ПРАВОЗАЩИТНЫЙ ЦЕНТР «МЕМОРИАЛ»

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25 July 2008

A Human Rights Defender and Applicant to European Court for Human Rights Abducted in Ingushetia

On July 25 2008 in the village of Troitskaya, Sunzhensky district of Ingushetia, personnel of unidentified (reportedly federal) security servicemen abducted Zurab Tsetchoev, a member of “Mashr” human rights group, born in 1963, resident of Kurortnaya street, 10.

At 6 a.m. three armed troops carriers, three minibuses “Gazel” and several other vehicles arrived to the house of Zurab Tsetchoev. Security servicemen (at least 50 people) got out and knocked on the gates of the house. Zurab Tsetchoev opened the gates. Security servicemen forced him on the ground face down and pointed guns at him. Some of the servicemen entered the house. They did not present themselves and did not show any identification documents, but spoke unaccented Russian. They behaved rudely. An unsanctioned search was carried out in the house without witnesses or warrant. The search in the house was superficial. The security servicemen took Zurab’s computer and two mobile phones. Tsetchoev was put into Gazel mini-bus and driven away.

Until 12 a.m. the relatives could not establish the whereabouts of Zurab Tsetchoev. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Prosecutor’s office claimed they did not know who and on which grounds detained Tsetchoev.

At 12.40 a.m. Tsetchoev was dropped by security servicemen on a road between the Ingush towns of Magas and Nazran. He was picked up by his colleagues and delivered first to the office of Memorial and then to the Republican Clinical Hospital. Zurab was very badly beaten, virtually unable to move on his own. In the hospital he was diagnosed with a broken leg, contusion of both kidneys, contusion of both arms (see photos at http://www.ingushetiya.ru/news/14923.html and http://www.memo.ru/2008/07/25/2507082.htm ).

Zurab Tsetchoev is a member of Ingush human rights group ANO “Mashr” (http://www.mashr.org/index.php ) since the first day of its foundation in April 2005. He is an applicant to European Court for Human Rights where he complained about ineffective investigation of the abduction of his brother Tamerlan Tsetchoev in March 2004. Zurab brings up nine children – five of his own and four children of his abducted brother.

Attachment:

On March 11, 2004 at night in the village of Verkhniye Achaluki, Malgobek region of Republic Ingushetia unidentified armed men driving “Niva” and “Gazel” cars abducted two people. The abductors blocked their victim’s car VAZ-21099, forced two men out, put them into “Gazel” minibus and drove in the direction of Nazran. The abductors took the car of their victims with them. Subsequently it turned out that the abducted were residents of Ingushetia - Rashid Ozdoev, born in 1975 and Tamerlan Tsetchoev, born in 1962. Rashid Ozdoev was the Senior Deputy Prosecutor of Ingushetia responsible for monitoring security services. Tamerlan Tsetchoev was a public activist.

On March 15 2004 the Prosecutor’s Office of the Ingush Republic instigated a criminal case into abduction of Ozdoev and Tsetchoev. The relatives of the abducted carried out their own investigation and found out that on March 11 at around midnight car VAZ-21099 of dark green color (registration plates T 168 EE, 97^th region) which belonged to Rashid Ozdoev accompanied by “Niva” and “Gazel” cars was delivered to Magas city and parked in the garage of Federal Security Services (FSB) of the Russian Federation in the Ingush Republic.