Chechnya grave contained 48 bodies

Much of Grozny has been destroyed in fighting

MOSCOW, Russia -- A senior Russian official has said a mass grave in Chechnya contained 48 bodies.

Russia's chief prosecutor in the breakaway province, Vsevolod Chernov, told Interfax news agency the grave -- in a suburb of the capital Grozny -- had now been fully examined.

Russia claims most of the bodies were of Chechen rebel fighters. Many Chechens argue that people kidnapped by the Russians were buried in the grave, in Zdorovye.

The discovery coincided with the visit to Chechnya of the Council of Europe human rights commissioner, Alvaro Gil-Robles. He has asked the Russian authorities for a full investigation.

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Russian sources have said some of the human remains in the grave were booby-trapped, using trip-wires linked to mines.

Chernov told Interfax he believed the bodies had been buried between one year and one-and-a-half months ago. He said most appeared to be rebel fighters.

"Many of them are dressed in a foreign camouflage (and) Turkish underwear," he said. "Practically all the bodies bear gunshot wounds and bandages."

Russia sent troops to Chechnya in October 1999 to clamp down on the region's independence campaign. Much of Grozny has been destroyed in heavy fighting.

Russia now says it controls the whole territory of Chechnya, but several servicemen die every week as a result of rebel hit-and-run attacks.

Rebels and Russian human rights campaigners accuse the troops stationed in Chechnya of massive kidnappings of local residents, some of whom are killed and others freed for ransom.

Rebel spokesman Movladi Udugov has said the Zdorovye grave contains the bodies of people kidnapped by Russian troops.

The Russian military denies kidnapping civilians.

Russian colonel Yuri Budanov is currently on trial in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on charges of kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old Chechen girl, the first such case involving a senior officer.

Budanov denies kidnapping the girl. He says she was detained on suspicion of being a rebel sniper and that her death during interrogation was not a premeditated killing.

Chernov said investigators were looking into statements by Grozny residents, who say that several of the people buried in Zdorovye were relatives who had recently disappeared, rather than rebel fighters.

He said local people would be invited to identify the bodies.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Human Rights Watch - Chechnya
Chechen Republic Online
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