ZNAMENSKOYE, Chechnya (CNN) -- Any day now, 23-year-old Shoda Loptanova will give birth. Her child will enter the world in a muddy tent city in Chechnya called Znamenskoye. December 5, 2001 

Shoda and her husband have lived here for two years, ever since the second Chechen war began.

Two families -- nine people -- live in their tent, which leaks when it rains or snows.

This week, the camp had visitors: European and Russian members of the Council of Europe's Joint Working Group on Chechnya.

They came to see with their own eyes how the 2,800 people living here are faring.

"They are desperate for security and to go home, but they need security, they need homes," says group member Lara Ragnarsdottir.

But back home, there is no security. As one human rights group describes it, Chechnya -- including areas controlled by the Russian military -- has become a "zone beyond any rule of law."

Lela Jankhotova, who used to work for the Chechen Health Department, says the Chechen conflict is only partly about terrorism.

"This is a dirty war ... a commercial war based on greed. What's keeping this war going is who gets the dollars in their pockets," says Jankhotova.

Camp residents and administrators offer differing versions of life here. The administration says things are slowly getting better, but the people here say they've heard that for two years.

Vladimir Kalamanov, the Russian president's representative on human rights in Chechnya, hears camp residents' complaints. He says the camps will be removed in two months and the residents resettled. He says he has the promise of the Chechen administration.

"All camps on the territory of Chechnya. I got the word from Mr. (Akhmad) Kadyrov (head of the Kremlin-appointed Chechen administration). I hope it will be done," says Kalamanov.

As the working group flies over the ruined Chechen capital of Grozny, they see the magnitude of the task ahead: 70 percent of the buildings are destroyed.

But there are some glimmers of hope: Generals may still sit at the head of the table, but the military presence is slowly being reduced. And records are now being kept of civilian complaints of human rights abuses.

"Military action may be necessary when you're faced with terrorism. Of course it may be. We've seen that in Afghanistan," says Lord Judd, head of the working group delegation.

"But military, in and of itself, can never provide the lasting answer."

That, the working group's members agree, can come only from a political solution from warring factions willing to put the Chechen people's welfare first -- something the people at the Znamenskoye camp don't have much faith in.

 

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