Bombing of Katyr-Yurt

The bombing of Katyr-Yurt ( Chechnya )4 February 2000, Two days before the fall of Grozny , made several hundred victims civil (estimates range from 170 to 363 ¹ ) during an operation by Russian forces in the Chechen conflict .

Located at the rear of the front and considered part of the “security zone” under Russian occupation, the village was targeted because of the presence of Chechen insurgents who infiltrated the village, using, according to the Russian government, the inhabitants As a human shield .

There is a certain notoriety, partly because the village was subjected to aerial bombardment and artillery fire when many civilians were present, and partly because a convoy of refugees , A white flag , was also struck ^{2 , 3} , like what had happened in the Isayeva case, etc., c. Russia (ECHR, 24 February 2005). The village had already been bombed in 1995 and 1996 ^{4 , 5} .

Above all, several victims or relatives of the latter have lodged a complaint before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), obtaining their case, in particular considering that:

“The use of artillery and air bombs in a populated area , outside a wartime situation ; officially, the Chechen conflict is seen by Russia as a policing operation] and without prior evacuation of civilians, was impossible to reconcile with the prudence [ caution ] expected from a law enforcement agency [ law-enforcement body ] in a democratic society ⁶ ”

.

According to some journalists, including John Sweeney (en) of the Guardian ¹ , the Russian army has also used vacuum bombs or fuel-air explosives , a thermobaric weapon : a bomb dropped by a parachute and which emits a highly volatile incendiary gas. Explodes shortly after ⁷ . The use of these bombs is banned by the Geneva Convention . ^{[Ref. Necessary]} The subject was not ^approached by the ECHR in the Abuyeva case (although §53 refers to a bomb dropped by parachute). However, the matter Zara Isayeva (separate from the case sparked namesake) in fact state (§165, etc.) ⁸ .

References

• ( In ) This article is partially or entirely from the article in English entitled ” Bombing of Katyr- Yurt ” ( see the list of authors ) .