full version - World Organisation Against Torture

Russiafind their disappeared relatives, they face enormous obstacles in receivingany information as the various government institutions merely pass theblame between each other, with no one actually conducting a transparentinvestigation. Frequently, investigations are suspended with the authoritiesclaiming that the perpetrators were unidentifiable. Although the newPenal Code in Russia allows for the prosecution of authorities for failingto properly investigate a case, the necessary evidence to file such a case isoften “classified,” thus leaving no real possibility of holding prosecutorsaccountable for their inadequacy. 79 In some cases, when the body of theirrelative is found, women are forced to pay in order to get the body backfrom the authorities. 80The psychological trauma and hardships suffered by women on accountof the fact that their male relatives have disappeared cannot be underestimated.The Secretary General’s report on Women, Peace and Security recognizedthat “the ‘disappearance’ of male relatives affects women’s statusin their societies and traumatizes women who cannot find closure as longas they are hoping for the return of their relatives.” 81When a woman’s husband is disappeared or killed, she receives no publicsupport in the form of pensions. Children are entitled to an allocationwhen their father is killed, and oftentimes the entire family becomesdependent on this money, but such allocation is dependent on the presenceof a death certificate. In cases where the husband is disappeared, familiesare often reluctant to apply for a death certificate because it gives thepolice a justification to cease the search for their relative.Interviews conducted, as well as numerous reports, reveal that Russiantroops have been responsible for the rapes of many women during thecourse of the two conflicts in Chechnya. Women are particularly vulnerableto such sexual violence during “cleansing” operations of privatehomes. As many men are no longer in the homes (having fled the perpetualdangers of arbitrary arrest, detention and torture, as well as to join thecombatants in the mountains), women are often alone in the home whensoldiers enter. Cases have also been reported of women being raped infront of their husbands and other male relatives or women being rapedwhile being forced to watch their relatives being attacked in other ways.In addition, women are also vulnerable to rape at checkpoints and indetention centers.317