Human rights violations were committed by the warring sides during the second war in Chechnya. Only Russian officials and Chechen rebels have been regularly and repeatedly accused of committing war crimes including kidnapping, torture, murder, hostage taking, looting, rape, decapitation, and assorted other breaches of the law of war. International and humanitarian organizations, including the Council of Europe and Amnesty International, have criticized both sides of the conflict for blatant and sustained violations of international humanitarian law.

Crimes

Forced disappearances

Human rights campaigners estimate that since September 1999 – the start of the second Chechen conflict – as many as 5,000 people have disappeared and are feared dead. According to Amnesty International in 2005, Russian officials give about 2,000 as the official figure for "disappearances" since late 1999.

Mass hostage takings

Moscow theater hostage crisis

On October 23, 2002, over 40 terrorists took more than 700 hostages prisoner at a Moscow theater. The hostage-takers demanded an end to the Russian presence in Chechnya, and threatened to execute the hostages if their conditions were not met. The siege ended violently on October 26, when Russian troops were forced to storm the building after the detonation of some explosive devices inside. Many casualties resulted from the fact that unconscious victims' airways were blocked and sub-optimal care was given during the rescue. In particular, the failure of Russian authorities to equip their troops with opioid antidotes and their efforts to conceal the identity of the gas for days afterward hindered efforts to save the lives of the stricken hostages. On November 2, Shamil Basayev assumed responsibility for the attack and apologized to Aslan Maskhadov for not informing him of the plan.

Beslan school siege

On September 1, 2004, a group of 32 heavily armed, masked men seized control of Middle School Number One and more than 1,000 hostages in Beslan, North Ossetia. Most of the hostages were children aged from six to sixteen years old. Following a tense two-day standoff punctuated by occasional gunfire and explosions, Alpha Group of the FSB raided the building. The fighting lasted more than two hours; ultimately 331 civilians, 11 commandos and 31 hostage-takers died. Russian officials publicly linked Basayev and Maskhadov to the attack. Basayev claimed responsibility in a September 17 website publication; Maskhadov denounced the attacks and denied involvement. The carnage at Beslan and the outcry it caused has had an unexpected effect on the tactics employed by Chechen separatists and their allies.

Other hostage incidents

Meanwhile, the practice of taking civilians hostages exists among the officers of Russian and local security agencies in Chechnya. On March 1, 2004, officers of security agencies seized more than 30 relatives of former Ichkerian defence minister Magomed Khambiyev, including women, in the Khambiyev family's native village of Benoy in Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurtovsky District. Magomed Khambiyev got an ultimatum to lay down his arms in exchange for the lives of his relatives; he did it, giving himself up to the authorities in a few days.

Massacres

Indiscriminate attacks

Documented mass killings

From 1999 to 2004, the Chernokozovo detention center operated as a filtration and torture camp, and human rights abuses were documented in the facility.

Rebel bombings

Suicide bombings

Between June 2000 and September 2004, Chechen insurgents added suicide attacks to their weaponry. During this period there were 23 Chechen related suicide attacks in and outside Chechnya, targeting both military and civilian targets, the profiles of the suicide bombers have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings. Although only six of the attacks were directed against civilians, these attacks have drawn the lion's share of the publicity generated by Chechen suicide tactics.

Terrorist raids

During the Insurgency phase of Second Chechen War, numerous raids and terrorist attacks were carried out by the jihadists. These include the 2004 Nalchik raid, 2004 Avtury raid, 2004 Nazran raid, 2004 Grozny raid, and the 2005 Nalchik raid. These attacks constitute as terrorism because they were attacks and armed incursions on infrastructure, civilian areas, civilians, government buildings, government officials, on law enforcement, and unarmed traffic patrol officers (ДПС), and also often included hostage taking and the usage of civilians as human shields.

Legal proceedings

Trial in Russia

Trials of Chechen separatists

Since the Russian authorities do not treat the war as an armed conflict and enemies as combatants, the Chechen separatists are invariably described by the Russian government as terrorists or bandits. Captured extremists are routinely tried for such articles of the Russian criminal code as illegal weapons possession, "forming and participating in illegal armed groups," and banditry. This strips detainees of key rights and protection under the Geneva Convention rules of war, including the right to be released at the end of the conflict and not to be held criminally liable for lawful combat. Participation in combat is treated as murder or attempted murder and terrorism, making little if any distinction with incidents of actual murders and terrorism.

Trials of Russian servicemen

The cases of a Russian servicemen being tried for war crimes are few and far between, no one has been charged with mistreatment or the murder of captured enemy fighters. Nevertheless, several servicemen have been accused and convicted of crimes against civilians.

European Court of Human Rights

In October 2004, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) agreed to try cases brought by Chechen civilians against the Russian government. As of November 2007, 23 cases were decided by the Court. The cases include: