"Memorial"*: massacre of Samashki villagers remains unpunished for 28 years

The murder committed by law enforcers of more than a hundred civilians in the Chechen village of Samashki back in 1995, has not been investigated for 28 years; and the perpetrators have not been punished, the "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence has pointed out.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 7-8, 1995, the forces of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) conducted a special operation to "clean up" the village of Samashki, the Achkhoi-Martan District of Chechnya. During the "cleansing operation", apart from losses on the part of law enforcers and Chechen militants, more than 100 local villagers were killed. This case became the most known case of the massacre of civilians during the Chechen military campaigns.

According to human rights defenders, grenades were thrown into houses, yards and basements where villagers were hiding and there were no militants. "Militaries shot unarmed residents dead, including women and the elderly. They set fire to houses with people inside. Thus, on April 8, when there were no more armed clashes, they killed by shots from the passing armoured vehicles Khava Gunasheva, 18, Abdul-Rashid Khuseinov, 61, and Rezvan Khuseinov, 16," the website of the "Memorial" has informed.

"The execution in the place of detention became the most common cause of death of men in Samashki on April 7 and 8. As a rule, this happened immediately after militaries entered the house or yard, sometimes after beating local residents up. Rights defenders documented 30 such killings," the website has added.

In April-June and August 1995, members of the observatory mission of human rights public organizations visited Samashki. They established the death of 103 villagers, including 13 girls and women and 20 men over 61 years old. The youngest of the casualties was 15 years old.