Human Rights Center "Memorial"

REGARDING REPORTS ON THE DISCOVERY OF 17 DEAD BODIES AT THE TEMPORARY DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS (VOVD) IN OKTYABRSKII, GROZNY.

Among the media reports of the 10^th, 11^th and 12^th April, making reference to the statements of the Mayor of Grozny, Bislan Gantemirov, was information that 17 dead bodies had allegedly been found in the basement of the Temporary Department of Internal Affairs in the Oktyabrskii region of Grozny.

12^th April 2001, Kommersant
"Официально заявляю: ни одного трупа нет" (Official statement: there are no bodies)

12^th April 2001, Kommersant
"Все материалы о трупах я передам ФСБ" (All information concerning the bodies will be handed over to the Federal Secret Service)

12^th April 2001, Nezavisimaya Gazeta
Массовое захоронение не обнаружено (No mass burial discovered)

12^th April 2001, Noviye Izvestiya
В Грозном пропадают не только живые, но и мертвые (In Grozny not only the living but even the dead go missing)

11^th April 2001, Kommersant
Чеченские трупы потерялись (Chechen bodies went missing)

10^th April 2001, Kommersant
Мертвые вскрылись в подвале милиции. В Грозном обнаружено массовое захоронение (Dead bodies hidden in police basement. Mass burial discovered in Grozny)

The representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Southern Federal Region, Victor Kazantsev at first confirmed the discovery of 17 bodies. In addition he made an appeal "not to jump to any conclusions". However, later he claimed that the information about the discovery of the bodies was incorrect. The representatives of the public prosecutor's office also deny the discovery of the bodies.

6^th April 2001 in Oktyabrskii, Grozny, work was begun to tear down a collapsed building. It is alleged that dead bodies of people who had been previously declared missing are in the basement of this building. The work was being carried out with the co-operation of the Minister for Emergency Situations, and in the presence of representatives of the Public Prosecutor's office and women from the organisation 'Heart's hope' ('Dog teshar') – which unites relatives of those declared missing.

The building, situated on the guarded territory of the Oktyabrskii Temporary Department of Interior Affairs (VOVD) in Grozny, was blown up in the winter of 2001, when the team of OMON (Special Task Police Force) servicemen from Khanty-Mansiiskii were leaving. During their service there, several reports were filed of people going missing, after having been arrested and taken to the VOVD.

Thus, on the 8^th September 2000, Vakha Kamilov and Kalbek Pashayev, who had been arrested by servicemen of the Oktyabrskii VOVD, were first reported missing, On the 16^th September 2000 their half-burned and mud covered bodies were found in the area around Khankala.

However, many people who have 'disappeared' there have not yet been found. These people were not all under detainees. For example, Abdulkasim Zaurbekov, who had worked two months as a crane operator at the Oktyabrskii VOVD, went there with his son on the 17^th October 2000 to collect his pay, and disappeared. In the VOVD register it is written that he arrived at about 11:00; his son waited for him for 7 hours and then he was told that his father had left ages before.

In this regard, it is worthwhile noting how the head of the UVD (Minister of Internal Affairs) of the Republic of Chechnya, General Sergey Arenin described the Khanti-Mansiiskii OMON in an interview with the correspondent of Kommersant (12^th April 2001, Kommersant, S. Dyubin, "Official statement: there are no bodies").

"I'll tell you straight: the Khanti-Mansiiskii OMON servicemen have their own issues with the rebels, especially with Arbi Barayev. In the last war, the Khanti-Mansiiskii combined police unit suffered heavy losses as a result of explosions and shootings, organised by this bandit. That's why the Khanti-Mansiiskii police sometimes deal with civilian Chechens more harshly than circumstances call for. Local people fear them like fire. As soon as they see on a car the sign of the arms of this department (and the Khanti-Mansiiskii, unlike the other police forces working in Chechnya, do not paint over their emblem), they immediately run off through the yards. However, investigations have not uncovered any concrete evidence of unlawful punishments of peaceful residents".

The dismantling of the collapsed building in the search for those missing was undertaken on the insistence of the parents of Zelimkhan Murdalov (born 1975). He was arrested on the 2^nd January 2001 while walking past the Oktyabrskii VOVD, and disappeared.

The ruined buildings are situated on an especially heavily guarded territory of the VOVD. There are firewalls around the perimeters and people are not permitted to walk past, so the appearance of these bodies cannot be put down to the actions of the 'Chechen rebels'. Occupying this territory, the soldiers could not fail to have checked out all the buildings.

Nonetheless, rumours began to circulate in Grozny that local residents, including personnel from the mayor's office allegedly entered the basement and saw human bodies there.

The dismantling of the collapsed buildings was undertaken in order to check the truth of these rumours. In addition the parents of Z. Murdalov paid for the hiring of the crane which lifted the concrete blocks.

On the second day of work, Saturday the 7^th April, the entrance to the lot, where the dismantling of the remains was taking place, was surrounded and cordoned off by barbed wire and command posts were erected. The relatives of the missing people were no longer granted access to the ruins.

On Monday the 9^th April, work continued on the dismantling of the remains. According to the statements of the workers, it took a few days to remove the concrete blocks of several of the ruins, left by the demolition of the 5-floor building. Only at this point did it become possible to start talking about any 'results of the investigation'. It was clearly obvious even on the broadcasts of the principal television channels: on the 11^th April, their accredited correspondents in Khankal were granted access to the site.

In the meantime, on the same day, officials – the Ambassador of the Southern Federal Regions, Viktor Kazantsev, and the Special Representative of Human Rights, Kalamanov, stated that bodies had not been found in the basement, taking about it as though the investigations had long been completed.

At the moment, it is not possible to claim there is no serious evidence that bodies are present in the basement. Neither has this version yet been refuted.

According to the accounts of the people who were clearing the remains, there was a strong stench of bodies coming from the ruins.