| Publication of Chechen Separatist
Statements Sparks FSB Searches in Central Russia Created: 21.01.2005 15:30 MSK (GMT +3) MosNews The prosecutor's office in the Nizhny Novgorod region of Central Russia has launched a criminal case into the publication of statements by Chechen separatist leaders in a local newspaper. The Federal Security Service's (FSB) constitutional defense department has already questioned the head of a human rights group as part of the case. Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, the head of the Nizhny Novgorod information center of the *Russian-Chechen Friendship Society was called in for questioning at the local FSB office on Thursday. The society, together with the Nizhny Novgorod Human Rights Society, publishes the Pravozashchita newspaper where the statements appeared, and Dmitriyevsky is responsible for its materials. The investigator who spoke to Dmitriyevsky told him that the statements made by the leader of Chechnya's separatists, Aslan Maskhadov, and his aide, Akhmed Zakayev, published in spring 2004, were considered to "provoke national and religious hostility and called for the waging of an aggressive war," the society's website quoted an investigator as saying. After the questioning, FSB officials searched the information center's office and seized a number of documents including a back catalogue file of the Pravozashchita newspaper. The information center is one of the main sources on human rights violations in Chechnya that exists legally in Russia. In the North Caucasus the center's officials have been detained on a number of occasions, and their office in the Ingush city of Nazran has been subjected to a search. Maskhadov in his address to the European Parliament, which was published in the April-May issue of 2004, called on European MPs to assist in the peaceful settlement of the Chechen conflict. Zakayev in March of the same year called on the Russian people not to vote for Vladimir Putin at the presidential elections. Amnesty International voiced concern over Dmitriyevsky's questioning by the FSB. The organization said that "eight activists working for the human rights group the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society are in danger of being arbitrarily arrested, tortured and 'disappearing'." During the search, the FSB officials seized the addresses and documental information on the center's reporters living in Chechnya. Amnesty fears those people will now be in danger. The society is financed mostly by the U.S. Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. In his state of the nation speech last year Putin said that Russian human rights organizations that are supported by Western centers often do not work in Russia's interests, the Lenta.Ru web agency reported. Beslan residents protest over Russian "cover-up" 21 Jan 2005 12:38:49 GMT Source: Reuters By Oliver Bullough MOSCOW, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Residents of the Russian town of Beslan, scene of a hostage bloodbath at a school last year, took to the streets on Friday to protest at what they consider an official cover-up of the tragedy. Mainly Chechen separatists took over a school with 1,300 hostages last September and held it for two days. An operation by Russian security forces to end the siege collapsed in chaos and bloodshed in which 330 people -- half of them children -- were killed. President Vladimir Putin promised a full investigation into how the armed rebels managed to come into the town, at the foot of the Caucasus mountains near Chechnya, where rebels have fought Russia's rule for a decade. But hundreds of protesting residents say a parliamentary inquiry, which is still under way, has failed to apportion due blame on local officials, including regional head Alexander Dzasokhov. They say corrupt police and regional officials allowed the gang to bribe their way through checkpoints to stage their raid on the school. Many say the rebel arms had been cached in the school before the raid, and officials failed to notice. The residents closed a major highway for a second day on Friday to protest, standing in thick fog while many held photos of their murdered relatives and warmed themselves around camp fires. "This demonstration is a result of the parliamentary commission's coming here this week, and telling the mothers of the victims nothing but lies," said a spokeswoman for a commission set up by the school's teachers. "Many of them were inside that school and they saw with their own eyes a lot that is being denied." Some of the hundreds of protesters held banners saying: "Dzasokhov is Moscow's puppet" and asking: "Why were our children killed?", local media reported. Putin made huge political changes after the tragedy, tightening the Kremlin's grip on power in a bid to crack down on local autonomy. But residents said officials had not been held to account for their corruption and incompetence. "We want Dzasokhov to resign, because he is supposed to be guarantor of the constitution, but you see for yourself what he guarantees ... He is responsible for a lot, for the corruption." Members of the parliamentary commission urged patience. "In the three days (of their visit) not one of the victims' relatives made a single reproach to our commission," Commission head and senator Alexander Troshin told the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily. Dzasokhov has refused to resign, saying he fails to understand the criticism levelled against him. "If any of the protesters wants to ask me something about the investigation, I will receive (them), but I am not running the investigation," he said in televised comments. News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International AI Index: EUR 46/001/2005 20 January 2005 Russian Federation: Human rights group threatened by security forces Amnesty International is extremely concerned that eight activists working for the human rights group the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society are in danger of being arbitrarily arrested, tortured and "disappeared". This follows the seizure today of their contact information by Russian security forces. Officers from the Federal Security Service (FSB) raided the organisation's offices in Nizhny Novgorod at about 5pm local time and seized documents containing the contact details of all the staff of the group's newspaper. The contact details of eight staff members living in Chechnya were among those seized. The security forces also took away the newspaper's registration documents and some editions of the newspaper. Earlier in the day, the regional branch of the FSB in Nizhny Novgorod summoned Stanislav Dmitrievskii, the head of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society for questioning. The FSB reportedly considers Stanislav Dmitrievskii a witness in a criminal case relating to materials published by the organization’s newspaper Pravozashchita. Details of the case are unclear but seem to relate to statements by Chechen opposition figures including Aslan Maskhadov and his UK-based envoy Akhmed Zakayev published by the organization’s newspaper. Amnesty International has reported on a worrying trend of Russian authorities targeting human rights defenders, activists and independent journalists, and in some cases subjecting them to extreme levels of harassment, "disappearances" and killings. View all AI documents on the Russian Federation: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maac6f0abdwXmbeuxZvb/ ***************************************************************** You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the list subscription message may be removed. ***************************************************************** Past and current Amnesty news services can be found at <http://www.amnesty.org/news/>. Visit <http://www.amnesty.org> for information about Amnesty International and for other AI publications. Contact amnestyis@amnesty.org if you need to get in touch with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. Privacy policy <http://web.amnesty.org/pages/aboutai-privacy-eng> Human rights lawyer abducted in Chechnya: IHF expresses deep concern for his safety Vienna, 21 January 2005. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF), expresses its deep concern for the fate and whereabouts of Makhmut Magomadov who was detained by a group of camouflaged gunmen in Grozny on 20 January. Magomadov was travelling with his family in the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny when at approximately 18:30 they were approached by a group of armed men, speaking Chechen and dressed in military uniforms. These men grabbed Magomadov and drove away in the direction of the city centre. His wife and other witnesses suspect the men belong to the presidential security service, the so-called Kadyrovtsy, under the command of Chechen deputy prime-minister Ramzan Kadyrov. These units are implicated in literally dozens of cases of 'disappearances', torture and ill-treatment and extra-judicial execution. "We are deeply concerned for the fate and whereabouts of Makhmut Magomadov", stated Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of the IHF. "We fear he will be subjected to torture or ill-treatment and may be executed like so many of the 'disappeared' in Chechnya", he added. The organisation suspects Magomadov was targeted due to his work in compiling applications from the victims of human rights abuses for submission to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Until December 2004, Magomadov worked as an expert in the IHF project, The Legal Protection of Individual Rights in the Russian Federation, aimed a training Russian lawyers and human rights activists in the use of international law. At the time of his detention, he was working on over 30 cases, mainly concerning 'disappearances', torture and ill-treatment, and extra-judicial executions committed by Russian security forces. The IHF urges the Russian authorities publicly to confirm the fate and whereabouts of Makhmut Magomadov. If he is in custody, the IHF calls on the Russian authorities either to charge him with a recognisable offence or release him immediately. For further information: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights In Vienna: Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43 – 1 – 408 88 22 or +43 - 676 – 635 66 12; Henriette Schroeder, IHF Press Officer, +43 – 676 – 725 48 29 Chechen Committee for National Salvation, Ruslan Badalov, Chair, +7-873-22 24 00 All-Russia Movement ‘For Human Rights’, Lev Ponomarev, Executive Director, +7-095-291 62 33 ******************************************** To: Vladimir Pavlovich Kravchenko Prosecutor of the Republic of Chechnya, RF Via facsimile + 7 (8712) 22 31 44 , + 7 (095) 777 92 26 Copy: Vladimir Ustinov Prosecutor General of the RF Via facsimile +7(095) 921-41-86 Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman of the RF Via facsimile +7(095) 207-76-30 Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Human Rights Commission of the RF Via facsimile +7 (095) 206-48-55 Open Letter Abduction of Human Rights Lawyer Makhmut Magomadov Vienna, 21 January 2005 Dear Prosecutor, I am writing on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) regarding the abduction of Makhmut Magomadov (born 1954) on 20 January 2005 in Grozny, Staropromsylovsky district, conducted by a group of camouflaged armed men, who were allegedly members of the presidential security service of Chechnya. Details: On 20 January 2005, at around 18:30, well-known human rights lawyer, former deputy prosecutor, Makhmut Dzhaparovich Magomadov (born 1954, presently living in Grozny) was abducted by a group of men in the Staropromyslovsky Raion of Grozny. He and his family (wife and two children) were visiting a friend, when they were approached by a group of Chechen-speaking armed men in combat fatigues, who grabbed Magomadov, and drove away in the direction of the city center. His wife and other witnesses believe that the men belonged to the presidential security service, the so-called Kadyrovtsy, under the command of Chechen deputy prime-minister Ramzan Kadyrov. It seems Magomadov was taken to an unofficial detention center like the one in Tsenteroi. According to his wife, Albika Shabazova, they were on their way to see a friend, Abubakar Amirov, after they had fulfilled a ceremony of sacrifice – it was the Muslim feast Kurbam Bayram – when they noticed that a car was following them (a steel color VAZ-2110). They arrived at Amirov’s house, and Magomadov and his 4-year old daughter Iman went up to the second floor to bring him a share of the meat of the sacrificed animal. His wife Albika and their six-month old son Arbalo remained in the car. At this moment a few cars approached them. Among them was a steel-colour VAZ-2110 (number 863), a white VAZ-2107 (with number 008, region code 95), a white Gazel-31029 and a wine-red colour VAZ–21099. A group of unknown Chechen-speaking persons in combat fatigues but without masks, armed with automatic and other weapons jumped out of the cars. Albika was asked where the owner of the car was. She answered, that it is her husband’s car and that he had entered the house to give some meat to their friend. She asked repeatedly what was going on, to which she was told that they “had some scores to settleâ€. The armed group surrounded the house and within a few minutes took Magomadov out of the house and forcibly sat him in the Gazel-31029. His little daughter, who clinged to her father, the assailants simply threw to the ground. Albika, carrying their 6 months old son, tried to intervene, but was roughly pushed aside. The cars then drove away in the direction of the city centre. Magomadov’s wife and other eyewitnesses of the incident assume that the abduction was conducted by so-called “Kadyrovtsy†and that Magomadov was most likely taken to one of their illegal “prisonsâ€. About Makhmut Magomadov Makhmut Magomadov (born 1954), is a well-known legal expert for the Chechen Committee of National Salvation, the Northern Caucasus affiliate of the All-Russia Movement For Human Rights headed by Lev Ponomaryov. Until December 2004, he worked as an expert for the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. Magomadov closely cooperates with the “Center for International Human Rights Defense†(headed by Karinna Moskalenko). He is involved in preparing cases to be brought to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, among others the one related to the 21 October 1999 shelling of the Grozny Market, during which scores of people were killed. After a long career with the police in Donskoy, Tula Oblast, from 1992 Magomadov worked as an investigator for the Chechen Ministry of Interior, and then for the Prokuratura (Prosecutor’s Office). From 1994 to 1996 he worked in the Office of the Public Prosecutor of the Interim Administration of Chechnya. He subsequently worked as Assistant Prosecutor General for crime investigations. He was also the head of an Investigations and Operations Task Force to fight kidnappings. His team was instrumental in freeing hundreds of kidnapped persons. Magomadov was not involved in politics and did not participate in the armed conflict. After retiring from law enforcement, he undertook human rights-related work. Through this new career, Magomadov has won many friends, both in Russia and abroad, among his colleagues with his collegial manner and tireless approach to the difficult and dangerous work of representing the victims of grave human rights violations in Chechnya. ****** We urge you to conduct a thorough investigation on the abduction of Makhmut Magomadov. If the men who detained him were acting in an official capacity, we call on the authorities immediately to make known the reasons for his detention and inform his family of his fate and whereabouts. Further, the Russian authorities should either charge him with a recognizable offence or release him immediately. We kindly ask you to inform us about the process of this case. Sincerely, Aaron Rhodes (Executive Director) cc OSCE Delegations Council of Europe Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights National Helsinki Committees __________________________________________ Joachim Frank, Project Coordinator International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights Wickenburggasse 14/7 A-1080 Vienna Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 22 Fax: +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 50 Web: http://www.ihf-hr.org ______________________________________ http://www.prima-news.ru/news/news/2005/1/21/30899.html [Tr. by M.L.] 21.1.2005 18:07 msk Editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Free Word" Pavel Lyuzakov arrested RUSSIA, Moscow. On 20 January in the evening in Moscow was arrested the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Free Word", a member of Democratic Union Pavel Lyuzakov. He's been charged with illegal storage of firearms. About Pavel Lyuzakov's arrest reported on the 21st of January his relatives. The circumstances of his arrest and details of the charge are so far unknown, with exception of the fact that from Lyuzakov, allegedly a pistol had been withdrawn. Lyuzakov's collegues in the Democratic Union consider this charge as fabricated and assert that he never had any firearms. Pavel Lyuzakov for the last 10 years worked as a journalist in different human rights and opposition publications - as human rights weekly "Express-chronicle", newspapers "Separatist" and "Free Word". Recently he also was regularly published on the Kavkaz center Internet website. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://lenta.ru/most/2005/01/21/arest/ http://www.kavkazcenter.com/russ/article.php?id=29324 [passage omitted] Pavel Lyuzakov's name is well know to Kavkazcenter readers, he's been regularly published on the website for many years. One of the latest articles of Lyuzakov was his report about that court farce of Russian officials, who have sentenced Chechen student Zara Murtazaliyeva to 9 years in prison on the fabricated charge of organizing terrorist act. RFE/RL Caucasus Report Vol. 8, No. 3, 21 January 2005 Waiting to exhale in Ingushetia Local and federal Interior Ministry troops launched a major security operation in Ingushetia on 11 January, searching homes, apartments, and hostels for displaced persons across the republic and checking identification documents, ingushetiya.ru reported on 15 January quoting Interfax. Over 60 people were detained in the course of the four-day crackdown, during which the Republic of Ingushetia's borders with Chechnya, North Ossetia, and Kabardino-Balkaria were sealed. Ten of the detainees are suspected of belonging to illegal armed formations, 20 were on the all-Russian "wanted" list, and 30 were suspected on having committed various crimes. Police discovered several weapons caches and confiscated six antitank guns, 15 grenades, a grenade launcher and some 4,000 cartridges. Over 10,000 vehicles were checked, of which 15 were found to have been stolen. The Ingushetian Interior Ministry claimed that police acted "correctly" throughout the searches, and did not violate citizens' constitutional rights. But Svetlana Gannushkina, who is a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's Council to Promote the Development of Civil Society, disputed that claim. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" on 17 January quoted her as describing how armed men forced their way into the information office of the Council of NGOs and threatened members of its staff; the office director was summoned for questioning the following day by the Federal Security Service branch in Magas, the republican capital. Gannushkina further told "Nezavisimaya gazeta" that "the whole republic is being turned upside down." She said that most of the persons detained were Chechens who were not registered as temporarily resident in Ingushetia. Ingushetian parliament deputy Magomed-Sali Aushev, who heads the republican branch of the Peace Party, was quoted in the same "Nezavisimaya gazeta" article as saying that people cannot comprehend why an estimated 1,500-2,000 additional troops were deployed to Ingushetia for the operation. He said people are in a state of terror, anticipating mass reprisals, while the elder generation say the current situation is reminiscent of the wave of arrests that preceded that the mass deportations of Chechens and Ingush to Central Asia in 1944. Aushev said the republic's leadership has not made any official statement that would allay the widespread fears. (Liz Fuller) PRIMA News 20.1.2005 Flagrant Fabrication of Terrorism Charge RUSSIA, Moscow. A press conference entitled Flagrant Fabrication of Terrorism Charge dedicated to the case of Zara Mourtazalieva, University of Linguistics student from Pyatigorsk, took place on 18 January at Independent Press Centre in Moscow. PRIMA-News already reported that on 17 January she was sentenced to nine years in prison on unsubstantiated charge of planning a terrorist act. According to chairwoman of Civic Assistance Committee Svetlana Gannushkina, the verdict read to Zara Mourtazalieva who comes from Chechnya, by Moscow City Court judge Mariya Komarova, very closely repeated the indictment. Gannushkina also said that Moscow Bureau for Fight Against Organised Crime instructed an officer to make arrangements to do with this case. Mourtazalieva had been under surveillance since her first day in Moscow. The flat where she lived had audio surveillance equipment installed, and the girl was arrested on the day the surveillance warrant expired. Her arrest was allegedly incidental but in the meantime she had Plastit-4 explosive planted in her handbag which was later used as the main "evidence" of her plans to commit a terrorist act. One of Mourtazalieva’s lawyers Vladimir Souvorov underscored that the explosive’s packaging should have been checked for fingerprints, however this request by the Defence, as well as others, was dismissed by the court. The witnesses who were present as the explosive "was discovered" by the militia, have not been summoned to trial. Zezag Usmanova, who also represented Zara Mourtazalieva in court, said that the content of Mourtazalieva’s conversations was distorted in the way to suit the Prosecution. In Defence’s opinion, the court not only refused to examine the evidence available but also sided with the Prosecutor’s Office and aided in forging the criminal case. Usmanova stressed that the law states that conjecture cannot be used as proof of guilt. The participants in the press conference pointed out that Zara Mourtazalieva’s case is not the only one in the same vein. Other examples were cited and methods used to doctor evidence were mentioned. Speakers at the conference came to agree that promoting xenophobia, fuelling hatred for Caucasians and particularly for Chechens, creating their hostile image and fabrication of criminal cases with that purpose have become the rule. Translated by Olga Sharp PRIMA-News Agency [2005-01-18-Rus-36] PRIMA News 20.1.2005 Human rights activists’ call to speak out INGUSHETIA, Nazran. (NGOs Council Information Centre). Zouleikhan Bagalova, chairwoman of NGOs Council board, issued a statement on 19 January addressed to international and Russian NGOs and human rights organisations. 12 January, officers of Russian security services forced entry into the office of NGOs Council Information Centre in Nazran and searched it without a warrant. Zouleikhan Bagalova believes that security services’ unlawful actions failed to prompt adequate response from the Russian and international NGOs and human rights organisations. The statement says that "such arbitrariness in relation to NOGs’ workers" may "occur again. If not in Nazran, then in Grozny, Moscow or any other city or region in Russian Federation". Bagalova believes that "NGOs members’ silence, their ignoring of flagrant arbitrariness in relation to their colleagues may prompt security services officials’ new actions against human rights activists and journalists who write about violations of human rights and freedoms in Chechen Republic." She urged "to assess the incident from the legal point of view and protect NOGs Council Information Centre’s workers from arbitrariness and lawlessness." Translated by Olga Sharp PRIMA-News Agency [2005-01-19-Ingush-25] eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot 20/1/2005 Chechen villages become deserted The war in Chechnya has entailed no only many victims among civilians. Escaping from air and artillery bombardment, people have left their houses in dozens of settlements situated in the mountainous part of the republic and moved to other, relatively quiet districts in the valley and in the north of Chechnya. Subsistence farming is typical of mountainous districts. Houses are heated with firewood. It is dangerous to go to the forest for it as well as to gather hay. Forest tracts are strewed with mines. Russian special operations units act in the forests. They search for rebel bases and dislocations. Any man they find in the forest takes the risk of being killed or missing. "Russian soldiers purposefully extrude people from mountainous districts of Chechnya in order to, as they say, "undermine the support base of rebel groups" since main bases of Chechen resistance forces base in the mountains," an activist of the Human Rights Center Memorial said. (*) Author: Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * Comment by N.S.: This is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 9, No. 13, Part I, 21 January 2005 Whereabouts of abducted Ingush man remain a mystery Seven weeks after 27-year-old Adam Bersanov was detained in Malgobek by armed men claiming to be Federal Security Service (FSB) officers, his whereabouts remain unclear, ingushetiya.ru reported on 20 January (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 13 December 2004). On 20 January, "Kommersant-Daily" reported that Bersanov has been charged with helping the militants responsible for the Beslan school hostage taking in September, but a North Ossetian procuracy employee denied that report in a telephone call to ingushetiya.ru. On 25 December, acting Ingush Interior Minister Beslan Khamkhoev told Regnum that the investigation into Bersanov's disappearance has not yielded any indication that the FSB was involved. Bersanov's wife gave birth to a daughter just days after he disappeared. LF |