127051
tel. (495) 225-31-18
Web-site: http://www.memo.ru/
Report for the next
round of consultations on Human Rights
European Union –
The situation in the conflict zone of the
October 2008 – May 2009
Moscow 2009
Falsification of cases. Work of
courts
Decisions of the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR)
The North Caucasus
remains one of
-
the
ongoing fighting. Right now armed underground forces, using terroristic
methods, oppose the Russian state on the
-
the
impunity for mass crimes, committed by state representatives during a
“counterterrorist operation”. This way,
the fate of the absolute majority of thousands of people, that have
forcibly “vanished” on the
-
the
corruption, whose level is high even against the background of the rest of
-
the
arbitrariness of the officials;
-
a
high unemployment rate;
-
the
conflict between the supporters of the “traditional” Islam for the
The representatives of
the Ministries of Defense and Internal Affairs of the RF argue, that the
activation of rebels in Ingushetia and Dagestan has allegedly been due to the
fact, that the rebels were driven there from
Most regrettably, what human rights campaigners
had long been warning about, happened earlier than it was even expected: the
refusal to enter into any negotiations with the guerilla underground has
resulted in the radicalization of the latter and its gradual adoption of the
Islamic fundamentalism as the ideological basis for its struggle. Nowadays, the
militants are no longer guided by rational goals and objectives - their goals
now are either the utterly utopian ideas of creating an Islamic state, or
simple revenge.
Taking into account the fact that the scale of
armed violence has recently been on the wane in
In the winter of 2008-2009 Russian
representatives of power structures conducted a number of successful operations
in different regions of the
Nevertheless now,
unlike in previous years, official representatives of federal power structures
and leaders of the republics comment on the events in the region with
unconcealed dismay. Only the president of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov is
still an incorrigible optimist, in
January once again declaring total victory over terrorism. For everyone else it
is now clear, that the armed resistance has reached a lingering, positional
stage. For the first time it was openly talked about the broad base of support
for the underground among the population, without which it would not be able to
exist.[1]
However, these assessments
coexist with long-established schemes, that look for the roots of all evil
abroad. According to Arkadi Edelev, Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs of the
RF, the rebels are supported with money, weapons and equipment from members of
“Al-Qaeda”.[2] Earlier
this Deputy Minister spoke about the destructive work of “a series of
foreign special services”[3]
on the
If all the statements
of these officials are combined and taken seriously, it turns out, that
“Al-Qaeda” is waging war against
The force of the
rebels and their supporters has this winter been officially evaluated as
follows: 120 people and up to 1237 supporters in Ingushetia; up to 500 rebels
in
This way we are either
facing a traditional statistical confusion between agencies, or the growth of
the underground and their supporting base.
The past year of 2008
has for the first time seen an increase in the number of losses (approximately
1.3 fold) of representatives of Russian power structures in summer and fall,
compared to the same period in the previous year. This was largely due to the
actions of rebels in Ingushetia. Below are the data, obtained by summing up the
reported loss of Russian power structures in the media.[9]
In the summer of 2008
- 82 killed and 169 wounded; in the fall of 2008 - 83 killed and 143 wounded.
With the beginning of
winter 2008-09 the rebels reduced their activities, just like in the previous
years, which was reflected in a decrease of losses among Russian
representatives of power structures – 37 were killed, and 113 wounded. One year
ago 5 more people were killed, but there were 28 less wounded.
At the moment of
writing this report (ie, at the end of the first decade of May), during
approximately the first two months of spring 31 people were killed and 47
wounded. One year ago during three months of spring 40 soldiers and other
representatives of power structures were killed and 89 people were wounded on the
In
As before not only representatives of power
structures or officials, but also civilians become victims of terrorist acts.
On
In Ingushetia the
number of terrorist attacks, committed in public places and not directed
against the “power” or enforcement officials, has increased. Shopping centers,
selling alcohol, markets, game halls, hotels and administration buildings are
fired at or blown up. Also a Christian church was shelled. In situations like
these, low-power explosive devices were used, that are not filled with deathly
materials. It is obvious, that the Islamic fundamentalist underground this way
tries to influence the society, dictating them norms of behavior.
However the terrorists
do not limit themselves to demonstrations like this. In January
As a result of the
terror the fundamentalists can often achieve their goals – the Ingushetian
salesmen scale down their trading with alcohol and other products, that could
cause the anger of religious extremists. It's now even difficult to buy
cigarettes in Nazran. The hairdressers are separated by gender.
Over the last two
years the situation in the republic has remained highly unstable. The activity
of the armed underground has increased, and respectively also the number of
wounded and killed representatives of power structures and officials rose. The
power representatives have in abrasive manner violated human rights, and
corruption has attacked the state apparatus. As a result a non-violent movement
of civilian protest emerged in the republic, all of which manifestations the
republican power has tried to suppress. Acting like that the power structures
and civilian authorities only “played into the hands” of the underground.
In late October 2008
president Medvedev decided to take a step, that Putin was stubbornly unwilling
to do – he changed the republic's leadership. The Moscow-suggested candidature
of the 45-year old Yunus-Bek Evkurov, a professional military paratrooper, as
Ingushetia's new president, was fulminantly confirmed by the local parliament.
To really achieve
positive changes in the republic, the president has to start monitoring the
activities of law enforcement organs, smash the system of “institutionalized
illegality” and reduce corruption. Only then will the supporting base for the
armed underground among the people start to shrink.
Evkurov himself does
clearly not have the possibilities and power to do this without active support
of the Kremlin. President Medvedev has more than once met with the new head of
the republic and several times in public spoken in support of Evkurov. January,
2009 he especially flew to Ingushetia accompanied by high-ranking officials of
the power block, and his plenipotentiary representative on the
Relying on
The government has
been changed, and the odious minister for Internal Affairs has been removed.[10]
Evkurov marked new
guidelines for the republican powers: “There can be no special operations on
the
However, Ingushetia's
new leadership can not stabilize the situation at the moment. Its politics are
attacked from two sides – from rebels, and power representatives.
Ingushetia's armed
underground is doing everything to keep the new president from feeling
confident and provoke the authorities to use responsive terror, as under
ex-president Zyazikov. This way the underground is recruiting young people into
its ranks, people, whose brothers and friends became victims of the “special
operations”.
The power
representatives still often continue to carry out counter-terrorist acts,
without regarding the social consequences for the republic. This way, despite
all of Yu.-B. Evkurov's efforts, the practice of abductions, extrajudicial
executions and arbitrariness in carrying out special operations has not stopped
yet.
***
Shortly after his inauguration
Evkurov immediately had to deal with cases like that.
On 13th of November 4
residents of the city of Malgobek – Magomed Tsokiev, Timura Tsokiev, Ibragim
Aushev and Tamerlan Tankiev – , were arrested by law enforcement agents on
suspicion of involvement in an attack on policemen. T. Tsokiev's house was
searched, gravely violating procedural rules, soldiers were brought as
witnesses. As a result ammunition was found in the house. During the search
valuables disappeared. The arrested were brought to the ROVD (Russian
Department for Internal Affairs) of the Malgobek region. The advocates, that
could only get to them after 24 hours, detected numerous traces of beating.
The violation of procedural rules,
the beating, the stealing – seems like a usual way of “investing” a case on
terrorism. Only this time there were existential differences. The president of
the republic found out about what had happened. He invited the relatives of the
arrested and promised them not to allow arbitrariness. The MVD RI (Ministry of
Internal Affairs for the
In the end two were released on the
18th of November: I. Aushev and T. Tankiev. In regards to the other
two a lawsuit was filed under Article 222 (illegal possession of weapons) of
the CC RF (Criminal Code of the RF). The earlier charge under Article 317
(assault on the life of a member of the law enforcement) of the CCRF was
withdrawn. All four of them could officially document their beating and
received medical help.
In turn, also the law enforcement
officers who tortured the detainees, were prosecuted under Art. 286 (“abuse of
authority”) of the CCRF. But despite the assurances of the president it was not
easy to seriously punish those, who had violated the law. At the moment the
investigation of the criminal case is suspended due to the “inability to find
the persons to be charged”.
There were also other promises, that
Evkurov couldn't keep, for example to find Akhmed Tochiev, Islam Mal'sagov and
Gapur Tankiev, who were abducted in November and December 2008 and April 2009.
The circumstances of these abductions suggest, that representatives of “power”
structures were involved in the act, and the president of the RI promised the
relatives of the disappeared that he would take the investigation of these
crimes under his personal control.
It is possible, that the main
difficulties are related to the fact, that the new president has not yet been
able to coordinate the activity of the local police and the federal
institutions, that are not under his control (the Federal Security Service, the
troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, sent to Ingushetia from other
regions of Russia, and others) on Ingushetia's territory.
Special operations are still often
carried out with grave violations of human rights.
Here are just a few examples.
On the 26th of March in
the settlement of Ordzhonikidzevskaya members of the FSB (Federal Security
Service) and the MVD, coming from other regions of
On 22nd of April armed
people in camouflage entered the house of the family of the Patievs in
Karabulak (Targimskaya Street 27). Nothing illegal was found during the
unauthorized search. Nevertheless they took Aslan Patiev, who lived there, with
them when they left, and it is not clear where to. The relatives turned to
different organizations (among others also to the administration of the
president of the RI), but couldn't clarify the destiny of the kidnapped man. No
one “knew anything” neither about the special operation, nor about A. Patiev.
The situation only changed after direct intervention of Evkurov. He himself was
in
Thus, the new president of the RI
constantly has to interfere with irregular situations, that develop after illegal
actions of representatives of power structures.
During operations in settlements,
the government representatives often do not allow local policemen on the sight.
However, even the presence of local police officers does not stop the
lawlessness. On 25th of April 2009 members of one of the power
structures (apparently of the FSB), blocked the village Surkhakhi and executed
a “clean up”. The Metsol'gov family filed a complaint to the HRC “Memorial”.
They reported, that unknown armed people in masks had entered their courtyard,
and without showing any documents searched the house. They used the woman, Maka
Mutsol'gova, as a “human shield”. Her relative Aza Mutsol'gova couldn't take
the nervous tension and fainted. Nothing illegal was found in the house, no
search protocol was made, there were no witnesses for the search. The local
policemen came to the house of the Mutsol'gov's half an hour after the search
had begun, but didn't do anything against the violation of the norms of Russian
law, that were going on before their eyes, because the armed, masked people
strictly warned them to interfere.
On 21st of April Adam
Aushev, local resident of the village Sukhakhi, was killed by members of the
FSB, driving into the village. In a distributed press release of the department
of the Federal Security Service in the RI it was stated, that Adam Aushev
“didn't obey requirements of law enforcement officers and opened fire with an
automatic weapon”, which is why he was killed by retaliatory fire.
Still the circumstances of A.
Aushev's death suggest, that this was a planned shooting, and that he didn't
resist. Shortly before his death A. Aushev had calmly stopped his car on demand
of a policeman at the post. A witness said, that when on 21st of
April the car of A. Aushev drove through another post, set up by soldiers or
members of the FSB, fire was opened without any warning out of an ACV (Armored
Combat Vehicle). The location was blocked for several hours by the offenders.
Deputies of the republican police, who arrived at the location, were shot at
and forced to stop. Also Isa Gireev, Vice Minister of the MVD RI was not
admitted into the cordoned off zone, and only when the Minister of the MVD RI
Ruslan Meyriev arrived, the local policemen were admitted into the cordoned off
zone.
***
As noted above, the
armed underground is in turn not only choosing military and police as targets
of their attacks, but also civilians. For example in 2009 two Muslim clerics
were killed and one beaten up. Terror like this is resented by the absolute
majority of the people. The murder of the popular religious leader Musa
Esmurziev has e.g. caused a great resonance in the country, and many people of
Ingushetia, among them also the president of the republic, came to the funeral
of the diseased.
***
Statistics show a
still growing number of violent incidents in Ingushetia.
For four months of
2009 the HRC “Memorial” registered five cases of abduction in the republic.
Subsequently two of the abducted were killed, two disappeared, and one was
“found” in the IVS. For comparison, from January to April 2008 two local
residents were abducted (one was subsequently released, the other one
disappeared), 22 people were abducted during the whole year.
For four months of
2009 the HRC “Memorial” registered 59
cases of death in the republic.
Among those killed
were:
-
21
civilians (killed by unknown offenders – 6 people; killed by power
representatives or presumably by power representatives – 5 people; killed,
eminently, by rebels – 2 people; killed in an explosion in the Department
of bailiff – 8 people),
-
12
officials of local power structures
-
6
soldiers and members of the armed forces doing military service
-
20
rebels
For comparison, from
January to April 2008 the HRC “Memorial” registered the death of 9 people on
the
At first glance it may appear that the
Chechen situation is generally moving towards stabilization, quite unlike the
situation in Ingushetia. However, this seeming stability is that of a
totalitarian regime based on brutality, suppression and fear and aiming at
maximum restrictions on the outflow of any information on the actual situation.
On
It should be noted that the current law of the
The lifting of the counter-terrorism regime in
We believe, however, that this
change will not have much impact on the life of ordinary people in
The lifting of the counter-terrorist regime
may, nevertheless, have affected the highland parts of the
Such discrepancy between the accounts of the republican
and of the federal authorities is rather surprising, to say the least. For
example, on April 21 the press service of the Chechen Ministry of Interior
released the statement of Republican Deputy Minister of Interior M.Isayev
claiming that over the first three months of 2009 not a single terrorist attack
or extremism-related crime had been registered on the
Since the lifting of the counter-terrorism
regime on the territory of the
On May 2, for the first time in
recent years, selo Benoy of the Vedensky region was bombed. As a result, one
man was wounded, one house suffered severe damages, while two more were damaged
to some extent. The head of military administration attributed this to a
mistake on the part of artillerymen. He did not allow journalists to film and
said that they need to show “positive” things.
On May
***
It is obvious that complete victory over the
armed underground in
The tactic frequently referred to as the
“Chechenisation” of the conflict, which proved to be rather effective for
suppression of the guerilla underground in 2004 -2007, has apparently exhausted
its potential.
Over the period from 2007 and up to the
mid-2008 the republican authorities, though not renouncing the practice of
unlawful violence, nevertheless, demonstrated the tendency to reduce its scale.
Human rights rhetoric was widely used by Ramzan Kadyrov in his contest for
power in the
However, starting with the late
2008 we can observe gradual return to earlier practices.
We can currently speak of a steady growth in the number of abductions. The circumstances of these crimes indicate involvement of officers of the security authorities, chiefly of the Chechen Ministry of Interior.
Statistic for abductions registered in the course of the monitoring
conducted by the Memorial, as of the end of 2008
|
Month |
abducted: |
of which: released or ransomed |
of which: found dead |
of which: went missing |
of which: “found” in police detention units |
|
October |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
November |
6 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
December |
4 |
2 |
|
2 |
|
|
Total for the entire year: |
42 |
21 |
4 |
12 |
5 |
2009
|
Month |
abducted: |
of which: released or ransomed |
of which: found dead |
of which: went missing |
of which: “found” in police detention units |
|
January |
7 |
7 |
|
|
|
|
February |
|
|
|
|
|
|
March |
25 |
20 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
April |
26 |
18 |
|
2 |
6 |
|
Total: |
58 |
45 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
The peculiarity of these abductions
consists in the fact that in the majority of cases abductors release their
victims after regular tortures and intimidation. This is regarded by the
authorities as “terrorism prevention measures”, and is also used for collecting
information about people and forcing them to clandestine cooperation with the
authorities. But the key goal here is to maintain the atmosphere of fear in the
society. A minority of abductees are either killed or handed over by the
abductors to their colleagues at the Ministry of Interior for registration of
their “confessions”.
It is difficult to
assess the percentage of abductions that is currently covered by the attention
of the Memorial Human Rights Centre but it is quite obvious that this number
accounts for less than a half of all abductions. This category of crimes has
become thoroughly latent in modern-day Chechnya, not being monitored by human
rights campaigners and still less by law enforcement agencies, since families
most often choose not to complain to anyone about abductions. The events in the village Dargo may
be an example.
In March 2001 we found out, that
since January power structures periodically abduct local residents from the
village Dargo (Vedensky region) of the CHR. Members of the HRC “Memorial” were
in Dargo and convinced themselves, that uniformed people regularly come to the
village and take young men with them, sometimes also girls. Usually the
abducted return after a few days, beaten up and scared. More than 20 of these
cases were registered. It could be established, that the illegally arrested
people are brought to the village Nozhaj-Yurt, where they are kept and exposed
to beatings on a dislocation spot of the “A.-Kh. Kadyrov” subunit of the
patrol- and posting Regiment of the MVD CHR. “Memorial” sent a letter to the
Prosecutor's Office of the CHR about this. On 14th of April members
of the HRC “Memorial”, visiting Nozhaj-Yurt, could see, that the organs of the
Prosecutor's Office were seriously verifying the letter. Many of Dargo's
residents, that representatives of power structures had illegally arrested,
were questioned. But the scared victims, although not denying these facts, resolutely
refused to give any official statements. However, immediately after the
intervention of the Prosecutor's Office, the illegal arrests in Dargo stopped
completely.
It is likely, that similar incidents
in many other locations stay hidden.
Human rights defenders receive more
and more information about torture. A terrible example of torture and following
non-judged penalty is the case of murder of the brothers Ilaev.
On 30th of November 2008
armed people entered the house of the Ilaev family in the settlement
Pervomayskaya. They unauthorizedly searched the house, taking valuables, and
took the three Ilaev brothers Akhdan, Al'vi and Imam away with them in an
unknown direction. Afterwards it became known, that they had been brought to a
territorial police unit (TOM) of the
On the same day one of the Ilaev
brothers, Zurab, who lived alone, was called to work. He served in the MVD CHR.
Soon Zurab called his sister and told her, that he was to be interrogated.
After that all three brothers –
Zubar, Akhdan and Al'vi – disappeared.
Two days afterwards, on 2nd
of December, the press service of the MVD CHR spread the information, that two
rebels had been killed in a fight. On 3rd of December the bodies of
Akhdan and Al'vi Ilav, that were allegedly these killed rebels, were handed to
the relatives.
On 5th of December the
Ilaevs notified the Prosecutor's Office of Zubar's disappearance. On 10th
of December it became known, that the body of Zurab Ilaev was found on a landfill next to the dislocation spot of the
“Sever” battalion. The body showed traces of beating and strangulation.
The organs of the Investigation
committee of the Prosecutor's Office for a long time refused to open a criminal
case on the murder of Akhdan and Al'vi Ilaev, because, according to the
investigator, they were killed during a firefight.
Only in February 2009 did the
Prosecutor's Office of the CHR suspend the order on the rejection of the
opening of a criminal case, and the investigator was forced to take the
opposite decision and open the criminal case ¹ 70008 on the murder of Akhdan
and Al'vi Ilaev (Art. 105 of the CCRF), and on theft (Art. 158 CCRF). The case
was on the same day handed to the department for the investigation of
particularly important cases of the Investigation office of the Investigation
Committee with the Prosecutor's Office of the RF in the CHR. There it was
combined with the case on the murder of Zurab Ilaev.[18]
Although more than five months have
passed since the murder of the Ilaev brothers, no one has so far been charged.
***
In the
Since October 2008 the
HRC “Memorial” has registered cases of arson in ten families, that are
relatives of rebels. It is obvious, that this number is not comprehensive.
To be fair we have to
admit, that an analogue practice has earlier been actively used by rebels
against people, who had changed sides to the current republican power.
***
The traditional
customs also create a basis for violation of women’s rights. Forcing women to
wear a veil in public places is the best known example for the impairment of
women’s rights and the state’s interference in private lives. Still a lot worse
is that, what stays “out of sight”.
From an interview with
Ramzan Kadyrov:
“I have the right to criticize my wife. The
wife doesn’t have this right. For us the wife is a housewife. The woman needs
to know where her place is. […] A woman has to be a possession. And the man is
the owner.”[20]
Forced marriages,
polygamy, marriage with under age girls – this is just one part of those
violations of the Russian law, against which there is no defence in
At the same time the
Chechen traditions, that the current Chechen powers are so often referring to,
contained many mechanisms, that constrained arbitrariness against women. But
these mechanisms are virtually not effective in
***
In the fall of 2008 an
old conflict between R. Kadyrov and the Yamadev-clan, that is controlling a
mighty power structure in
Even earlier, in
September, the Press Service of the president of the CHR spread information,
that Sulim Yamadaev, commander of the battalion “Vostok”, would be put on trial
for a number of cases, connected with abductions, murder and the “cleansing” of
the village Borozdinovskaya, during which one person died and 11 civilians
“disappeared”. Testimony against Sulim Yamadaev was given by some of his former
subordinates, who had urgently shifted to serve in the MID CHR (Ministry of
Internal Affairs of the CHR).[22]
It was reported, that
allegedly a search warrant had been issued. However, all this didn’t disturb S.
Yamadev to live in
Human rights
organizations already a long time ago reported, that commanders and fighters of
the “Vostok” battalion are involved in a number of crimes, among them abductions,
torture and murder. The complaints of the residents of the village
Borozdinovskaya, supported by advocates of human rights centres, will be
examined by the
However it is obvious,
that the 2008 filing of a lawsuit on the crimes, committed by Yamadaev and his
subordinates, has only been one move in the battle for the absolute power in
the
Up until now the
investigation of the “cleansing” of Borozdinovskaya has not moved forward even
one step, despite the obviousness of the case.
Former subordinates of
Yamadaev testify in a way, that is absolutely perfect for the investigation and
what they say is aired on television in the CHR. According to them, the
Yamadaev brothers themselves planned and carried out all the crimes, and it was
them, who settled old scores with their victims.
It is almost a repetition of the story of the
“investigation” of the crimes, committed by Movladi Baysarov and the soldiers
of his special squad “Gorec” (“Highlander”), that was led by the FSB in
The majority of the former “Baysarovs” is now
working for the MVD CHR. And
now one of them, Khuseyn Magomadov, is the head of this territorial police unit
of the
***
The effective
reconstruction of settlements in the
This was done with
absolutely non-transparent financial schemes. This approach inevitably led to
erratic spending of money, theft, charges for the population and enrooted
arbitrariness as well as the absolute power of the authorities.
The examples of
bureaucratic arbitrariness in the republic are striking, even when compared to
other regions of
For example, on
October 5, 2008, on R. Kadyrov's day of birth, Chechen authorities inaugurated
a new avenue named after Putin. However, until recently, this avenue was called
the Avenue of Victory and was rebuilt in 2007. But in the summer of 2008, the
reconstruction started again. Expenses for reconstruction were split between
businesses and state institutions with offices located at the avenue. The day
after the new avenue was opened, workers who came to their offices at the
avenue found out that the buildings were sealed. The workers could only enter
the offices if they paid a significant sum of money to representatives of
construction firms. No documents to prove the fact of payment were filled
out.
In
***
Republican
newspapers and television are under total control of the authorities. More than
half of the news are dedicated to the activity of the president of the CHR. The
rest is with no exception “about the success and victories in building a
peaceful life”. Alongside the streets and roads of
The socio-political
situation in the republic of Dagestan (RD) has, alongside the pervasive
corruption, the unemployment, the flagrant violation of the electoral rights of
the citizens or the police's arbitrariness, that are also characteristic for
other regions of the North Caucasus, its own specifics. In contrast to the
virtually mono-ethnic
This is the
background, against which the armed confrontation between illegal armed forces
and state-authorities is being carried out for the second decade. The conflict
in
Islam fundamentalism
is the ideological basis of the underground. Still, the fundamental movement is
not, as long as it is not of political character, and as long as his followers
do not try to dictate norms of behaviour to others, a threat to society – the
people live and celebrate their rites, how they think it's right. But in the
last decade the official authorities have effectively equated fundamentalism with
terrorism and banditry. Criminal law and religious concepts have been mixed:
the fight against terrorism has actually turned into a fight with the
supporters of “Wahhabism” as a religious movement. The authorities deliberately
push them into a marginal state, that is only one step away from armed
struggle.
When the authorities
have to solve a crime, they first of all “look into” lists of “non-traditional”
Muslims, that are by definition seen as suspicious. It is the representatives
of this group, that first of all become victims of illegal actions of law
enforcement and security services. According to data of the
***
Members of the
underground perpetrate terror attacks, assaults or detonations and kill members
of law enforcement organs, government
officials or clergy.
The authorities
(especially the republic's police) is leading “counter-terrorism operations”,
that are grossly violating Russian law and the norms of international law.
The most important
reason for a withdrawal to the underground is revenge. It seems, that also the
police is often driven by vengeance.
The strict measures, that were taken by the authorities (federal, as well as local ones) in the overall campaign of the “fight against terrorism”, like the fabrication of criminal cases, pressure on suspects and their relatives or torture, are not consistent with Russian and international law. A policy like that can not be recognized as effective; rather on the contrary, it leads to an intensification of the radical movements in the society.
***
Here are only a few out of many
examples of grave violations of human rights through law enforcement organs of
On 21st of October 2008
10km away from the village Gubden, where many of the residents practice the
Salfism movement of Islam, 5 policemen were killed and 9 wounded. During the
following days the search for rebels didn't bring any results. In Gubden began
“clean ups” and local residents were arrested.
From 27th to 28th
of October two residents of the village
Gubden “disappeared” at different times: Saygadzhi Saygadzhiev, Nustapa
Abdurakhmanov, Akhmed Gadzhimagomedov.
Witnesses saw, how they were
arrested by policemen.
On 28th of October the
relatives were told, that the disappeared ones were killed while showing
resistance against policemen. After two days the bodies of the deceased were
given to the relatives. All bodies
showed obvious signs of torture and beatings, broken hands, collarbones,
numerous hematomas and burns. Two of the dead showed a control-shot in the head
. The third body did not have any wounds caused by gunshots.
The situation in the village stays
tense. The residents are lamenting, that in the last few years the religious
people have been subjects of systematic prosecution. Regularly, unauthorized
searches are held in their houses, illegal arrests and interrogations happen,
during which the arrested are often beaten up and tortured, some of them are
afterwards being followed, all the phones are bugged.
Mass-arrests, during which ten,
twenty or sometimes forty people are taken to the police without sufficient
juridical reason have become a normal part of life. Families are living under
constant stress, children are afraid of soldiers, and women sleep in their
clothes, waiting for another invasion of power structures.
The residents report, that they are
ready to cooperate with the government and answer any question of law
enforcement organs, if the actions of latter are within the law. The residents
insist, that the Constitution of the RF, that guarantees them freedom of faith,
has to be respected.
On February 17, 2009, unidentified
law enforcement authorities kidnapped a local resident, Alibek Abunazarov, off
the streets of
On February 19, Memorial Human
Rights Center informed Ombudsman Lukin of the kidnapping. The very same day,
Lukin called Prosecutor Tkachev, who said that Abunazarov was arrested and is
kept in the Department of Internal Affairs of the Makhachkala Kirovsky region. However,
when Memorial lawyer B. Guseynova, who was hired by the wife of the kidnapped,
came to the Department, she was told that Abunazarov was not there.
The next day Tatiana Kasatkina,
Executive Director of the
This particular case had a
relatively good ending for Abunazarov because it received wide coverage.
However, the vast majority of similar cases do not get attention of the human
rights community, or they get attention when it is too late to do anything.
On March 2,
On that day, Magomedov went to
Mughi, where he had lived before, to get some information from the local
authorities.
On the
way to Mughi he was detained by local police and was taken to the Regional
Department of Internal Affairs, where he was forced to write a note explaining
the purpose of his visit to the region. After that Magomedov received all the
information in local administration and was going to go home, of which he told
his wife on the phone. However, unidentified persons forced him into a car,
with eyewitnesses present, and took his somewhere. Magomedov disappeared.
A day after the incident Magomedov's
relatives found out from the media that Magomedov was allegedly killed in a
shooting with police. The relatives were able to collect Magomedov's body from
the morgue only through persistence. There was evidence of torture, cuts and
burns on the body.
Many criminal cases on terrorist crimes
are falsified. The standard procedure of falsifications is the same throughout
the
Documentation regarding the date of detainment
of such person are backdated and oftentimes the official date of detainment is
several days after the actual date when detainment took place.
Even if the lawyer knows that illegal
methods have been applied to his client, he oftentimes would not send appeals
about cruel treatment, being afraid for his or her own security. Very few individual
lawyers dare to confront this system, but their complaints are turned down, and
their appeals to the Prosecutor General of the
Evidence obtained through the use of torture
later becomes the main evidence of the suspect’s guilt in court.
Such a system leaves little chances for fair
punishment of perpetrators and acquittal of innocent. Complaints sent by
lawyers to federal supervision authorities are forwarded to the Republic
supervision authorities, who cover violence and arbitrariness of
law-enforcement agencies and security services.
It needs to be noted that only a small number
of falsified cases gets attention of the human rights community.
Until recently, a jury trial was the main hope
for fair decisions on these cases. The fact of falsification was established in
several cases in
However, on December 30,
The human rights community condemned this
change in the Criminal Procedure Code of the
These changes in the Criminal Procedure Code
already affected the most famous legal proceeding in
Achieving long-term peace in the republic is
only possible if the circumstances of the raid, as well as the reasons why many
young residents of the republic joined these extremist groups, are objectively
and seriously examined during the trial. There was hope that the use of jury
trial would facilitate such examination. Throughout
However, on
Currently 102 judgments on the
applications from the residents of North Caucasus region were pronounced by the
ECHR (including 98 from
And in one case only the Court did not find any
Convention violations. In all other cases
What measures are being taken by Russian
authorities to implement the ECHR decisions?
Applicants are given monetary compensations in
time and in full. Criminal cases are investigated anew. But investigations are
made formally and drag on for no good reason.
None of the officials who were clearly involved
in perpetrating crimes have gone on trial. There is still no information on
people whose abductions were considered by the ECHR, not to mention that no
amendments have been made so far in order to change the normative acts
outlining security services’ actions in areas of internal conflicts
(anti-terrorism legislation, charters of armed forces). Meanwhile, the need for
such changes results directly from some ECHR decisions.
Over the past years some applicants have been
subject to pressure from authorities after they made their complaints; some
were threatened and a few of them were abducted or killed.
Peace and stability are inseparably linked to
human rights issues. A clear illustration of this obvious truth is the
situation in the
Peace and stability there (which also includes
the respect for the inalienable human rights) in the long run can be achieved
only through political reform that ensures formation of the authorities in the
subjects of the Federation on the basis of the people's will. This political
reform is not possible without an end to the suppression of the opposition and
the violation of the freedom of speech. Unreasonable restrictions on holding
rallies and demonstrations must be removed. An integral part of such reform
must also become a real fight against corruption.
However, it is clear that such policies can be
implemented only if there is a political will in the Kremlin, and they should
not be limited to the North Caucasus but should address all regions of
Therefore, now we can talk about only the first
and minimally necessary steps.
These minimal steps should be measures aimed at
ending the massive and systematic violation of human rights by law enforcement
agencies, especially the Ministry of Interior and Federal Security Service of
Russia, and removing the climate of impunity for crimes against civilians,
which is still prevalent in the
Such measures should include the following in
particular:
l Carrying out adequate investigation
into cases of human rights violations and bringing perpetrators to
accountability.
l Having the Prosecutor General of the
l Putting an end to the widespread
practice of “temporary disappearances” of detained persons. In order to
decrease the risk of torture as well to guarantee the legal rights of the
family members of the detained, it is essential to ensure that relatives of the
detained or arrested are speedily informed on their whereabouts.
l Instructing members of federal and
local enforcement agencies and security services about the absolute necessity
of respecting and observing human rights within the framework of their
activities as well as about the accountability for following criminal orders of
superior instances and employees.
l Ensuring the compliance of the
state counter-terrorism activities, both on the level of normative acts and on
the level of practices, to the international human rights standards and the
international humanitarian law, including the European Convention for Human
rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the Geneva Conventions, and the Council of
Europe Guidelines on Human Rights and the Fight against Terrorism.
l Providing adequate legal and
judicial protection and due compensation to victims of human rights violations.
l Effectively guaranteeing access to
places of temporary and pre-trial detention for representatives of
international humanitarian organizations, including the ICRC, in order to visit
prisoners on conditions acceptable to those organizations.
l Cooperating with the human rights
protection mechanisms and agencies of the Council of Europe and the United
Nations, including the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Commission and
the treaty bodies of the Council of Europe and the UN.
l Effectively cooperating with the
Council of Europe Anti-torture Committee.
l Extending the necessary assistance
to Russian and international human rights organizations in their human rights
monitoring work in the
l Fully implementing ECHR's decisions.
[1] No one of the officials has so far tried to
discuss the reasons for the existence of such a supportive base. Mentioned is
only the active propaganda of followers of religious fundamentalism.
[2] RIA Novosti, 21.01.2009
[3] Grozny-Inform, 22.11.2007
[4] RIA Dagestan, 27.12.2008
[5] Novaya gazeta, ¹ 13, 09.02.09, O. Bobrova,
Interview with Yu.-B. Evkurov; Journal “Vlast'”, ¹ 5, 09.02.2009,
M. Muradov, Interview with Yu.-B. Evkurov
[6] Interfaks, 23.1.2009, Interview with the
Deputy Minister for Internal Affairs of the RF, A. Edelev
[7] RIA Novosti, 26.03.2008
[8] Calculations of the Online-Media “Kavkazskiy
uzel”, 21.01.2009
[9] This data is obviously far from being
complete. We, for example, don't know, how many of the wounded died because of
their injuries, and the official agencies do not report all cases of
destruction and firing to the media.
[10] He, however, was promoted to a position in the
central apparatus of the MVD RF (Ministry for Internal Affairs of the
[11] «Respublika Ingushetiya”, 09.11.2008
[12] See
http://www.memo.ru/2008/09/04/0409081rus/index.htm
http://www.memo.ru/2008/09/04/0409081rus/dk1rus.doc
«Governance as a
Counter-terrorist operation. Notes on the Russian legislation against
terrorism». L. Levinson, Human Rights Institute
http://www.memo.ru/2008/09/04/0409081eng/index.htm
http://www.memo.ru/2008/09/04/0409081eng/dk1eng.doc
[13] Adopted on
[14] On April 27 the
counter-terrorism regime was again lifted in the Shalinsky district, yet it
remains in force in the other three districts.
[15] REGNUM Information Agency
[16] The casualties
figures are therefore considerably understated
[17] These figures were
obtained by way of monitoring and analysis of media reports and reports
received by the Memorial Human Rights Centre
[18] From an answer of the Investigation office of
the Investigation committee of the Procurator's Office of the RF in the CHR to
a letter of the HRC “Memorial”.
[19] Taken from a speech of R.
Kadyrov on a government meeting on 09.08.08; aired on TV “
[20] Interview with a correspondent
from the „Komsomol’skaya pravda“ A. Grymov, 24.09.08, http://www.kp.ru/daily/24169/380743/print/
[21] A month before that, on 24th
of September, the oldest Yamadaev brother, former delegate of the State Duma
Ruslan Yamadaev, was shot in
[22] S. Yamadaev in turn accused R.
Kadyrov of involvement in a number of crimes.