Russian Federation

The second armed conflict in the Chechen Republic which began in 1999 has been characterised by widespread human rights violations, including "disappearances" committed by the Russian federal forces. Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concern about the failure of the Russian Federation authorities to adequately investigate allegations of such violations by Russian forces and to bring those responsible to justice.

Such inactivity has created a climate whereby Russian security forces believe that they can continue to violate the fundamental rights of the civilian population with impunity. Many of the "disappeared" are feared to have been tortured and killed.

According to recent official statistics, around 270 people are believed to have "disappeared" during the first six months of 2003, although human rights groups claim that the true number is likely to be much higher. Two of the recent "disappearance" cases taken up by Amnesty International are that of Musa Zaurbekov and Rizvan Appazov, who both "disappeared" in May 2003.

Musa Zaurbekov

In the early hours of the morning of 6 May, Musa Khozhaevich Zaurbekov was reportedly abducted by unidentified armed men from his home in Kataiama in the Staropromyslovskii region of Grozny. His current whereabouts are unknown and there are fears that he is at risk of torture and ill-treatment. There are also concerns that he may have been abducted by federal forces or even been extrajudicially executed.

At around 3am, several khaki coloured jeeps arrived at Musa Zaurbekov's house. Unidentified armed men wearing masks and dressed in camouflage clothing broke into the house without introducing themselves or explaining the reason for their forced entry. They tied Musa Zaurbekov's wife and children up, covered their mouths with scotch tape and locked them up in a separate room. Musa Zaurbekov was then taken away without his family being told where he was going or why.

Musa Zaurbekov's relatives have been searching for him and have made enquiries with the local administration and the military command post in the Staropromyslovskii region. Their requests for information, however, have all been ignored or gone unanswered.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Since the summer of 2002, the number of large-scale sweep operations conducted by Russian federal forces in the Chechen Republic are reported to have declined, and instead, so-called 'targeted' or 'addressed' operations have become much more frequent. During such operations, the Russian federal forces or Chechen police target individual houses rather than whole villages and detain one or two persons. The targeted operations often take place in the middle of the night. In the course of such operations people have been "disappeared" or killed. Order 80 and Decree 46, which regulate the conduct of such raids, are also regularly breached. Order No.80 issued in March 2002 by General Moltenskoi prohibits security forces from wearing masks or concealing the identity of their units during raids. It also requires forces of the Ministry of the Interior and the police to announce their name, rank and purpose when entering civilian homes. These requirements, however, do not apply to other security forces, such as officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) or federal soldiers. Security and law enforcement frequently also fail to comply with Decree 46 issued by the General Procurator in July 2001, which requires the presence of procurators and local authorities during military raids.

Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov

Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov has not been seen since he was detained by Russian federal soldiers in the Vedeno region of Chechnya on 5 May. Amnesty International fears that he may have "disappeared" and is concerned for his safety. If he is in detention, he is at risk of being tortured or ill-treated.

At 8.30am on 5 May, Russian soldiers stopped the bus in which Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov was travelling, as it reached a military checkpoint near his home village, Elistanzhi. The soldiers began checking the passports of all the passengers. As soon as they found Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov, they stopped their checks and forced him off the bus. When other passengers attempted to find out why Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov had been detained, the Russian soldiers refused to give any explanation.

Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov was reportedly taken to a Russian army barracks on the site of a former asphalt factory. He has not been seen since, and his current whereabouts are unknown. Two of his relatives, Emi Saipudinovich Esambaev, who is the head of the local administration, and local mufti (Muslim religious leader) Abdul-Baid Madagov, went to the barracks to find out where Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov was being held. Soldiers at the barracks would only tell them that he had been taken to the main Russian military base in Chechnya at Khankala for further checks. However, this has not been confirmed. No reason has been given for his detention.

In 2001, Rizvan Yaragievich Appazov's brother was also detained by Russian federal soldiers as he herded cattle in pasture. He has not been seen since.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION Thousands of civilians in Chechnya have been detained for various periods during military raids or document checks. In some cases, detainees have reportedly been held in squalid facilities that amounted to little more than pits in the ground beside a checkpoint or at the Russian military base at Khankala. Many of those detained have been tortured or ill-treated.

Furthermore, hundreds of Chechen civilians are believed to have "disappeared" after being detained by Russian forces. The bodies of some of the "disappeared" have been found in unmarked dumping sites or mass graves. Many appear to have suffered torture, including rape, or violent death. Forty-year-old Nura Lulueva and her three female cousins Markha and Raisa Gakaeva and Aset Elbuzdukueva were arrested during a raid on a market in Grozny on 3 June 2000. Their blindfolded bodies were found on a dumping site in Dachny village, near the Khankala base, on 4 March 2001.

Amnesty International has gathered numerous reports of those male and female detainees who have "disappeared" being raped, beaten with hammers and clubs, given electric shocks or being sprayed with tear gas while in the custody of Russian federal forces.

Apartment bombers sentenced to life

TEXT: Victoria Malyutina, Irina Petrokova  Ôîòî: Âåñòè

Adam Dekkushev and Yusuf Krymshamkhalov, accused of carrying out a series of terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 300 Russians in Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999, were sentenced to life in prison by a Moscow court today. Both have been found guilty of terrorism, murder, and transporting and manufacturing explosives.

According to investigators, both men received training in Chechen rebel camps. The trial of Dekkushev, 40, and Krymshamkhalov, 35, accused of being involved in terrorist attacks on residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk in September 1999 opened in Moscow on 31 October.

At the trial, held behind closed doors, the prosecutor demanded life sentences for both defendants. Investigation into the explosions in Moscow on 9 and 13 September 1999 and in Volgodonsk on 16 September 1999 was carried out by the Prosecutor General's Office. In April 2003 the prosecutors said they had completed their work. In September the PGO endorsed the indictment act and delivered the case file to the court.

Investigators said that Krymshamkhalov, a resident of Kislovodsk, was the right-hand man of Achemez Gochiyayev, a native of the North- Caucasian republic of Karachai-Cherkessia, but registered as living in Moscow. Prosecutors believe Gochiyayev to be the mastermind of the apartment bombings in Moscow. Gochiyayev's group comprised 15 people including Krymshamkhalov, Dekkushev, Timur Batchayev, Khakim and Alim Abayev and Denis Saitakov.

The investigators established that preparations for the attacks were carried out at rebel Chechen bases in Serzhen-Yurt and at a mineral fertiliser plant in Urus-Martan where the explosive mixture used in the bombings was made. The work was carried out under the guidance of the Arab mercenaries Abu Umar and Abu Dzhafar; the field commander Khattab is said to have approved of the plans. All three Arabs have since been killed.

In summer 1999 the terrorists shipped hexogen, disguised as sugar, to a food warehouse in Kislovodsk. At the entrance to the city the truck was met by a traffic police officer, Stanislav Lyubichev, who was later detained by investigators.

At the warehouse, which belonged to Krymshamkhalov's uncle, the rebels packed the explosives into bags marked with the logo of a local sugar plant. Dekkushev found a truck which was later used to transport the explosives to Moscow.

Having determined their plan of action, the terrorists divided into several groups. The first group, headed by Krymshamkhalov, went to Moscow. That group included several people who had studied explosives, including Denis Saitakov, Khakim Abayev and Ravil Akhmyarov.

Achemez Gochiyayev met them in Moscow and on the following day the hexogen was delivered to three addresses – Guryanova Street, Kashirskoye Shosse and Borisovskiye Prudy. Shortly afterwards, two blasts tore through residential buildings in Guryanova Street and Kashirskoye Shosse, claiming 228 lives.

Meanwhile, another group of terrorists headed to the village Mirnyi, near Mineralnyye Vody, where the terrorists decided to store two tons of hexogen in a shed belonging to a distant relative of Krymshamkhalov. In early September 1999 Timur Batchayev and Adam Dekkushev took the explosives to Volgodonsk.

According to the FSB, all the members of Gochiyayev's group, except Gochiyayev himself, have either been detained or killed in the course of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya.

Three years ago the Stavropol Regional Court handed down a guilty verdict to several members of Krymshamkhalov's group. Aslan Bastanov, Murat Bastanov, Muratbi Bairamukov, Muratbi Tuganbayev and Taikan Frantsuzov were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 9 to 15 years.

The prosecutors detained Krymshamkhalov a year ago. The suspect was arrested in Georgia and extradited to Russia at the request of the PGO. Earlier, Dekkushev, too, was deported from Georgia. As for Gochiyayev, his name is still on the federal wanted list.

On the first day of the trial Krymshamkhalov partially admitted his guilt. According to Krymshamkhalov's lawyer, Shamil Arifulov, his client said he did accompany the shipment of explosives to Volgodonsk, but he had no idea that the substance packed in the sugar bags was hexogen and that it was to be used to perpetrate terrorist attacks.

Moreover, Krymshamkhalov admitted that he had received training at a rebel camp. He also confessed to illegally crossing the state border between Russia and Georgia. However, he refuted accusations of his alleged involvement in illegal armed formations, claiming he had never taken part in any combat activities.

Dekkushev pleaded innocent at the trial, retracting the testimony he made during the preliminary investigation. According to his lawyer, Natalia Tarasevich, Dekkushev had earlier admitted that he, together with Krymshamkhalov, had accompanied a shipment of hexogen packed in sugar bags, without having any idea as to what was inside. On the first day of his trial Dekkushev said he had given that statement under duress.

On Monday the Moscow City Court sentenced Dekkushev and Krymshamkhalov to life in prison. Both were found guilty of perpetrating acts of terrorism, participation in illegal armed formations, the manufacture, storage and transportation of explosives, and illegally crossing a state border. Krymshamkhalov was also found guilty of bribing a traffic policeman.

In line with the ruling, both will serve their sentence in a high- security prison. The court also ordered them to pay 1 million roubles in material damages to the terror victims, and some 3 million roubles in moral damages. A lawyer representing the victims said, however, that it was unlikely any compensation would be paid.

12 Jan  14:51 Gazeta ru