The Vainakhs Residing in Belgium Disappeared in Russia

On August 23, 2010 a resident of Ingushetia, Umar Darchiev, addressed HRC Memorial and Civic Assistance committee with a written statement. He stated that on August 10 or 11, 2010 his relatives, Ramzan Makhauri, DOB 1982, and Islam Borchashvili, DOB 1979, disappeared on their way from Brest (Belarus) to Moscow. Makhauri and Borchashvili with their families have been living in Belgium for several years so far. Ramzan Makhauri is a native of Chechnya, Islam Borchashvili had lived in Ingushetia before moving abroad.

In the beginning of August, 2010 they went to Russia to visit their relatives in Chechnya and Ingushetia. On August 10, they were registered at Belorussian border and got on a train bound for Brest – Moscow route at 5.40 p.m. On August 11, Makhauri and Borchashvili were to arrive at Belorussian railway station of Moscow and transfer to a train bound for Grozny which set off from Kazansky railway station at 2.33 p.m. According to the relatives of the missing, Ramzan and Islam didn’t get on the train to Chechnya. The relatives have tried to find them on their own, but with no success.

As of August 23, Ramzan Makhauri’s and Islam Borchashvili’s whereabouts could not be discovered.

Khedi Makhauri, Ramzan’s mother, gained the suit against the Russian Federation in the European Court of human rights (ECHR) in the autumn 2007. The essence of the case was as follows: on January 21, 2000 Khedi Makhauri and two more women were detained, robbed and shot down by Russian soldiers in Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny.The two women died, while Makhauri survived by a miracle. On January 24, 2000 the relatives took her to Ingushetia. She spent two months at hospital. As a result of the wounding Khedi Makhauri’s left hand was paralyzed. The woman turned to HRC Memorial for legal assistance the same year. The Center’s lawyers prepared and forwarded a complaint to ECHR. On October 4, 2007 ECHR delivered its decision on Khedi Makhauri’s case. The court decided that the Russian Federation had breached Article 2 (the right for life) of the European Convention on human rights and main freedoms. ECHR also decided that Article 13 had also been violated (the right for effective legal remedies) of the Convention as no effective investigation of the events of January 21, 2000 in Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny had taken place.

“All of the Ramzan’s immediate relatives reside in Belgium, Islam has no close people in Moscow who could assist them in finding the missing young men, which is why we have decided to ask your organizations for assistance”, - Umar Darchiev writes in his statement. He asks to help him to find Ramzan Makhauri and Islam Borchashvili.

August 24, 2010