UNITED NATIONS (IPS)�A leading U.S. human rights group has renewed a call for the United Nations to investigate violations of international humanitarian law in Chechnya�even as Russia intensified its war against the breakaway republic.

Iain Levine of Amnesty International said he was skeptical that the 15-member UN Security Council would take the initiative on Chechnya because two of the big five�the United States and Russia�may have struck a deal.

According to diplomatic sources, Russia held back its veto against a recent U.S.-U.K resolution on Iraq in return for "no action" on the fighting in Chechnya.

Mr. Levine said that only six countries�Canada, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Bahrain, Gambia and Gabon�agreed to a briefing on the humanitarian situation in Chechnya.

The six fell short of a majority in the Security Council, whose other members include the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia, Brazil, Slovenia, Argentina and Namibia. Although Iraq applied pressure on Moscow to veto the U.S.-British resolution, the Russians abstained.

The resolution established a new UN arms inspection team to probe Iraq�s weapons of mass destruction but it did not agree to Iraqi demands for the lifting of nine-year-old sanctions against Baghdad.

In a report released the week of Dec. 23, Amnesty International said, while civilians continue to suffer in Chechnya, they were being targeted on the streets and in police stations in Moscow.

After the bombing of residential buildings in Moscow last September, Russian authorities embarked on a campaign code-named "Operation Whirlwind." Although no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing�which killed nearly 300 people�the mayor of Moscow blamed Islamic groups from Chechnya.

Amnesty International said it was not only concerned about the way in which the Russian forces were waging war in Chechnya�in apparent disregard of international humanitarian law�but also the discriminatory manner in which Chechens had been targeted by authorities in Moscow.

The human rights organization said that since October, it had collected testimonies from Chechens and other ethnic minorities in Moscow who had been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment in custody, and forcible expulsion.

"Many alleged that they had drugs and weapons planted on them which were used as the basis for criminal charges," the report said.

The study said that many Chechens even had sewn up their pockets in order to prevent anything being planted on them if stopped by police.

Amnesty International also called on the authorities of the Chechen Republic and the leadership of Chechen armed groups to respect international humanitarian law. The worst criticism was reserved for Russian forces.

Testimonies from civilians who have the Russian military offensive in Chechnya indicated "indiscriminate attacks or direct attacks on civilians" which were grave breaches of international humanitarian law, Amnesty said.

The testimonies further revealed the existence of secret "filtration camps" where Chechen men and women were detained after being singled out at the border and checked against a list of alleged Chechen fighters and their supporters.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing visible signs of beatings on people who had been detained at the Russian border crossing checkpoint.

The report said the Russian government should disclose the names of all those detained in "filtration camps," including at border crossings, and grant the International Committee of the Red Cross immediate access to such detainees.