| eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 29/6/2004 Ten refugees still kept in custody At least ten out of thirty-six men that had undergone detention in the Altievo refugee camp continued, as of June 28, to be kept in custody. Thus, the information that all detainees had been released which was made public with a reference to an officer of the Memorial Human Rights Center in Nazran does not meet reality. The detainees say the methods applied to them included the use of force. Officers of law enforcement / security agencies trod on and beat with handcuffs on their hands demanding that they confess to having taken part in the armed attack on the night of June 21. After a strike on the foot with a sledge-hammer, such a confession was forced from one of the detainees. Those released are concerned about the destiny of four of the remaining detainees, the brothers Makhaev - Khizir and Aslambek, and the brothers Khasimikov - Abu-Bakar and Salamu. Eyewitnesses say they were detached from all other detainees. Salamu Khasimikov who has tuberculosis was handcuffed to a battery and beaten heavily; when he lost consciousness, he started throat-bleeding. Those released are afraid for his life. They also say they understood from what the police officers guarding them said that those four might really be charged with assisting the gunmen. However, there is no knowing whether it was about confessions given under torture or there is really serious evidence against them. Source: Society for Russian-Chechen Friendship 29.6.2004 In Shali, Protest Against Military Impunity Chechnya, Shalinsky region. (Information Center ORCHD). On June 28, at 9 a.m., a demonstration is taking place at the district administration building to protest the killing of the Kagermanov family due to a barrage of artillery fire by federal forces of the Sershen-Yort village on June 26. The demonstrators demand that those responsible for the deaths are brought to justice, freedom for citizens kidnapped by “siloviki,” and protection of constitutional rights to Chechen residents, including the right to life, the inviolability of the individual and habitation, and the right not to be subjected to torture or any harsh and humiliating treatment. Despite the fact the organizers of the protest did not inform local branches of the government about the demonstration ten days in advance, as required by law, the head of the regional administration Akhmed Gutaev stated he will not interfere with the protesters. On June 26, at 5 a.m., Lyema Kagermanov, his wife Rashan and two of their daughters Jamila and Hedi came under heavy artiliary fire and fled their home, seeking shelter. They were then killed by two artillery shells which landed in their yard. The Kagermanovs, who were living the last few years in the “Logovaz” camp in Ingushetia, returned to Chechnya on June 25, fearing mass repression, which the Ingushetia government is carrying out against Chechen refugees following the massive attacks by the Chechnya resistance forces on the evening of June 22. According to a statement from the regional commandant’s office representative, the Kagermanovs died as a result of a mistake made by an informant. The artillery fire was ordered on a group of armed people moving in the forest. Representatives of the commandant’s office took the blame and offered the relatives of the victims money. But the brother of the family head categorically refused the money, calling them war criminals and murderers, and stated that they will be brought to justice. However, a criminal case on the murder of the Kagermanovs has not been initiated. Translated by Nate Young PRIMA News Agency [2004-02-28-Chech-06] Court Acquits Officers Charged With Murdering Chechen Civilians Created: 29.06.2004 17:09 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:53 MSK, MosNews The North Caucasus district Military Court acquitted officers of the Russian interior troops charged with the killing of Chechen civilians, Interfax news agency reported Tuesday. The acquittal was brought after the jury had returned a not-guilty verdict. According to the prosecutor's version, Senior Leutenant Yevgeny Khudyakov and Junior Leutenant Sergei Arakcheyev were commanding a military group that had stopped two cars in Grozny. Khudyakov ordered the passengers of one of the cars, a truck, to go out and to lie down on the ground, and shot them in the head. Later, Khudyakov's soldiers pushed the truck with the bodies to the side of the road and burnt it. The driver of the other car was questioned by Khudyakov, the agency quoted the prosecution materials. The senior lieutenant took the driver's belongings away and shot him three times at the leg. Khudyakov and Arakcheyev pleaded not guilty. The military prosecution intends to appeal the not-guilty sentence. In April, the court acquitted four other Russian troops charged with murdering Chechen civilians. By JABER Al HARMI Associated Press Writer June 30, 2004, 5:32 AM EDT DOHA, Qatar -- A Qatari court convicted two Russian intelligence officers Wednesday in the assassination of a Chechen rebel leader and sentenced them to life in prison. A life sentence in Qatar is 25 years. Prosecutors had reportedly been seeking the death penalty in the case, which had threatened to strain relations between Russia and Qatar, a tiny-oil rich Gulf state that is a close ally of the United States. The Russian officers were arrested in the Qatari capital, Doha, in February on suspicion of planting a bomb that killed Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, a former Chechen president and rebel leader, and wounded his teenage son. Their trial began in April in Qatar's Supreme Criminal Court. Defense lawyers have said their clients were detained and searched unlawfully at their diplomatic residence and were tortured into making confessions. In a statement before the sentencing, Akhmed Zakayev, an aide to Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, said the intelligence officers "fulfilled the order of their government." "Today's decision by the Qatari court will show whether the Russian government itself can justifiably be called a terrorist organization," he said. Russia has denied involvement in Yandarbiyev's killing and has said the defendants, who have not been officially identified, were agents gathering intelligence about terrorism. Yandarbiyev, Chechnya's acting president in 1996-1997, had lived in Qatar since 2000. Moscow had sought his extradition on charges of terrorism and links to al-Qaida. The United Nations and Washington had also linked him to terrorism. Despite strained relations between Qatar and Russia after the arrest of the two intelligence agents, the countries issued a joint statement after the incident agreeing to let the Gulf state's courts decide on the case. Copyright Russia Says Not Involved in Chechen Killing in Qatar Wed Jun 30, 2004 06:03 AM ET MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday denied the involvement of two Russian citizens in the killing in Qatar of a Chechen rebel leader. "Moscow's position is still that the two Russian citizens detained in Qatar had nothing to do with the attack on (Zelimkhan) Yandarbiyev," Lavrov said in Indonesia. Two Russians were earlier convicted by a Qatar court of Yandarbiyev's killing in the Gulf state last February and sentenced to life imprisonment. Lavrov, whose comments in Indonesia to journalists were distributed by the Russian foreign ministry in Moscow, said Russian lawyers would appeal against the court's ruling. "We will continue to work for the early return of the Russian nationals to their country," Lavrov added. A group of defense lawyers working for the accused said in a statement that the case against their clients had not been proven. "The defense intends to appeal," the statement said, referring to what it said were blatant violations of international and Qatari law. © Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. Moscow Court Turns Down U.S. Citizen's Dubrovka Claim Created: 30.06.2004 13:43 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 14:39 MSK, MosNews A Moscow court turned down a compensation claim filed by U.S. citizen Yelena Burban, whose husband died during the Dubrovka theater siege and who herself became permanently handicapped after the terrorist attack. Burban had asked that the Russian Finance Ministry pay her $1 million in moral and material damages, as well as pay out a monthly stipend of 55,000 rubles (about $2,000), as Burban has lost her capacity to work. "I will certainly appeal this ruling," lawyer Igor Trunov told MosNews. "I will appeal it to the very end, even if it takes me to the European Court." He said a lawsuit had been filed on behalf of Burban's American husband by his mother, whom Trunov represented, but Moscow courts had turned it down as well. Trunov said that on Tuesday the same court ruled in favor of a compensation claim filed after the 1999 apartment building bombings in Moscow that claimed hundreds of lives. Moreover, a woman who had been sitting next to Burban during the hostage ordeal had won her compensation claim. Burban, who was born in Ukraine, was visiting Russia together with her American husband for their honeymoon, Trunov told MosNews. She recounted in her statement that after the gas had been released in the building during the siege, she lost consciousness and awoke to find herself in a bus where rescuers were piling bodies one on top of another. She said that, and not the gas itself, was probably the main cause of death. After she had been released from the hospital, all of her and her husband's belongings — including $1,800 in cash, her clothes, and her documents — had disappeared. The investigator had handed her an empty purse. She was told that her husband had died during the siege. Burban now lives in Odessa, in Ukraine. 129 people died in the hostage ordeal that began October 23, 2002, when Chechen rebels stormed the theater during the Nord-Ost musical. Over 700 people were taken hostage. Jun 29 2004 6:29PM Russian rights campaigners to monitor Chechen elections MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - Russian human rights campaigners will monitor the Chechen presidential election campaign, Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseyeva told Interfax on Tuesday. "We will monitor the Chechen elections, but we do not intend to send observers for them," Alekseyeva said, adding that the human rights situation in Chechnya remains tense. Observers from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will also likely not be present at the presidential elections in Chechnya. The assembly is considering sending several people to Chechnya to gather information on the election process, but there will be no delegation of PACE observers at the Chechen elections, PACE rapporteur on Russia, Rudolph Bindig, said in a recent interview. The Chechen presidential elections were called after Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed in a terrorist bombing in Grozny on May 9, 2004. The elections are scheduled for August 29, 2004. To date, 17 people have declared their intention to run for the Chechen presidency. |