Amnesty warns Russia against toeing US methods on terror

Amnesty International, the global human rights watchdog, today cautioned Russia against following the footsteps of the US in combating terrorism.

Bush fixes blame on ultras, not Putin WASHINGTON: US President George W.Bush on Tuesday blamed the ‘‘terrorists’’ rather than Russian government for the deaths of 117 hostages. A State Department official said the US has asked Russia to explain the special forces assault on Saturday, in which 115 hostages were killed by gas. At the same time, the US said it has located a body believed to be of an American who died in the hostage crisis. Opiate gas likely in theatre siege: US embassy MOSCOW: An opium-based gas, not a nerve agent, may have been used in the storming of a packed Moscow theatre held by a Chechen suicide squad, a US embassy spokesman said on Tuesday. ‘‘A western embassy in Moscow had its physicians examine surviving hostages and concluded that the agent they were exposed to appears consistent with an opiate rather than a nerve agent,’’ he said. ‘‘Like other western embassies we asked the Russian authorities for information on the gas, and we received some preliminary information on the effects of the agent used. But they haven’t confirmed the name of the agent.’’ (Agencies) Story continues below this ad

Amnesty secretary general Irene Khan issued this warning in reference to President Vladimir Putin’s orders to the Russian armed forces to be ready for delivering strikes at terrorists threatening in any part of the world in the wake of three-day Moscow theatre siege in which 117 hostages were killed.

Khan, who arrived here to release a report on the abuse of human rights in Russia by law enforcement agencies and security services, underscored that the just-ended hostage-taking by chechen rebels was ‘‘another example of how ordinary people’s human rights are flagrantly disrespected’’ in the Russian federation.

A total 117 hostages and 50 rebels were killed in the special forces’ operation to end the siege. Speaking at the presentation of Amnesty report titled ‘‘Russian federation: Denial of Justice’’, Chechen right’s champion Moscow journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who had to rush to Moscow cutting short her US visit after the Chechen hostage-takers nominated her as a mediator, blasted Putin for ordering commando assault in which so many people were killed.

Drafted last June, the report’s publication coincides with a major campaign by Amnesty to highlight the discrepancy between the human rights protection enshrined under international and Russian law and the reality of widespread abuse.

Meanwhile, 333 survivors of the hostage crisis were released from hospital on Tuesday morning.