Second Chechen War crimes and terrorism The article details notable human rights violations committed by the warring sides during the second war in Chechnya . Russian officials and Chechen rebels have been regularly and repeatedly accused of committing various war crimes , including kidnapping , torture , murder , hostage taking , looting , rape , beheading and assorted other breaches of the laws of war . International and humanitarian organization s , including the Council of Europe and Amnesty International , have criticized both sides of the conflict for blatant and sustained violations of international humanitarian law . Crimes . Forced disappearances . Human rights campaigners estimate that since September 1999 - the start of the second Chechen conflict - as many as 5 , 000 people have disappeared and are feared dead . According to Amnesty International in 2005 , Russian officials give about 2 , 000 as the official figure for " disappearances " since late 1999 . Mass hostage takings . The Moscow theater hostage crisis . On October 23 , 2002 , over 40 terrorists took more than 700 hostages prisoner at a Moscow theater . The hostage - takers demanded an end to the Russian presence in Chechnya , and threatened to execute the hostages if their conditions were not met . The siege ended violently on October 26 , when Russian troops were forced to storm the building after the detonation of some explosive devices inside . Many casualties resulted from the fact that unconscious victims ' airways were blocked and sub - optimal care was given during the rescue . In particular , the failure of Russian authorities to equip their troops with opioid antidote s and their efforts to conceal the identity of the gas for days afterward hindered efforts to save the lives of the stricken hostages . On November 2 Basayev assumed responsibility for the attack and apologized to Maskhadov for not informing him of the plan . The Beslan school siege . On September 1 , 2004 , a group of 32 heavily armed , masked men seized control of Middle School Number One and more than 1 , 000 hostages in Beslan , North Ossetia . Most of the hostages were children aged from six to sixteen years old . Following a tense two - day standoff punctuated by occasional gunfire and explosions , Alpha Group of the FSB raided the building . The fighting lasted more than two hours ; ultimately 331 civilians , 11 commandos and 31 hostage - takers died . Russian officials publicly linked Baseyev and Maskhadov to the attack . Baseyev claimed responsibility in a September 17 website publication ; Maskhadov denounced the attacks and denied involvement . The carnage at Beslan and the outcry it caused has had an unexpected effect on the tactics employed by Chechen separatists and their allies . Other hostage incidents . Meanwhile , the practice of taking civilians hostages exists among the officers of Russian and local security agencies in Chechnya . On March 1 , 2004 , officers of security agencies seized more than 30 relatives of former Ichkeria n defence minister Magomed Khambiyev , including women , in the Khambiyev family ' s native village of Benoy in Chechnya ' s Nozhay - Yurtovsky District . Magomed Khambiyev got an ultimatum to lay down his arms in exchange for the lives of his relatives ; he did it , giving himself up to the authorities in a few days . Rebel bombings . Suicide bombings . Between June 2000 and September 2004 , Chechen insurgents added suicide attack s to their weaponry . During this period there were 23 Chechen related suicide attacks in and oustide Chechnya , targeting both military and civilian targets , the profiles of the suicide bomber s have varied just as much as the circumstances surrounding the bombings . Although only six of the attacks were directed against civilians , these attacks have drawn the lion ' s share of the publicity generated by Chechen suicide tactics . Legal proceedings . Trial in Russia . Trials of Chechen fighters . Since the Russian authorities do not treat the war as an armed conflict and enemies as combatants , the secessionist Chechen fighters are invariably described by the Russian government as terrorists or bandits . Captured extremists are routinely tried for such articles of the Russian criminal code as illegal weapons possession , " forming and participating in illegal armed groups , " and banditry . This strips detainees of key rights and protection under the Geneva Convention rules of war , including the right to be released at the end of the conflict and not to be held criminally liable for lawful combat . Participation in combat is treated as murder or attempted murder and terrorism , making little if any distinction with incidents of actual murders and terrorism . Trials of Russian servicemen . The cases of a Russian servicemen being tried for war crimes are few and far between , no one has been charged with mistreatment or the murder of captured enemy fighters . Several servicemen have been accused and even convicted of a crimes against civilians : European Court of Human Rights . In October 2004 , the European Court of Human Rights ( ECHR ) agreed to try cases brought by Chechen civilians against the Russian government . As of November 2007 , 23 cases were decided by the Court . The cases include :