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22nd November

The administration of the Kurchaloyevsk Region in the Chechen Republic is appealing to you with various facts and incidents related to this region which have complicated the socio-political situation and which hinder the maintenance of law and order and have destroyed the faith of the civilian population in justice. Recently land-mines and high-explosive bombs have been planted and many explosions have occurred killing innocent civilians.

The most serious of these events:

• 9/9/00 the head of the village administration in Tsotsi-Yurt, B Akhmatov is murdered
• 16/10/00 the head of the village administration in Khidi-Khtor, J Eshurkayev is murdered
• 14/11/00 an attempt is made on the life of the former head of the village administration of Bachi-Yurt, L M V Aliyev who is curently recovering from his wounds in hospital
• 24/10/00 the deputy head of the Kurchal'ski Regional Department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs on the home front, Ruslan Muskhadzhiyev is murdered.
• The head of the administration and his bodyguards have been shot at twice on the road on the way to Chechnya.
• The new premises of the regional administration was damaged by a grenade attack, the grenade exploded in the courtyard of the Regional Department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs.

Based on these facts, a criminal case was instigated and investigations are being carried out but, there is no certainty that guilt will be proven.

These crimes and incidents carried out by the federal troops and representatives of various military departments and sub-divisions have had an extremely negative impact on the situation in the region and have had significant social resonance. Cases of civilian detention continue and the torture of citizens during so-called "cleansing operations" during which people are abducted and further information with regards to their fates is withheld. Furthermore, such checks and "cleansing operations" are carried out without the sanction of the heads of the administration, and their attempts to participate in such checks is observed by soldiers in a crude and synical fashion.

In other words, officers representing the special forces which carried out the 'cleansing operations' have openly discredited the representatives of the executive powers and violate laws with apparent impunity.

So, for example, in the village of Kurchala alone, the following facts have been recorded:

2/10/00 during a selective "cleansing operation" in Korchaloevski Street at the home of A Magomadov an unsanctioned search was conducted and Magomadov's son, Ayubkhan Adamovich Magomadov, born 1969, was abducted to an unknown location.

12/10/00 after the trials and tribulations of court cases, Magomadov's mother was eventually informed by the KM of the Oktyabrski Temporary Department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs in Grozny, V V Ivanovsk, that her son Ayubkhan Magomadov had been arrested on 2/10/00 on the suspicion of a serious crime and, as this fact had not been proven, he had allegedly been released on 3/10/00. However, there are no records anywhere and there is no evidence that he had been released. His fate is, to this day, unknown. We have sent a letter to the Procurator in the Chechen Republic, V Chernov, but have received no response. - 15/11/00 on the outskirts of the village of Kurchala, not far from block-station No 3, a bus carrying employees of the Kurchaloyevsk Temporary Department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs on their way to change the troops was blown up by a mine planted by unknown parties. Two employees died at the location and 12 suffered from lacerations. Within a few hours, all roads to Korchala were closed. During the "cleansing operation" in the district of block-station number 3, employees from the state farm "Kurchaloyevski" (who were responsible for producing seeds for winter crops) were arrested. Also arrested were people responsible for the collection of firewood. They were all severely beaten and were taken to temporary investigation cells in the Kurchaloyevski Temporary Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then released in a very serious condition after the intervention of the Regional Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs:

Said-Emi Daudov, born 1970 received a puncture wound to the thigh, soft-tissue damage haemorhagical shock, first stage.

Said-Hussain Denil'khanov, born 1956 received a thorax injury and fracture to the 6-8th right ribs and also a hip injury.

Isa Vakhidov, born 1949 received damage to the thorax, a broken left and right rib, concussion of the brain, thorax injury, a broken nose and was hospitalised in a critical condition.

Asrudi Usmanov, born 1966 received a thorax injury, abrasions and bruises to the face and the extremities, facial haematoma and a broken nose.

Suleman Usmanov, born 1979, received concussion of the brain, thorax injury, broken ribs, abrasions to the head and facial haematoma.

At all block-stations purposeful torture is carried out on travelling civilians. Employees of the local police force are insulted and humiliated. The behaviour of the employees of the federal troops has led to an explosive situation in the region. The regional administration, heads of the regional department of the Ministry for Internal Affairs at all levels are continually appealing to the population to be patient and behave sensibly.

In the presence of the highly-charged situation in this region, various divisions in the ranks of the Federal Troops of the Russian Federation exacerbate the situation by continuing to attempts to create a breeding ground for aggression by detaining innocent civilians, refusing to observe and in fact openly violating Russian legislation and by violating the rights and freedoms of citizens.

The list of inhabitants in the Kurchaloyevsk region who have disappeared without a trace, of those who have been detained at block-stations, on streets and at home, whilst they are minding their cattle or collecting firewood is continually growing. In other words, innocent civilians are suffering, and the bandits are carefree that is to say that they are able to travel freely through block-stations and over borders.

Additional facts and incidents which have further destabilised the situation and damaged people's faith in the current leadership:

19/10/00 - after their lessons, children at the Kurchaloyevsk village school No. 1 walked to the outskirts of the village, and, not far from their homes, activated a land-mine. Shakhbulat Magomadov, born 1987, died on impact and Bekkhan Khizriyev, born 1987 received multiple shrapnel wounds and it was later necessary to amputate his leg. He is currently hospitalised in a state of shock. On that same day, a television programme was broadcast reporting how the school children detonated a land-mine which we allegedly planted. The Temporary Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the commendant's office claimed that they did not give this information. The question which justifiably arises from this is: who has this helped?

16/11/00. Five villagers from Akhinchu-Barza were on their way to prepare firewood for the school, accompanied by two soldiers in a federal troop vehicle stationed outside the village. All seven were found murdered that same evening outside the village of Gums. The victims were employees at the school, a villager involved in the organisation of cultural events, workers at the state farm and two soldiers.

21/11/00. During the morning on the outskirts of the village of Kurchala, another school-child Ruslan Megishyev, born 1985, was killed by a land-mine.

This report was in progress when, this morning, 23rd November 2000, the head of the local agricultural organisation in the village of Mairtup visited us with the report that in the village at 4:00 that morning, military troops in a military vehicle burst into the homes of various civilians and began to raid these houses, humiliating the residents. They then abducted seven civilians and left in an unknown direction. Those civilians were: Ramzan Denilbekovich Masayev, born 1959, father of 5. His father, Denilbek was viscously beaten with rifle-butts.

• Khozha Abdulkhmidovich Islamkhanov, born 1959
• Ahmed Elziyevich Edilkhanov, born 1973
• Elsar Edilgeriovich Edirkhanov, born 1951
• Yusip Abdulkhalikovich Taburov, born 1949
• Minayir Matayevich Murtazov, born 1956
• Andar Arbuyezidovich Khatayev, born 1950

These people were outrageously humiliated by federal troops, who are never made to take responsible for any of the horrors they committed.

We are all working in difficult conditions, risking our lives and those of our loved ones. Not one of the heads of the of administration is currently protected. It has become necessary to distribute weapons to the heads of local administration and to ensure that each has between 1 and 3 bodyguards in order to maintain law and order.

As the head of the Kurchaloyevsk Regional Administration, I accept my responsibility to maintain peace in the territory of my region.

I also see it as my duty to bring to your attention the complex situation in the region and emphasise the necessity to take appropriate measures with the aim of improving law and order in the Kurchaloyevsk regional.

Yours sincerely,