Bombing of Katyr-Yurt
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The bombing of Katyr-Yurt (Chechnya) occurred on February 4, 2000, in an attempt to stop the Chechen rebel retreat from Grozny, Russian Federation forces bombed the village, and then a civilian convoy under white flags.
The bombing lasted for two days and at least 170 civilians (some 363 according one count [1]) were killed.
[edit] Events
A special operation was planned and executed by the federal military commanders to entice rebel forces from besieged Grozny. That plan involved leading the Chechen separatist fighters to believe that a safe exit would be possible out of Grozny. On February 2, 2000 they were allowed to leave the city and were then caught in minefields and attacked by artillery and the air force.
Fleeing the ambush, a group of armed fighters arrived in Katyr-Yurt and the residents were not warned in advance of their arrival or told of safe exit routes by the Russian side. The heavy bombardment of the village began in the early hours of the morning and subsided at approximately 3 p.m.
Villagers then attempted to leave, believing that the military had granted a safe passage out of the village. As they were leaving by road, planes appeared and bombed the cars.
[edit] ECHR judegement
On February 24, 2005 the European Court of Human Rights held Russia responsible for the civilian deaths.
The Court concluded that the military operation in Katyr-Yurt, aimed at either disarmament or destruction of the fighters, had not been spontaneous. The Court regarded it as evident that when the military had contemplated the deployment of aviation equipped with heavy combat weapons within the boundaries of a populated area, they should also have considered the inherent dangers. There was however no evidence to conclude that such considerations played a significant role in the planning.
The military used heavy free-falling high-explosion aviation bombs FAB-250 and FAB-500 with a damage radius exceeding 1,000 metres. Using this kind of weapon in a populated area, outside wartime and without prior evacuation of the civilians, was impossible to reconcile with the degree of caution expected from a law-enforcement body in a democratic society.
It was further noted that no martial law and no state of emergency had been declared in Chechnya, and no derogation has been entered under Article 15 of the Convention. The operation therefore had to be judged against a normal legal background.
Even when faced with a situation where, as the Government had submitted, the villagers had been held hostage by a large group of fighters, the primary aim of the operation should be to protect lives from unlawful violence. The use of indiscriminate weapons stood in flagrant contrast with this aim and could not be considered compatible with the standard of care prerequisite to an operation of this kind involving the use of lethal force by State agents. [2]
