Russian investigators to thoroughly probe abductions in Chechnya

The Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General's Office has set up a special department in Chechnya to investigate abductions in the volatile southern republic.

The Investigation Committee at the Russian Prosecutor General's Office has set up a special department in Chechnya to investigate abductions in the volatile southern republic, Russia's top investigator said.

The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights has to deal with numerous complaints from Chechens, whose relatives disappeared in the late 1990s-early 2000s during the two separatist wars.

Russia has lost the vast majority of cases so far. Court rulings often state that the Russian authorities failed to conduct effective investigations into disappearances in the North Caucasus.

"We still face numerous complaints to the Strasbourg court. People are not always satisfied with our work in that direction, so we should do our best to carry out proper investigations and to establish all circumstances surrounding cases of missing people," Alexander Bastrykin said.

He said that the department "will investigate such cases in close cooperation with the affected families."

"Only such approach will demonstrate to the world community the effectiveness of Russia's law enforcement and judicial systems," Bastrykin added.

Moscow formally ended its decade-long antiterrorism operation in the volatile North Caucasus republic in April 2009, but violence has been seen to have increased. Last August, Russia's main investigations agency said abductions and murders have again been on the rise in Chechnya.

GROZNY, March 3 (RIA Novosti)