Statement on punishing militants' families will add members to armed underground in Chechnya, rights defenders believe

The statement of the Chechen leadership about the collective responsibility of militants and the subsequent burning down of relatives' houses are contradictory to Russian law and can recruit new militants in the republic and abroad. This was stated by rights defenders during a press conference on the topic "Collective punishment as a method of dealing with armed underground in Chechnya". The press conference received a broad public resonance, as several young people tried to disrupt it by throwing chicken eggs at its participants.

As stated by Elena Milashina, a special correspondent of "Novaya Gazeta", the city of Grozny and other towns across the republic "in the near future will see household-by-household and flat-by-flat inspections and checks."

According to her story, now another appeal is spread over the republic by means of WhatsApp (a phone application that allows exchange messages, – note of the "Caucasian Knot") calling to liquidate not only militants, but also those who profess non-traditional Islam.

The reason for public approval of such actions is that "people do not believe in the law, but believe more in such methods of fighting terror like the collective punishment," said Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the Committee "Civil Assistance".

She cited the example of the neighbouring Republic of Ingushetia, where the armed underground is dealt with by a special commission set up for adaptation of militants. According to her story, more than "60 young men have quitted the forest and returned to peaceful life," and "in the last year there were no terror acts in Ingushetia."

According to Alexander Cherkasov, the Chairman of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the campaign on the topic of collective responsibility "goes beyond the frames once established by Kadyrov himself."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.