Moscow: Amnesty International, the global Human Rights watchdog, on October 29 cautioned Russia against following the footsteps of the United States in combating terrorism.

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 in Moscow 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.

PTI