Another area of interest to our group is the human rights situation in Chechnya. While the October 2002 hostage crisis in Moscow temporarily put the conflict on the front pages, the ongoing tragedy in Chechnya often receives little attention from the international community.

The conflict in Chechnya is of concern to Amnesty International for the following reasons:

• The Russian military has been responsible for widespread violations of human rights, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, "disappearances," and extra-judicial executions.

• Chechen forces have violated international humanitarian law by attacking civilians working in the local administration in Chechnya, failing to take steps to minimize civilian casualties, and killing or mistreating captured Russian soldiers.

• Some 300,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the fighting and as of mid-2002, approximately 160,000 remained in camps for refugees and the internally displaced.