000, when a large number of captured Chechen separatist fighters were extremely mistreated, resulting in deaths of many or even most of them...
, including an alleged mass summary execution of detained Chechen combatants at Chernokozovo