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Filtration camp system in Chechnya

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need to flee active fighting. (...) Men are regularly beaten during the detention process, and frequently subjected to taunts and threats. On occasion, women have been raped at checkpoints after being detained. (...) Russian forces commonly rounded up and detained groups of Chechen men in 'mop-ups,' or operations to flush out or detain rebels and their collaborators, following the takeover of Chechen communities. Russian forces also carry out arrest sweeps and house-to-house searches after guerrilla ambushes or other attacks. In some cases, the male population of a village was rounded up, taken to an empty field, and subjected to beatings while Russian officials looked for suspected rebels. Those rounded up in mop-up operations are treated especially harshly: Russian forces beat them mercilessly, sometimes to death, and have summarily executed others."
108:(HRW) published its 99-page investigative report "Welcome to Hell", detailing how Russian troops have detained thousands of Chechens, "many of them were detained arbitrarily, with no evidence of wrongdoing. Guards at detention centers systematically beat Chechen detainees, some of whom have also been raped or subjected to other forms of torture. Most were released only after their families paid large bribes to Russian officials." HRW noted that despite the 122:"Chechens who do not have proper identity papers, who share a surname with a Chechen commander, who are thought to have relatives who are fighters, or who simply 'look' like fighters, continue to be detained and abused on a daily basis in their communities or at Chechnya’s hundreds of checkpoints. Many 'disappear' for months as Russian officials keep them in 199:
of many people. Illegal prisons were created at the places of deployment of military units or special units of the Ministry of Interior and the prisoners kept in them were not officially registered anywhere neither as being detained. The largest and best known of them was located at the military base
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detention. Some are eventually released when relatives pay a bribe. Others never come back. (...) Chechens are so commonly detained at checkpoints within Chechnya and along Chechnya’s borders with other parts of Russia that many have gone to great lengths to avoid travel altogether, even when they
97:. According to Memorial, the purpose of the "filtration" system in Chechnya, besides being part of the general state terror system for suppression and intimidation of the population, was enforced recruitment of a network of informers, and was characterised by its non-selectivity, that is by 160:
The first camp in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, opened in January 1995. Russian forces beat and tortured the Chechens held there. Many were used by Russian forces as human shields in combat and as hostages to be exchanged for Russian soldiers captured by Chechen fighters.
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resolution urging Russia to launch a national commission of inquiry that would establish accountability for abuse, the Russian authorities did not launch any "credible and transparent effort to investigate these abuses and bring the perpetrators to justice."
204:, where many prisoners were held in the holes dug in the ground. In addition, temporary "filtration camps" were set up in the open fields or in abandoned premises on the outskirts of the towns and villages in the course of numerous "mopping-up" ( 172:, and other makeshift camps in various locations in Chechnya, including at a fruit warehouse in Tolstoy-Yurt, at a poultry processing plant and the basement of the "Chekhkar" café in Chiri-Yurt, and in the capital 231:, one of the "disappeared" who remains unaccounted for). Activists said they collected the evidence just in time, before the building housing the cellar was demolished in an apparent crude cover-up attempt. 54:
as name of the facilities illegally created for the purpose of holding the persons detained by the federal forces in the course of an operation "to restore constitutional order" in
149:, set up in a former prison in 1999. Chernokozovo was subject of a significant attention in 2000, as well as at least two illegal detention and torture related rulings by the 223:
that had been stationed nearby during the early 2000s to hold, torture and kill hundreds of people, whose bodies were then dumped throughout Chechnya. A member of the unit,
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of a former school for deaf children in Oktyabrsokye district of Grozny, which they alleged had been used by a unit of the Russian special police
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According to Memorial, other long-term "filtration points" run by federal forces included the notorious "Titanic" facility located between
62:, beginning in 1999, some of the "filtration" facilities got legitimate status of investigative isolators (SIZO) subordinated to the 445: 113: 383: 302: 168:
identified the following "filtration camps": the detention facility in Kadi-Yurt, a makeshift detention facility in a school in
250: 67: 321: 450: 339: 150: 98: 224: 146: 440: 63: 81:, "by the most modest estimations", the overall number of those having passed through the established and 460: 455: 435: 407: 275: 255: 89:'s population of less than one million), of whom "practically all" were subjected to beatings and 425: 245: 71: 165: 157:
in 2008, the latter also including the subsequent summary execution of her and her family).
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In 2006, Russia's human rights groups produced a documentary evidence of a secret
176:. The facilities outside of Chechnya included the prison hospital and the SIZO at 387: 306: 212: 109: 419: 154: 408:"Welcome to Hell": Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Extortion in Chechnya 140: 169: 177: 31: 145:
One of main, and the best known, filtration camps in Chechnya was the
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Widespread Torture in the Chechen Republic: Lack of Accountability
90: 70:, but with an unclear legal status and no apparent basis in the 188: 173: 27: 357:
Real scale of atrocities in Chechnya: New evidence of cover-up
85:"filtration points" reaches at least 200,000 people (out of 66:
and temporary detention isolators (IVS) subordinated to the
220: 340:"Inside Russia's 'Filtration Camps' in Eastern Ukraine" 227:was convicted in 2005 of torturing Chechen student 153:(the cases of the Chitayev brothers in 2007 and of 50:The term "filtration point" re-appeared during the 417: 45: 381:Russian 'torture cell' found in Grozny cellar 141:"Filtration points" in the Second Chechen War 410:, Human Rights Watch, 1 October 2000 (UNHCR) 77:According to the Russian human rights group 114:United Nations Commission on Human Rights 101:and mass detentions of innocent people. 337: 72:criminal code of the Russian Federation 418: 359:, Amnesty International, 24 March 2000 295: 293: 291: 289: 251:Russian filtration camps of Ukrainians 317: 315: 466:War crimes of the Second Chechen War 286: 58:territory in 1994–1996. During the 13: 338:Kortava, David (October 3, 2022). 312: 14: 477: 401: 322:Inside the 'Hell' of Chernokozovo 446:Military prisoner abuse scandals 276:"Russian forces seal off Grozny" 374: 362: 350: 331: 268: 151:European Court of Human Rights 1: 261: 147:Chernokozovo detention center 7: 234: 16:Russian concentration camps 10: 482: 451:Police brutality in Russia 38:and then again during the 26:, were camps used by the 371:, HRW, November 13, 2006 324:, HRW, 26 October 2000 ( 256:Nazi concentration camps 246:Mass graves in Chechnya 309:, Memorial, 2008/09/04 208:) special operations. 129: 30:forces for their mass 166:Amnesty International 120: 441:History of Chechnya 282:. 18 February 2000. 182:Stavropol Territory 64:Ministry of Justice 46:"Filtration" system 34:centers during the 24:concentration camps 386:2007-09-30 at the 305:2012-03-14 at the 241:Russian war crimes 229:Zelimkhan Murdalov 133:Human Rights Watch 106:Human Rights Watch 95:summarily executed 60:Second Chechen War 40:Second Chechen War 461:Torture in Russia 456:Prisons in Russia 300:Filtration System 104:In October 2000, 99:arbitrary arrests 68:Interior Ministry 52:First Chechen War 36:First Chechen War 20:Filtration camps, 473: 436:Internment camps 395: 378: 372: 366: 360: 354: 348: 347: 335: 329: 326:The Moscow Times 319: 310: 297: 284: 283: 272: 195:, the site of a 136: 93:, and some were 56:Chechen Republic 481: 480: 476: 475: 474: 472: 471: 470: 416: 415: 404: 399: 398: 392:The Independent 388:Wayback Machine 379: 375: 367: 363: 355: 351: 344:Pulitzer Center 336: 332: 320: 313: 307:Wayback Machine 298: 287: 274: 273: 269: 264: 237: 197:"disappearance" 143: 138: 131: 48: 17: 12: 11: 5: 479: 469: 468: 463: 458: 453: 448: 443: 438: 433: 428: 426:2000 in Russia 412: 411: 403: 402:External links 400: 397: 396: 373: 361: 349: 330: 311: 285: 266: 265: 263: 260: 259: 258: 253: 248: 243: 236: 233: 213:torture center 142: 139: 135:, October 2000 119: 110:European Union 47: 44: 22:also known as 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 478: 467: 464: 462: 459: 457: 454: 452: 449: 447: 444: 442: 439: 437: 434: 432: 429: 427: 424: 423: 421: 414: 409: 406: 405: 394:, 9 June 2006 393: 389: 385: 382: 377: 370: 365: 358: 353: 345: 341: 334: 327: 323: 318: 316: 308: 304: 301: 296: 294: 292: 290: 281: 277: 271: 267: 257: 254: 252: 249: 247: 244: 242: 239: 238: 232: 230: 226: 222: 218: 214: 209: 207: 203: 198: 194: 190: 185: 183: 179: 175: 171: 167: 162: 158: 156: 155:Zura Bitiyeva 152: 148: 137: 134: 128: 125: 124:incommunicado 118: 115: 111: 107: 102: 100: 96: 92: 88: 84: 80: 75: 73: 69: 65: 61: 57: 53: 43: 41: 37: 33: 29: 25: 21: 413: 391: 376: 364: 352: 343: 333: 325: 280:The Guardian 279: 270: 225:Sergei Lapin 210: 205: 186: 163: 159: 144: 130: 121: 103: 82: 76: 49: 23: 19: 18: 431:Child abuse 170:Urus-Martan 112:-sponsored 420:Categories 262:References 178:Pyatigorsk 32:internment 206:zachistka 193:Tsentoroy 164:In 2000, 384:Archived 303:Archived 235:See also 217:basement 202:Khankala 87:Chechnya 79:Memorial 215:in the 91:torture 28:Russian 189:Aleroy 174:Grozny 83:ad hoc 221:OMON 191:and 200:at 180:in 422:: 390:, 342:. 314:^ 288:^ 278:. 184:. 74:. 42:. 346:. 328:)

Index

Russian
internment
First Chechen War
Second Chechen War
First Chechen War
Chechen Republic
Second Chechen War
Ministry of Justice
Interior Ministry
criminal code of the Russian Federation
Memorial
Chechnya
torture
summarily executed
arbitrary arrests
Human Rights Watch
European Union
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
incommunicado
Human Rights Watch
Chernokozovo detention center
European Court of Human Rights
Zura Bitiyeva
Amnesty International
Urus-Martan
Grozny
Pyatigorsk
Stavropol Territory
Aleroy
Tsentoroy

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