Human Rights Center "Memorial"

Letter to the commander of the OGV in the Chechen Republic,
General Lieutenant
V. I. Moltenskoi

Copy: To the Prosecutor of the Chechen Republic, V. G. Chernov.

Dear Vladimir Ilyich,

On the 27th March, order number 80 was published 'concerning measures regarding the increased activity of local authorities and law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation in the fight against violations of the law and the responsibilities of officials for the violation of law and order during the carrying out of special operations and 'targeted identity checks of people and places' in populated areas of the Chechen Republic.' The fundamental aim of this order is to prevent violations of the laws of the Russian Federation and official instructions during the carrying out of special operations and 'targeted identity checks' and for the resolution of complaints and declarations of residents of the Chechen Republic in these locations.

Representatives of human rights organisations raised the issue of the necessity of publishing such an order at the first meeting of the Working Group in Znamenskoe on 12th January 2002. We are pleased with the appearance of such an order and consider that upon it'simplementation, it may further the reduction of illegal violence against peaceful citizens of the Chechen Republic.

At the same time, in almost a month, which has passed since the issue of the said order, numerous facts are at our disposal which testify to gross unfulfillment of the statutes of order number 80 by federal forces in the Chechen Republic. Furthermore, during special operations in populated areas of the Chechen Republic, numerous infringements of the law were committed by representatives of federal forces which the civilian population were victims of.

From 25th March to 1st April 2002, special operations were carried out in the Tsotsin-Iurt village of the Kurchalovskii region to verify registration by place of residence and to expose participants of 'zachistka' military units,in the course of this so called 'special operation', practically all statutes of the above-mentioned decree number 80 were violated:

• Neither the head of the village's administration, nor the clergy or elders of the village were involved in the control of the carrying out of the operation. The head of administration was even beaten by soldiers. Employees of the Regional Department of Internal Affairs (ROVD) were not permitted to go where the operation was being carried out. On the 26th March, Chechen militiamen were allowed to be placed on the outskirts of the village and cordoned off the village. However, they were removed in the days that followed. Despite the fact that during the special operation in the village, the prosecutor of the Argunsk inter-regional Prosecutor's office , R.V. Timshin, officials of the regional FSB, Temporary Department of Internal Affairs (VOVD) and the commandant's office were present during the completion of the special operation in the given locality, documents with an enclosed list of the arrested was not compiled, neither were lists of the weapons removed, ammunition, documents, cash, possessions etc. Violation of point 2 of the orderis present;

• Soldiers who carried out the searches in the homes of peaceful citizens did not identify themselves, and for the majority, wore masks, were coarse and offensive during the course of the operation and even used force with regards to the peaceful citizens. Point 3 of the order was violated.

• Identification numbers on all vehicles and armoured personnel carriers were either absent or effaced. Point 4 of the order was violated.

• According to the local residents numerous incidents of robbery, extortion and baseless uses of force against the detained took place during the'mopping-up'.Point number 5 of the order violated.

By all appearances, point number 6 of the order was also breached, since from the above listed it follows that the decree was not indicated to the officers of the OGV. It is possible to access, that in connection with the fact that the decree was published two days after the beginning of the special operation measures, servicemen and those responsible for the execution of the given special operation did not have time to acquaint themselves with the given order of the Commander.

From 2nd to 6th April 2002 in the village Nozhai-Iurt of the Nozhai-Iurtovskii region, a special operation was carried out to check registration by place of residence and expose participants of the armed units ('mopping-up).

During the 'mopping-up', armed units were in operation and were stationed in other regions of the Chechen Republic. On the first day of the special operation, servicemen behaved rudely and with undue familiarity, did not identify themselves, burst into homes and insulted residents. A minimum of two cases of robbery are known: in one home soldiers took two electric generators (worth 4000 roubles each), in another, a radio was taken from a car parked in the courtyard. 8 people were arrested on that day, and were taken to a former office building, where the detained were interrogated, and beaten during questioning. According to some residents of the village the detained were subjected to torture by electric shock. A doctor of the regional hospital was amongst those arrested. All the detained were consequently released.

The situation changed suddenly after the commandant of the Nozhai Iortovsk region, Papikian, intervened during the 'mopping-up'. From this moment on, officials of the regional military commandant's office and VOVD were connected to the carrying out of the special operation. The administration gave in to the control over actions by the soldiers. In order to avoid theft of domestic cattle (on the first day several cattle were killed by soldiers) officials of the administration decided to provide the servicemen with food. For this aim alone, 10 sacks of flour taken from humanitarian aid were used to bake bread. In order to avoid pogroms in their homes, the residents invited the soldiers who had appeared on their threshold to the table.

An official of the Bureau of Special Presidential Representative of the Russian Federation for the protection of human rights and freedoms on the territory of the Chechen Republic, Zemilkhanov Sultan, participated in the control over the carrying out of the 'mopping-up'.

Local residents were on the whole satisfied with how the special operation went. 'At least,' they say 'they went well in comparison with otherregions.'

Nevertheless, it should be established that, as a minimum, points 2,3 and 4 of order number 80 were violated on the first day of the special operation: officers burst into homes, did not identify themselves, identification numbers were effaced on armoured personnel carriers, cases of robbery were noted, the detained were subjected to violence.

On the 5th April 2002, at around 12pm in the village Chiri-Iurt, Russian servicemen carried out 'targeted identity checks' in block number 12(5^th floor, flat number 120). In general, basements were checked.

During the carrying out of the said special operation none of the servicemen identified themselves. Practically all the soldiers, 15-20 people were in masks. Thus, point 3 of order number 80 was violated.

Vehicles which the soldiers arrived in were at the scene where the special operation was being carried out. Two vehicles 'UAZ' and another 'GAZ' 'Gazel' were covered with canvas. The identification numbers were effaced with dirt. When the women attempted to clean the identification numbers, they were fired upon. Thus, point 4 of order number 80 violated.

Residents of the block, mainly women, went to the local commandants office with a complaint about the soldier's actions. When they announced the gross breaches of order number 80 of the Commanding OGV, they were answered 'no order concerns us...'

On the 10th April in the town of Argun, Russian servicemen carried out a special operation on the premises of middle school number 1. Neither the head of the village's administration nor the leaders of the school nor local police were forewarned about the execution of the special operation, they were also not involved in its. Thus, point 2 of the order was violated.

Between 12:30 and 13:00,) armoured personnel carriers(not less than 4), a 'Ural' truck and a 'UAZ' car with tinted windows approached the school. No-one noticed the identification numbers on even one of the vehicles, on the armoured personnel carriers, the identification numbers were clearly effaced. Thus, point 4 of the order was violated.

Soldiers burst into the building and occupied offices and corridors. Chechen militiamen who were guarding the school were not successful in stopping the attack. Only one of them was armed, the rest were trainees and had no weapons. The acting head of the school Sadaeva Nuret Saidalineva asked the soldiers to identify themselves, however, she was answered with swearing. All the soldiers were in masks. Thus, point 3 of the order was violated.

When one of the teachers tried to remind them about order number 80 Commanding OGV, an officer kissed her on the forehead and answered her in foul language, the meaning of which was that he didn't recoginse any order. One of the trainee militiamen was outraged by the behaviour and in response, punched the soldier in the face. It is evident that point 5 of the order was violated.

There were few chlidren in the school at this time, since the first lesson had already finished, and the second had not yet begun. The soldiers dashed into the sportshall which was restored through the efforts of students and school graduates. Coaching takes place here. At this time, those in the sportshall were mainly students. The soldiers ordered everyone to lay on the floor and began to beat them. Then, the soldiers, beating and insulting them, led more than 40 pupils out of the sports hall and classrooms. They were sat inside a military car.

Illegal activity of the representatives of federal forces provoked the arisal of mass disorder.

One of the school's security guards, an employee of the local militia shot out the tyres of the 'Ural' truck in order to prevent the illegal arrest(in fact kidnapping) of the pupils.

Having heard the children's shouts and cries, as well as the shots, the local residents came running from all direction. The crowd quickly filled the area in front of the school and drove the representatives of federal forces away from the car. At this time, the order 'fire on them!'was heard. As a result of open fire by the representatives of federal forces, 4 people were injured.

One woman who was injured in front of the school, Zura Dzhabrailova, is in a critical state. According to doctors, she has absolutely no chance of recovery.

Thus, order number 80 Commanding OGV was grossly violated, in particular points 2,3,4 and 5.

On the 13th April 2002 in the village Kirov, Groznii region, a special operation was carried out by the federal forces to verify registation by place of residence and to expose participants of the illegal armed units ('mopping-up')'. During the carrying out of the special operation, the head of administation of the Zavodskii region, Alaudinov Musa, was present.

Officials of the OMON UVD of theChechen Republic, as well as servicemen, took part in the special operation. The faces of practically all the officials and servicemen were covered by masks, and upon entering the home they did not identify themselves. Point 3 of order number violated. On almost all armoured personnel carriers and transport employed during the special operation, identification numbers were concealed. Thus, point 4 of the order was violated.

It should be noted that on the 15th April 2002, the head of administration of the Zavodskii region , M. Alaudinov gave a speech on local television in connection with the special operation carried out in Kirov, and announced to viewers that the stated operation passed in strict accordance with the law and that there had been no complaints from the locals of the village Kirov in connection with how it was conducted. However, relatives of Khamaev,A, Tataev,S and Zugaraev, went to a consultation point of Human Rights Centre 'Memorial' with claims of groundless arrests.

From 11th to 15th April in the village of Alkhan-Kala the Groznenskii region, after an attack by illegal armed units on a car by federal forces which employees of the militia were in, a special operation was carried out by federal forces to verify registration by place of residence and to expose participants of the illegal armed units ('mopping-up').

The said operation lead to the discovery of a cache of weapons and ammuntion etc, but nevertheless was accompanied by gross breaches of order number 80 Commanding OGV.

The head of the village's administration of the Alkan-Kala region, Malika Umazhaeva maintains that General Igor' Borisovich Bronitski led the carrying out of the special operation. The military prosecutor of the North Caucuses district, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Ferlevski was present during the operation, he was at the operations headquarters on the outskirts of the village. Local citizens did not have free access to him, since it was dangerous for them to move about the village. The obligatory presence of the prosecutor is stated in point 2 of order number 46 of the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation dated 25.07.2001. However the location of the local administrator is stated as the location of the prosecutor.

The head of administration of the Alkhan-Kala village, Malika Umazhaeva was not involved in the operation. Thus, point 2 of order number 80 Commanding OGV was violated. The head of administration herself tried unsuccessfully to intervene and mitigate the actions of the soldiers. In violation of point 4 of this same order, identification numbers on the armoured personnel carriers were effaced.

The faces of many soldiers and employees of the forces departments were covered by masks, entering the house, they failed to identify themselves. This grossly violates point 3 of order number 80.

The head of administration was not handed a list of the local residents detained by the end of the 'mopping-up', as point number 2 of order number 80 demands. The head of administration compiled such a list independently by means of questioning the locals and writing their complaints.

In point 3 of order number 80 Commanding OGV, servicemen and militiamen are required to 'show tact, self-control, courtesy and not to sucumb to attempts to provoke them, to be rude and use force during the checks.'

In spite of this, representatives of federal forces treated the residents extremely rudely. For example, in the home of the Magomadov family, who live on Mir Street, servicemen beat a young man in the house, but after checking documents announced that they had beaten the wrong person. They needed Magomadov with the patronymic Adamovich, but instead they beat a person whose patronymic is Chinaevich.

As before, there were instances when the representatives of federal forces did a robbery. Thus, in the home of the Aznievs soldiers, without the presence of witnesses, insulted and frightened children, pushed a 12-year old invalid child, who started having a spasmodic attack because of it. After this, the mother pushed the children into one room and locked the door. They began to carry belongings whch they had taken a liking to out of the house. Thus, they took an electric generator, meat cutter, an electric kettle, a sheepskin coat, a jacket and shoes etc. Later the Aznievs together with the villages head of administration tried to demand the representatives of the federal forces to return the belongings which they had taken. However, the senior of the group who conducted the search in the house announced ' well, what do you think? we came here to take everything we need.' Evidently, point 5 of the order was violated.

Appeals by local residents to fulfill order number 80, which was repeatedly shown on television, were futile.

On the first day of the special operation, 11th April, 15 men were arrested

(the list was compiled by the head of administration, Malika Umazheva.)

1. Musa Gerikhanov
2. Uvais Dataev
3. Said Dilaev
4. B. Abakarov
5. Ruslan Khadisov
6. Ibragim Khabibulaev
7. Akhmed Akhmaev
8. Dzhamkhotov
9. Muzaev
10. Muzaev
11. M. Kadyrov
12. Sh. Magomadov
13. Kasaev
14. Il'ias Utsiev

15. Vakha Shakhabov.

The arrested were taken to a wooded area on the outskirts of the village where a 'temporary filtration point' had been organised. There they were beaten and subject to torture by electric shock. The next day, they were all in a critical state and needed medical assistance.

During the last year, a plywood shop and poultry factory were restored in the village, both these industrial firms were pillaged during the 'mopping-up'. The premises of the local hospital and local administration which had only just been repaired suffered severe damage, were also subjected to pogroms..

The head of administration, M. Umazheva asked the prosecutor, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Ferlevskii to intervene in the 'mopping-up'. But, according to the head of administration, the prosecutor replied to her that the soldiers carrying out the 'mopping-up' were not under his command.

On the 12th April, the commander of the OGV flew into Alkhan-Kala by helicopter. He met with the officials conducting the 'mopping-up' and flew out again.

After this, General Igor' Borisovich Bronitskii and Prosecutor Aleksandr Nikolaevich Ferlevskii invited the head of administration, Malika Umazheva to see them and prposed that they sign a protocol that the 'mopping-up' went without human rights violations and that she had no claims to it. According to M. Umazheva, she objected that this did not conform to reality. But they began to persuade her, emphasising the fact that the special operation had finished and that they were leaving the village at 17:00. Since the first two days of the 'mopping-up' had gone without any killings the head of administration, fearing that her persistence would provoke the soldiers into more brutal actions, signed the protocol. Malika Umazheva says, ' I believed them, but they deceived me. They got the document from me , and the next day, they killed people.'

On the morning of 13th April, armoured personnel carriers entered the village again, and armed men in camouflage began to search for and shoot all those who were arrested on prevous days, and afterwards released. The term 'servicemen' will be used, however, it is not clear to which forces department they belonged, i.e whether they were internal troops, belonged to the army, militia or federal security service.At 8:30 the servicemen (approximately 40 people) burst into the Utsievs' home. They arrived in two armoured personnel carriers without identification numbers.

Il'ias Abdul-Azimovich Utsiev, 30, was arrested on 11th April and taken to a 'temporary filtration point' but was freed on the 12th April. Upon his release, a report was taken that he was treated well and that he had no claims. But, in actual fact, he was brutally beaten, he was also subjected to torture by electric shock, was covered in bruises, and had burns on his hands and body.

Bursting into the Utsievs' home on 13^th April, the servicemen chased the women out of the room. One of them, who was standing by the door and fired a burst of machine gun fire directly at Il'yas Utsiev, who was lying on the bed and could not get up.

After this, the servicemen locked the women in one room, and the crying children in another and filmed the house and yard for three hours. Relatives of the dead maintain that representatives of federal forces brought weapons into the shed in front of the yard, which they then also filmed. Besides this, the servicenem took sacks of flour from the shed, saying that it was TNT. The servicemen threatened to shoot the women who had watched the filming from a window.

Vakha Shakhabov was killed in the same way in his own home.

Vakha Shakhabov was arrested on the 12th April and, like all the others, was seriously beaten. According to accounts of his relatives, his whole body was covered in bruises, his hands were blue and swollen from torture by electric shock. His hearing suffered badly as a result of the torture. After his release on the 12th April, he was carried home, as he was in no state to move, and relatives literally fed him by hand, because he was incapable of eating by himself.

The servicemen arrived in two armoured personnel carriers without identification numbers, and burst into the house. They threw Vakha Shakhabov from the bed and began to kick him. They then grabbed him by the collar, lifted him and put him with his face to the wall. The women were chased out and the room was locked. A burst of machine gun fire resounded.

Having heard the beginnings of a shooting, the residents hid the rest of the 13 of the people who were released the day before, but remained alive. On the 14^th April, the servicemen continued to burst into homes where those whowere earlier released lived.

The head of Administration tried to protect the people, turned to the servicemen, appealing to the law and order number 80 Commanding OGV of Molentskoi. But the servicemen insulted her and laughed at her when she mentioned this order.

On the 15th April soldiers who arrived in armoured personnel carriers dumped a headless and handless body by a mosque. Two more bodies were later found on the outskirts of the village. No-one in Alkhan-Kala could identify these bodies.

In the second half of the day, on the 15th April, representatives of federal forces left Alkhan-Kala.Residents of Alkhan-Kala around 2000 people, later gathered in the centre of the village, and demanded that the authorities intervene in the situation and 'hand over those who committed crimes against completely innocent people.'

The bodies were not buried for several days despite the fact that according to the laws of their religion, it is essential that the dead be buried on the day of death, people are still waiting for employees of the Prosecutor's office to carry out all the essential investigations.

On the 14th April 2002, in the town of Gudermes, officials of the VOVD carried out passport checks. When entering the premises and carrying out the checks, they did not identify themselves. In particular, officials of the VOVD behaved this was on the premises which the 'Nizam'Fund and Legal consultation of Human Rights Centre 'Memorial' occupy.Thus, point 3 of order number 80 Commanding OGV was violated.

We ask that, in correspondence with point 5 of order number 80, you order investigations of the above-listed incidents, and reprimand those guilty of gross unfulfillment of your order.

Many residents of the Chechen Republic maintain that:

The control over federal forces has been lost.

Command has no possibility of influencing the manner of the action of the immediate executors of the 'mopping-up'.

Order number 80 was published to create a visible fight against violations of law and order committed by representatives of federal forces against the civil population.

If decisive measures are not taken for the absolute and strict fulfilment of order number 80 Commanding OGV, then these sentiments will strengthen amongst the population of the Chechen Republic.