Tsotsin-Yurt operation

Tsotsin-Yurt 2001-2002
Part of Second Chechen War
Date December 30, 2001 to January 3, 2002 Location Tsotsin-Yurt, Chechnya Result Disputed, human rights violations
Belligerents
Spetsnaz	Chechen separatists
Casualties and losses
2+ killed 11 wounded	3+ killed
16 civilians killed or missing, numerous injured

The Tsotsin-Yurt operation was a four-day so-called cleansing operation (zachistka, Russian: зачистка) accompanied by armed clashes in the large village of Tsotsin-Yurt south of the Chechen capital Grozny.

Fighting

The operation by the Russian special forces started on December 30, 2001, and reportedly resulted in a disputed number of deaths among combatants and civilians, as well as 11 forced disappearances. The Russian casualties included at least two commandos killed and 11 wounded. Three rebel fighters who were surroundered in a house were also confirmed killed.^[1]

The Russian government sources, however, presented the incident as a fierce battle in which 21 to 43 rebel fighters died, according to the differing figures by Russian officials.^[1]

Abuses

According to the Russian human rights group Memorial, the sweep was accompanied by gross and massive violations of human rights and the norms of Russian law, including pillage and wanton destruction of civilian property, desecration of a mosque, massive robberies and extortion, and beatings and torture of around 100 detainees in the "filtration point", of which 11 were forcibly disappeared and five were found to be brutally murdered. There was also reported use of human shields by the Russian forces.^[1]

Foreign media sources reported the murders of 37, or even 80, civilians during the course of the operation, but this was not confirmed by the Memorial.^[1]

According to the April 2002 Amnesty International report, "The fate and whereabouts of the 11 people named in the original urgent action, who were detained by Russian security forces during the December 2001-January 2002 raid on Tsotsin-Yurt, is unknown."

Other cleansing operations in Tsotsin-Yurt

Other notorious "clean-up operations" in the village around this time took place in October to November 2001 and in February 2002 (after attack on a Russian vehicle^[2]), also resulting in a various human rights violations, including civilian killings, property destruction and looting.^[1][3]

According to a March 2002 open letter, during the war 41 residents of Tsotsin-Yurt died or disappeared during so-called mopping-up operations, more than 20 died of wounds inflicted by gunfire or bombings, five were killed at checkpoints, six were tortured to death, and 12 were picked up for questioning in their homes, some as long as two years before, and had yet to return.^[4]

References