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HR news |
Illegal Jail in Oktyabrsky District of Grozny was Functioning until May 2006
On May 29 - 31 representatives of Memorial Human Rights Center examined, took video and photo-footage of empty building which until recently housed the Operating Group of the local police department of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, where Temporary Department of Internal Affairs (VOVD)1of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny was based.
In the basements of these buildings, detained and arrested individuals were kept, tortured and sometimes killed.
As of today, the building has been demolished. On the eve of May 31, before the building was torn down, unidentified persons removed the writings on the walls.
“Memorial ” Human Rights will provide video footage of the basement, with the scrabbles on the walls of the cells, and the witness account of Alavdi Sadykov, a former prisoner, narrated by him on the site, to any interested human rights NGOs, journalists or representatives of the authorities (selected pictures can be viewed at http://www.memo.ru//2006/06/05/oktayabrs2006.htm).
On May 25, 2006 representatives of “Memorial ” Human Rights Center and “Civic Assistance ”
Committee met with the president of Chechen Republic, Alu Alkhanov (http://www.memo.ru/hr/hotpoints/caucas1/msg/2006/05/m55030.htm). One of the issues discussed was the fact that the Operating Group of the local police department of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny and the Special Operative Brigade of the Police Force under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia were leaving their bases in Grozny. Human Rights activists emphasized that there existed many witness testimonies to the fact that detained inhabitants of Grozny were tortured or “disappeared” in the permanent bases of these police departments.
These bases had to be investigated by a joint group comprised of representatives of the
Prosecutor ’ s office, law enforcement agencies and human rights organizations. The head
prosecutor of Chechen Republic (CR),V.A.Kuznetsov, and acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of CR, Shamsadov, were also present at the meeting.
On May 26, 2006 the Operating Group of the local police department of Oktyabrsky
district of Grozny moved out of its base, the former building of a boarding school for deaf children. The officers serving in this group had been assigned to Grozny from different parts of Russia. Previously, in 2000-2003, the building had housed the VOVD of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny (1).In the process of transferring power to the local law enforcement agencies, the VOVD had been transformed into the Operating Group of the local police department, which has recently ceased activities all together.
According to multiple witness testimonies, detained and arrested individuals were tortured at the
Oktyabrsky district VOVD (2).Many of the individuals that had been brought here disappeared without trace (see Appendix 1 ). This somber reputation is to a great extent connected t the activity of the Combined police troops of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District (KMAO), sometimes inaccurately referred t as the Khanty-Mansiysk OMON, in the Oktyabrsky VOVD in the years 2000-2001.
In the spring 2002 this unit was assigned to Grozny again, which caused protests on behalf of human rights organizations. The Khanty-Mansiysk OMON was assigned to Grozny on numerous occasions in the following years.
In April 2001 local residents discovered a few human corpses in the basements of dilapidated
buildings not far from the Oktyabrsky VOVD headquarters. After that incident, the military went on to
tear down the empty buildings surrounding the VOVD. The process of taking apart and investigating the ruins was started, but on the second day all access to the ruins was blocked off and the authorities hurried to come out with an official statement that no bodies had been found in the ruins. The Office of the Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic had instigated criminal investigation proceedings on a few cases of disappearances of detainees and tortures in Oktyabrsky VOVD. However, just one of these cases has been partially investigated (see Appendix 2 ).
On the next day after the Operating group left its post in Grozny, a team of construction workers
was assigned to demolish the building. On Monday, May 29, 2006, HRC Memorial received this message from one of the former inmates of the building ’ s basement, and relatives of the people who had disappeared there. Journalists from the local TV stations and photographers arrived on the site. Moreover, “Memorial ” representative Natalia Estemirova appealed to the Administration of Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, the Oktyabrsky District Police Department and t the Prosecutors office to immediately stop the demolition of the building and t assign a team of state authorities t investigate the building and to find possible traces of crimes committed there.
Nevertheless, on that day the demolition process went on and none of the state officials arrived on
the site. However, the building and the basements were examined and filmed by human rights activists
and journalists, along with: former prisoner of VOVD Alavdi Sadykov (see Appendix 3 ); Astemir
Murdalov, the father of the “disappeared” Zelimkhan Murdalov; Shamkhan Khaysumov, brother of the
“disappeared” Khaysumov; as well as other victims. A variety of documental evidence abandoned by police staff were discovered in the former boarding school building and the former gymnasium next door, where the offices of investigators and police operatives had been located. Among these documents was a “Photo album of persons who can be of operative interest to the Criminal Police Operating Group of the Temporary Operating Group of Departments and Subdivisions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Oktyabrsky District of Grozny ”,started on July 26,20022
Numerous writings made by both police officers and basement inmates were discovered at the
façade of the building as well as on the basement walls. Photo and video records of the writings were
made. “Memorial ” filmed them on May 29 and May 30.
On the evening of May 29,the republican TV station broadcasted a story about the basements
where detainees and prisoners were kept, and mentioned the documents that had been discovered in the
buildings. Only after that, on May 30,representatives of District Administration, the Prosecutor ’ s Office of CR and the police, as well as a group of sappers and a group of FSB (Federal Security Service) employees arrived on the site. They examined the building and the basements and opened up two immured rooms. In the evening, a group of military servicemen arrived on the site to pick up all the papers and documents still remaining there.
Representatives of the Prosecutor ’ s Office demanded that “Memorial ” handed over the Photo album which “might prove to be useful in investigating the criminal cases of disappearances of
individuals in Oktyabrsky VOVD”. As law-abiding citizens, “Memorial” representatives complied
with the demand on the evening of the same day. They also handed over to Prosecution some other documents discovered on the site.
On the next day it was discovered that the writings on the walls of former cells in the basement
had been deliberately destroyed – automobile tires had been burned in all cells and the soot covered all
the scrabbles. The construction workers, who had returned to the process of demolishing the building,
claim that this could only have been done during the night or early in morning when they were not on the site.
The Oktyabrsky VOVD, and later the Operating Group of the local police department of
Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, was located in a three-story brick building that used to be the main
building of the boarding school for children with special needs. The windows of the building had been
bricked up, with only narrow embrasures left or covered with sacks full of sand; the same was done in the gymnasium building, where the offices of investigators and police operatives were located. The territory of the former bearding school was fenced in with barbed wire.
The basement was located under the main building.
Immediately to the left of the basement entrance was a room where, according to the
testimony of former inmates, a VOVD officer was always on duty. As of the end of May 2006, the
entrance to that room had been immured for some reason, although nothing of special interest was
discovered in it after the sappers had opened it up in the presence of Prosecutor ’ s Office representatives.
After the room there was a short corridor leading into a room of about 2 by 4 meters (according t the
testimony of former inmates, this is where they were sometimes able to have a shower/washing). Another door led into a room with four doors. Three of the doors led into cells for containment of the detained and arrested individuals; each of the cells was about 2.5 by 3 meters in size. Only one of them had a plank bunk bed. According to Alavdi Sadykov, in April of 2000 there were 10 people kept in this
cell. The cells had iron doors with bars on the inside, with a 30 by 40 centimeter opening at chest level;
the purpose of the opening was probably not only for the supervision by the officers, but also for allowing air inflow. There were no windows or any other ventilation openings in the cells, apart from these openings in the doors. The fourth door led into the inquiry/investigation cell; there was a sign on the door with the letters “SK ” (sledstvenny komitet – Investigation Committee).This cell had two compartments – the first one about 2.5 by 3 meters in size, the second one – 5 by 8 meters. The passage between the two compartments had also been immured for some reason; apparently, this had only been done recently. When this passage was opened by sappers in the presence of representatives of the Prosecutor ’ s Office, nothing worthy of notice was discovered there.
Writings on the façade of the main building:
The main entrance to the building was located on the other side – on the side of the backyard,
near the gymnasium.
Most of the writings had been scratched into the plaster, with only a few painted on the wall. Most
of them are names of towns and villages in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District.
We apologize for some non-normative vocabulary:
Platoon I of the SOG (Investigation and Operating Group)worked here June 28,2000
Rafis Megion KMAO Russia Maltsev Pytyakh 2000 OGB (?)Yaroslavl
2000 Langepas SKIP-KOPAEVO
Megion Surgut Khanty-Mansiysk N-Yugansk Raduzhny Lyantor
Kogalym Langepas Reytovo BUBA Nefteyugansk 2002 Kh-Mansiysk
We don’ t give a fuck about your grief (written in paint on the frame of a window covered with sacks of sand)
KMAO Borzhenko Salym
Kutyakh Salym Poykovsky Mukha Yanych 03 Lyantor Megion
Lyantor 12.0?2000 Surgut DMB (DMB – about to be demobilized, finishing army service) 2000
November URAY Nyagan ’ Kogalym
Pyt ’-Yakh
Yugorsk Uray Nyagan ’ KHANTY--MANSIYSK Slonik Kogalym PYT ’-YAKH
NO MINES
Lyantor Kogalym Pokachi n IZLUCHINA Povolgansk Nyagan ’
DEATH TO SEPARATIST BASTARDS
SOG (Investigation and Operating Group) Surgut N-Yugansk, Megion Vovan Ramil ’ Krasnoyarsk
Oktyabrsky ROVD (District Department of Internal Affairs)KMAO Krasnoyarsk Pokachi Uray-Dubok
Pyt ’-Yakh DPS (Road Patrol Service)09/24/2001 Going home soon N.Vartovsk ROVD November 2000
Yugorsk Lyantor PPS (Patrol and Post Service) Andrukha 2002.03
Death to separatist bastards. We don’t give a fuck about your grief (scratched into plaster on wall)
Bicha
Separatist bastards are cocksuckers
Town of Yugorsk 2000
Yaroslavl 2000 Tyumen ’ and town of Bragin--Burg 2001-2004 Pokachi
Beloyarsk
WE CAN HELP YOU DIE O.M.O.N.UVD (UVD – Department of Internal Affairs))KMAO
N-Vartovsk
LANGEPAS IS THE BEST 23.0??-20.03.2002
Lyantor Yaroslavl Solnechny Pyt ’-Yakh Beloyarsky Megion
Yaroslavl Langepas Igrim-Marty???
RUSSIAN VODKA – FRESH BREATH FACILITATES UNDERSTANDING
BAKAEV VOVAN FROM ROSTOV WAS HERE
Writings on the walls of cells in the basemen
Scratched into the wall paint; under the paint older, painted-over writings can sometimes be
seen.
The left cell
ORB-2 3 you will be damned for eternity
RUBOP4 you will pay us for everything. We will take revenge for everything Inshaallah
WHERE AM WHAT ’ S HAPPENING WITH ME AM I ALIVE OR NOT March 27, 2006
Hey, people, 73 more years left. Pray to Allah. Year 1500 of Hijra will be the end of the whole world.
The day of retribution is close. Why do we forget about it. Year 1427 of Hijra
Life to Allah, honor to nobody 11/18/05
Heaven for shahids, flames of hell for the infidels
////////////(12 lines,most probably marking days spent in prison)05/15.06 À
01/28/05 Husein Ermolovka
We are not at all scared of tanks and cannons. We shall rush to the attack with the name of “Allah ”
////////////////////(20 lines – marking days))2006 m04 ch/tz 835 AID
Year 06 month 04 TsSA
This was written by HAVA from Aleroy
Law: all people are fucking bastards the world is a hell of a mess
Bachuev Apti 08/15/2003
06/08, year 2000
//////////(10 lines)Muslim Insha allah
A drawing of a tower against the background of mountains, a burning candle, and below it – a jug
with a flower in it.
The middle cell
Urus-M Peshko Ruslan 2005
March 11 2005 Detained 158
Detained 2004 Hava
04/25/2003 Visita (then illegible)//////////////////////////////////(34 lines)
Goysky art.206 (everything else crossed out)(art.=article of the Criminal Code of Russia)
Servant of Allah Kuli
Heaven under the shade of sabers
Kurchaloy Suleiman art 158
Akhkinchu-Borzoy May 2006 detained art 158 part 2
Suleiman Yalkho art.158 part 2
Duba-Yurt March 8
Detained Nunaeva Musaev ???Hava born in 1990 May 9
Sovkhoz-3 158 2
Detained Makhachkala 03/24/05
Luiza art.222 part 1 07/14/2005
Alkhazurovo M.Lema detained December 2,2004 222 art.208
Husein 24 ????
Butenko Hus ??222 part 1
À???????vili Aslan
Chernorechye Sultan ???Aldy
The right cell
There is a bunk bed in this cell; the writings are scratched into the wall, accept for a few that
had been written in ball-point pen.
Allah is the judge of everything Viskhan:Beno:Hamas (written in ball-point pen)
Brothers, hang in! (written in ball-point pen)
Everything will pass, and so will this
A Muslim who defends his religion, if he is called a terrorist, then terrorism is a farz (duty,obligation –Arabic) for every Muslim.
Baksan Arun Mukhad 06/03/2003 (writing can be seen from under the whitewashing of the wall)
Islam Tsa-Vedeno 2002 (writing can be seen from under the whitewashing of the wall)
Visita Goysky 04/23/2004
Michurin Village Shavaev Mohmad 10/31/04
Russian law is ???????????
We are alive
Salam brothers Jalka Village Rustam Sambiev art.105 part 1 07/01/05
Madaev
Maga and Rusik were here
Raisa? Zaynab? Kulsum?
Based on these writings a conclusion can be made that the so-called Temporary
Detention Jail of the VOVD continued to function illegally even after the VOVD had been
eliminated. A least some people were kept here for longer periods of time, certainly much longer
than the legally permitted terms for keeping detained individuals (3 days)or arrested individuals
transferred from the investigation jails (10 days).
Keeping people in cells like these for long periods of time is a torture in itself, especially
since, according to former inmates, they were never taken out for walks.
Appendix 1
Selected cases of disappearances of individuals who had been kept in the building of Oktyabrsky
VOVD of Grozny
1. Ramzan Magometovich Alaudinov (born 1963) was detained on April 17,2000, by personnel of
Oktyabrsky VOVD, together with his neighbors Sharip Naibovich Khaysumov (born 1956) and
Luiza Lechaevna Bopaeva (born 1972). All three of them had come to Grozny to check their houses,
which they had left earlier fleeing from aerial attacks and bombing. They were taken to the VOVD and
“disappeared” without a trace since then. Alavdi Sadykov5 had seen them while he was
kept in a cell at the VOVD building.
On May 3, 2000 a staff member of the administration of Oktyabrsky District of Grozny, I.Magomadov told the relatives of R.Alaudinov that he was being kept in the basement of Oktyabrsky VOVD and that
they would be able to send him parcel with food. However, parcels were not accepted in the few following days. On May 11 the relatives witnessed some military servicemen enter the carefully guarded multi-storied building adjacent to VOVD; pour out gasoline and set a fire on unidentified objects. The relatives appealed to the head of the local FSB department, D.P.Semenov ,with information about the disappeared individuals and the arson. Semenov ordered investigators Shlapakov and Sergey Nikolayevich Zlygostev to look into the matter. A few days later Zlygostev reported that the burned dead bodies of two men and one woman were discovered on floors four and five of the mentioned building. Most probably these were the bodies of Alaudinov, Khaysumov and Bopaeva. However, when a few days later sappers arrived on the site together with employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situation, in order to examine the building, the bodies were not there anymore.
2. Ayub-Khan Adamovich Magomadov (born 1969) was detained on October 2,2000,in his own
house in the village of Kurchaloy ;as the investigation was able to find out later, he was taken to
Oktyabrsky VOVD and disappeared without a trace.
3. Abdulkasim Zaurbekov (born 1951) worked as a crane operator in Oktyabrsky VOVD for two
months. On October 17,2000,he drove there in his car with his son, to pick up his salary. The visitors
registration journal shows that A. Zaurbekov entered the building around 11 a.m. His son waited for him at the VOVD entrance for about seven hours, and was then told that his father had already left the VOVD building. A.Zaurbekov has disappeared without a trace.
4. Vaha Kamilov and Kalbek Pashaev (born 1955), both residents of Jalka Village ,were detained
on September 8, 2000, by personnel of Oktyabrsky VOVD. On September 16, 2000,their half-
burned bodies, covered with soil, were discovered near Khankala (the location of the main base of
federal forces in Chechnya).
5. Ahmed Vakhidovich Tapsultanov (born 1953), resident of Grozny, was detained in his house
(Tobolsk street, 25) on March 10,2000, and taken to Oktyabrsky VOVD; there has been no trace of him
since. His wife,V.A.Tapsultanova, was told by the VOVD officers that they had only checked her
husband ’ s passport and let him go.
6. Zhalavdi Vakhaevich Baymataliev (born 1981), resident of Gudermes (Shevchenko
street,11 ),was detained on September 11, 2000, by personnel of Oktyabrsky VOVD in Grozny, and
has not been seen since then. In conversations with relatives of Zh.Baymataliev staff members of
Oktyabrsky VOVD originally denied having arrested him, however, three days later one of the officers
admitted that the young man had been detained but “he was let go on the evening of the same day ”
(which is not very probable if you take into account the late time at which he was detained and the official
curfew).Baymataliev ’ s mother found her son ’ s sports bag not far from the VOVD building,near a pit that
was not completely filled up with earth;she was not permitted to dig up the pit.
7. Murat Vakhidovich Gelaev (born 1978) and Suleiman Atievich Seriev (born 1978), both
residents of Gikalovsky village, were detained by federal law enforcement authorities on February 27,
2000 in the course of a special operation in the village. The detainees were taken t the Oktyabrsky
VOVD in Grozny, where they were questioned by police officers from Khanty-Mansiysk. Eleven other
people arrested at the same time were later released from temporary investigation jails in Pyatigorsk and
Stavropol.Gelaev and Seriev have disappeared without a trace.
Their relatives have appealed t different governmental institutions and official structures,but
with no results.
Appendix 2
The case of disappearance of Zelimkhan Murdalov
On January 2,2001,Zelimkhan Murdalov,a 26-year-old resident of Grozny,was detained and
taken to the Oktyabrsky VOVD and has since disappeared without a trace. VOVD personnel,
including its head, Colonel Kondakov, stated that Murdalov was released and walked away from the
VOVD. However,in the course of the investigation of the criminal case of Murdalov ’ s disappearance, it was discovered that the records of his release had been forged. The investigation also discovered that
Murdalov was questioned by operative police officer from Nizhnevartovsk (Khanty-Mansiysk
Autonomous District) Sergey Vladimirovich Lapin, and that during the questioning Murdalov was
seriously injured. A significant part of materials disappeared from the criminal case records under
mysterious circumstances. As a result, the only person brought in for trial and charged with the crime was Lapin. He was arrested only after he issued threats toward journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who
had published information about the case in one of her articles.
On March 29,2005, S.V.Lapin was convicted by the court; he was found guilty under Article
286, Part 3, Sections “a ” and “b ” [Exceeding official powers leading to significant violation of rights and legal interests of an individual, carried out with use of violence or threat to use violence], Article 111 Part 3 Section “a ” [intentional serious damage to health, endangering the life of an individual, carried out by a group of individuals upon prior agreement ] and Article 292 [official forgery ] of the Criminal code of Russian Federation, and sentenced to 11 years in maximum security prison.
The fate of Zelimkhan Murdalov is still unknown; his body has not been discovered.
In December of 2005 the Prosecutor ’ s Office of CR instituted criminal proceedings against the
commander of Khanty-Mansiysk OMON Prilepin and his deputy Minin .
The investigation team has reason to suspect that they were directly involved in the disappearance
of Zelimkhan Murdalov. However, both of the OMON members have disappeared and are now wanted by the police.
Appendix 3
Transcript of excerpts from the testimony of Alavdi Sadykov, a teacher who was detained in
spring of 2000 and kept in Oktyabrsky VOVD in Grozny for almost three months.
The narrator ’ s left ear is missing – it has been cut off by VOVD staff members..
The Prosecutor ’ s Office has opened a criminal case to investigate the unlawful detainment and
infliction of bodily injuries to Alavdi Sadykov;the case was later joined with the cases of
disappearances of R.M.Alaudinov, Sh.N.Khaysumov and L.L.Bopaeva.The case has already been
under investigation for a few years. So far,nobody has been charged with the crimes.
A.Sadykov was detained by the members of Khanty-Mansiysk OMON for storage of explosives,
which had been planted on him during the search. Recently the investigation of this case against A.
Sadykov was stopped and the case closed “due to lack of the events of the crime ”.
The testimonial account was filmed on May 30, 2006, by “Memorial ” HRC representative
Zarema Mukusheva in the basement of the main building of Oktyabrsky VOVD.
Question:-Alavdi ,how long were you kept here?
Alavdi:-For almost two months here, and then for almost another month there, in the gym.
Q.:-Is that the one above?
À.:-Yes! Upstairs. That ’ s where they cut my ear off, and here I was … [inaudible ]
<…>
Q.:-Did they have electricity here?
À.:-They did. They had a small generator engine here. And before they had electric light, they
used to light candles.
<…>
Q.:-When was that?
À.:-In April of 2000.
<…>
[A.Sadykov is pointing t places in the room with four doors leading t the cells – three cells for
imprisoning detained and arrested individuals. The fourth door leading t the investigation/questioning
cell.]
À.:-They had a bench here, and a board,40 or 50 millimeters thick. When they took you out
here, they ’ d put you on the bench, on your stomach. And then they put the board on top of you, and they mauled you with a sledge hammer, to beat up your insides. So that nobody would raise a hue and cry [meaning not t leave any traces, just in case that a person would have no obvious reasons t
complain ].I also had all of my insides beaten up.
Sharip and Alaudinov [see Appendix 1 ], when we were in that cage [cell ], they were really
tortured hard here. By the head of the Temporary Detention Jail … Sorokin. We could hear it well from
there. But they never took them there [ t the cell in which the narrator was kept ].They were taken to the
gym. They didn ’ t keep them overnight here. They didn ’ t keep Bopaeva [see Appendix 1 ] .They were
probably kept in the gym
.
They didn ’ t have these three cages [cells ] here in the beginning. There was only one [the right
cell ].Then they added on the other ones. They had a very big room here.
Karnukaev Movkar from Argun. His brother says he ’ s really not feeling good. And I say, he ’ll
never feel better, because they had beaten up all of his organs. They ’ve made him into a disabled person.
Malsagov from Argun. He was about 20, they brought him from Alkhazurovo. I don ’ t know what
they accused him of, but they really beat up all his insides.
A boy from School 22.They started to really chip him.
They made us whitewash the walls here, 7 or 8 times. It was all covered in blood; the first time we
came here, it was all soaked in blood. We had to keep covering it with whitewash.
They didn ’ t even have to beat anyone up here. If anyone spent one night in here, by the morning
they couldn ’ t come out alive – this room was so full of fear. They didn ’ t even have to do anything special to us. I wouldn ’ t want anyone to go through this. I don ’ t even know why they did this to us. So that they ’ d have real authority, so that others would be afraid.
The narrator enters the right cell, which is where he was kept.
Q.:-Were you kept here?
À.:-Yes, I was here. There were about eight of us here.(almost inaudible)Sometimes they ’ll
throw [somebody ] in here, and he is not even able to get up here [on the lower bunk ].We ’ d pick him up and put him on the bunk. And in the morning they ’d take him out again.
<… >They cut my ear off back in the gym. I was there for three weeks, and then they moved me
here. They put me down, they wanted to cut my head off. They cut my ear off .And they said, we ’ll have a cigarette and we ’ll cut your head off after that. But then they got distracted, switched their attention to the others.<…>So, they were gone by the morning. They dragged them out, to throw them out into the pit.
Q.:-Where was that ,where were the pits?
À.:-You think they ’d show me? And they wrote down that they had left and gone home.
À.:-And then everyone found out [the news ] that I ’ m a teacher, that I ’ m kept here. Teachers
started protesting. The top guy here says – tell them that the separatist fighters cut off your ear,
otherwise you won ’ t come out of here alive. My ear had already been cut off at that time. So what did I have left to do? I ’ll say that. And then three days later the prosecutor came, Lozitsky. And next to him
was that man who said – God forbid you say the wrong thing. The prosecutor asks: how is your ear
healing? He didn ’ t ask me – where did this happen,why? All he asked was – how is it healing? That ’ s Lozitsky,he ’ s from Stavropol.<…>
[The narrator enters the cell that says “SK ” on the door ]
À.:-They had a bed here. Fatima and Malika, young girls .They were handcuffed to the bed here.
Q.:-They were in handcuffs?
À.:-They kept them here, they didn ’ t take them anywhere. Sometimes someone dropped by from
upstairs ,to check on things. Sometimes the guard would save them. But sometimes the guys from upstairs attacked them. And tied them to the bed. Those two girls, they took them from here in the night, too. The guys who turned them in somewhere else, probably in Khankala, got rewards for it. And they took the two guys, Albert and Doka, somewhere, too, I don ’ t know where. Albert was 28,Doka was 35.<…>
[The narrator enters the room next door ]
Here they let us wash, so we won ’ t have lice. They give you a bucket, and they say – go ahead,
wash yourself. When some committee came, they had our hair cut. They usually tell your cellmate – go
ahead, cut his hair.
[The narrator points at another room ]
There were about 7-8 of us there [in the cell]. As soon as any type of control committee came,
they ’ d take me from there and hid me here. And kept me there until the committee would leave. And when
we asked, why do you take us out, they ’ d say, because there are too many people in the cell. And later I realized – it was because there was a search for me....<…>
1Temporary Department of Internal Affairs (VOVD)– a structure in the system of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia that basically carried out the functions of a District Department of Internal Affairs (ROVD) in the territory of Chechen Republic. All of the staff members of VOVD were police officers assigned t service in Chechnya from different regions of Russia. Later, as the Republic formed its own Ministry of Internal Affairs and its subdivisions, the powers and functions were transferred to the ROVD, staffed mainly by local residents.
2This album was created during the time when the Combined police troop of KMAO was working in Grozny for the second time. How can one hope that the people who can throw out such documents are able to effectively combat crime and terrorism?!
3Operations and Investigation Bureau
4Regional Organized Crime Department
5A prisoner whose ear was
