Introduction

Since 1995 our organization has been monitoring violations of human rights in the army. Our monitoring has shown that torments are a common, widespread phenomenon in the Russian army. At first the new recruits are tortured by elder soldiers, officers and even commanders. Then the victims of these tortures themselves start to torture the others. In most cases, the perpetrators are never taken to court, especially when officers torture the soldiers. The judicial army system never defends the victim. It is the opposite, it favors this system of violence and humiliation.

Furthermore our monitoring has shown that especially army corps where torture is part of every day's life are fighting in Chechnya. The soldiers often see their only chance to escape from the violence in the barracks in fighting far away.

The most serious tortures are taking place in the North-Caucasus-region. From spring 1999 to September 2000 296 soldiers or their relatives addressed to us because of torture, slavery or gray labor, kidnapping, refusal of medical care or disappearances of soldiers.

We have also learned that the conscription plan of June of the military authorities foresees the recruitment of 6000 young Chechens that already received their official call to the Russian army in May.
So we had to go there in order to get an understanding of the situation in the North-Caucasus, which can result in new confrontations in the barracks, the escalation of fascism and violence within the army as well as the society. We planned to negotiate with the commanding staff of the army and the army prosecution office about concrete incidents of torture and to find soldiers long searched for by their families.
Another aim of our trip was to examine the violation of human rights of the citizens of Chechnya. Three members of our organization were travelling from the 1st until the 15th of August to the following places: Vladikavkaz, Nazral, Chechnya .