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13.03.03, 22:01
Chechens Claim Russians Blow Up Corpses
By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - Aslan Dzhabrailov says he wasn't supposed to
be seen again, dead or alive. He says Russian troops in
Chechnya dragged him from his bed last month and
tortured him, then ignited explosives under him and his
dead brother, apparently to erase the evidence. Had the
explosives gone off, the men's remains would have been
unrecognizable. In what would be a grisly twist to the
pattern of alleged military abuses in Chechnya's 3
1/2-year war, residents and human rights campaigners
say fragments of blown-up bodies are being found all
over the war-ruined region.
Rather than put a stop to human rights violations, the
military appears to be doing its best to hide them,
critics say. Some even see signs of a coordinated
campaign of killing Chechens.
"Lately, near a pipeline not far from our village,
(Chechen) policemen have been finding people's blown-up
remains," said Murzabek Saidulayev of Belgatoi, about
18 miles south of Grozny, the capital. "That's where
the federals (troops) like to blow up corpses. They
drive there in armored personnel carriers."
Lawmaker and rights campaigner Sergei Kovalyov
theorizes that the intent is to make it difficult for
independent investigators to connect the corpses to the
soldiers who allegedly arrested them. Bodies blown up
beyond recognition can more easily be blamed on the
rebels, he says.
Kovalyov traveled to the United States and Britain last
month to press for action, but was told "quiet
diplomacy" was preferable. He says that isn't working.
President Vladimir Putin and other officials have
repeatedly called on troops to obey the law during
security sweeps that civilians say often lead to
disappearances.
Last year the military ordered arresting troops to
fully identify themselves and inform relatives of
detainees' whereabouts. But rights advocates say the
order is ignored and most likely meant to appease critics.
The pattern of blown-up bodies, and the fact that
remains of people from different parts of Chechnya are
found in the same place, point to a centralized system
of violence, Kovalyov said.
"What comes to mind immediately are death squads. ...
The question of genocide could be raised," he added.
Igor Botnikov, a Kremlin spokesman on Chechnya, scoffed
at the charges, saying he would "leave those words on
Mr. Kovalyov's conscience."
Asked if the charges were worth checking, he said all
allegations of military abuse are investigated.
Independent verification is impossible because violence
and government restrictions prevent Western journalists
from working unimpeded in Chechnya.
Dzhabrailov, 23, spoke to The Associated Press on
condition his location not be revealed because he
feared reprisals. The details of his story match the
patterns Kovalyov's allies at the Russian human rights
group Memorial have documented.
His head bandaged and his face covered in bruises,
Dzhabrailov said masked troops stormed his house in the
village of Pobedinskoye, 9 miles west of Grozny, at
dawn on Feb. 16. They pulled him and his brother Valid,
30, from their beds, and — ignoring the pleas of their
mother and sister — handcuffed them, put sacks over
their heads and drove for about an hour until they
heard gates opening.
He said he heard helicopters and believed he was at
Khankala, the military's main base in Chechnya.
Dzhabrailov was separated from his brother and brought
to a basement, where he remained chained to a pipe for
a day and a half. Masked men visited him periodically,
jabbing his kidneys with guns and breaking his nose
with flashlights.
They demanded Dzhabrailov confess to having fought with
the rebels. Dzhabrailov said he was never involved in
fighting.
In the evening, he said, an unmasked man came, silently
put a bag over Dzhabrailov's head and led him to a vehicle.
"A cold body lay under me," he said.
After a long ride, the men removed the corpse from the
truck and dragged Dzhabrailov onto the ground, his head
still covered. He said he heard a shot and a bullet
took off some skin above his ear.
Dzhabrailov said he heard the men put something
underneath him and the corpse and light it with a
cigarette lighter.
Then the truck left, and Dzhabrailov freed himself and
extinguished the lit fuse.
He looked at the corpse next to him and recognized his
brother's mangled body by his clothes.
