An international human rights organisation accused...

An international human rights organisation accused the Russian military of a campaign of executions in Chechnya to deliberately reduce the break-away republic's male population. In a report, the International Helsinki Federation (IHF) alleged that Chechen men are regularly abducted and murdered during sweep and search operations by Russian special forces. Following visits to Chechnya and the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia, senior representatives of the federation say between 50 and 80 bodies are recovered each month after operations by Russian special forces. But the prime minister of the Kremlin-backed Chechen government, Stanislav Ilyasov, rejected the accusations, describing the figures as "the fantasies of a sick man". He said people died in clashes between rebels and federal forces, or as a result of violent crime, but there was no link between people dying and "special operations". The IHF says its death statistics are a conservative estimate for the past six months based on research by human rights groups and reports from Chechen civilians. It adds that the corpses are overwhelmingly young and male - and describes the situation as "a process of thinning out a population of young men". "The process by which young Chechen men are being abducted and murdered... is on a huge scale in a world context," said the human rights group's executive director, Aaron Rhodes. Although President Vladimir Putin has criticised the conduct of Russian troops involved in sweep and search operations, Russia denies its troops have been involved in systematic abuses. It says excesses are investigated and punished and that life in the rebel province is returning to normal.