Kidnapped Relatives of Slain Chechen Leader Come Home

By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, June 3, 2005; Page A15

MOSCOW, June 2 -- One of the most prominent cases in an epidemic of abductions in Chechnya ended Thursday when seven relatives of the Russian region's former leader, Aslan Maskhadov, returned to their home village, according to Chechen prosecutors and the human rights group Memorial. Maskhadov was killed by Russian forces in March.

The seven, including Maskhadov's sister and two brothers, were seized at their homes in December. Human rights groups charged that their kidnapping was part of a pattern of Kremlin-backed Chechen forces targeting the relatives of known separatists.

One of the relatives told a Memorial representative that they were held in a small room at a military facility by Chechen-speaking guards, according to Yekaterina Sokirianskaya, a Memorial activist in the neighboring Russian republic of Ingushetia. "They look very weak physically and psychologically," Sokirianskaya said in a phone interview.

The relatives told Memorial that they were neither interrogated nor tortured during their captivity.

But the relatives, some of whom are elderly, said they were kept in a room and only let out to use the bathroom. The day before their release, they were allowed to wash for the first time since being taken, according to Sokirianskaya.

Their release may have been triggered by a marked deterioration in the health of one of Maskhadov's brothers, Sokirianskaya said.

Chechen deputy prosecutor Alexander Nikitin told the Russian news agency Interfax that his office, which opened a criminal investigation into the disappearance last January, was questioning the relatives. He provided no details on the detention except to confirm that the family members were home in Pervomaiskoye, near the regional capital, Grozny.

Another family member, a nephew of Maskhadov, was also detained in December, but his whereabouts surfaced after he was charged with being a member of an illegal armed group.

Human Rights Watch reported this year that an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 civilians had disappeared in Chechnya in the past five years, and that a majority of those abductions were carried out by Russian or Chechen security forces.

"The pattern of enforced disappearances in Chechnya has reached the level of a crime against humanity," the group said in a report in March. It charged that "not a single person has been held fully accountable for a 'disappearance' since the conflict began in 1999." This has created an atmosphere of "complete immunity" in Chechnya, it said.

In another report, Memorial charged that the Maskhadov family members were detained by security forces loyal to Chechnya's deputy prime minister, Ramzan Kadyrov. He is the son of former Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was killed by a bomb in May 2004.

Chechen officials denied the allegation and blamed Chechen rebels for the disappearance, as they routinely do for abductions.

During the September 2004 seizure of a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan, Kadyrov called for the detention of the relatives of separatists, calling such a strategy "the law of the highlands."

The tactic received further support last October when Russia's prosecutor general, Vladimir Ustinov, told the Russian parliament that "detaining a terrorist's relatives during a terrorist attack would undoubtedly help us save lives." He proposed legislation allowing "counter-hostage-taking," which, he said, would "open the terrorists' eyes."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/02/AR2005060201721.html?nav=rss_world


Russian Federation Appeal Case Update: The killing of six civilians near Dai, Chechen Republic

Update to EUR 46/016/2005 from 1 May 2005

25 May 2005

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that four members of the Russian military intelligence (GRU) have once again been found not responsible in law for killing civilians. For the second time within just over a year, a jury trial has ruled that Captain Eduard Ulman and three members of his unit did not breach the law when they shot dead six unarmed civilians near the village of Dai in the Chechen Republic on 11 January 2002. In May 2004 a court in Rostov-on-Don had also acquitted the soldiers on grounds that they had been following orders.

Following an order for retrial from the Military Collegiate of the Supreme Court, on 19 May 2005 the men were found not guilty by a jury at the same court in Rostov-on-Don. The jury found that, while the members of the military intelligence unit had killed the six civilians, they had been acting according to the circumstances and had not exceeded their official authority. The question, who gave the order to kill the civilians and whether to give and to carry out such an order is lawful, was not answered during the trial. The head of the special operation in the North Caucasus, Colonel Plotnikov, when interrogated during the trial, reportedly denied having given such orders or any order which may have led to the incident, in which the civilians were killed.

It is clear that the actions, as described in the trial documents, of Eduard Ulman, Aleksandr Perelevskii, Aleksander Kalaganskii and Vladimir Voevodin on 11 January 2002 are serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The Geneva Conventions, including Protocol II, clearly prohibit the wilful killing of civilians and the order that there should be no survivors. The fact that the members of the military intelligence unit received an order to kill the detained civilians – who the court found were unarmed and offered no resistance when detained - does not exempt the four officers from their responsibility for the killing. Chechen President Alu Alkhanov expressed great dismay about the jury's decision. In the Chechen Republic, in Grozny, people rallied in protest against the acquittal. The families of the victims will appeal the decision of the North Caucasus regional court.

Background

Said Alaskhanov, Abdul-Wakhab Satabaev, Shakhban Bakhaev, Khamzat Tuburov, Zainap Dzhavatkhanova and Dzhamlail Musaev (sometimes referred to as Magomed Musaev), six civilians from Chechnya, died on 11 January 2002 after being shot by members of a special unit of the Russian Military Intelligence (GRU). In April 2004 Captain Eduard Ulman, Lieutenant Aleksander Kalaganskii, Sergeant Vladimir Voevodin and the deputy commander of the unit, Major Alexei Perelevskii, were acquitted of the charge of premeditated murder, premeditated destruction of property, and exceeding official duties.

In 2004, the court had heard hat while checking cars on the road between the villages of Shatoi and Dai, Captain Eduard Ulman ordered his men to open fire on a civilian car after the driver ignored a request to stop. One passenger, Said Alaskhanov, director of a village school, was killed immediately from the gunfire, and two of the five passengers were wounded. According to the prosecution, the men under the command of Captain Eduard Ulman took the five surviving civilians, Abdul-Wakhab Satabaev, deputy director of the local school, Shakhban Bakhaev, a forester, Khamzat Tuburov, the driver of the vehicle, Zainap Dzhavatkhanova, a pregnant mother of seven and Dzhamlail Musaev, to a nearby abandoned farm building. They administered first aid to the wounded, and detained them there while Captain Ulman reported the incident to Major Alexei Perelevskii by radio, who forwarded the report to the commander of the military unit, who remained unidentified.

The court found that Major Aleksei Perelevskii then passed back to Captain Eduard Ulman a message by radio from the commander of the military unit, ordering him to eliminate the detained civilians. Captain Eduard Ulman passed on this order to his subordinates. According to the prosecution, Captain Ulman ordered his subordinates to tell the five individuals that they were free to leave, and then to shoot them as they walked away. Aleksandr Kalaganskii and Vladimir Voevodin carried out the order and shot and killed Abdul-Wakhab Satabaev, Shakhban Bakhaev, Khamzat Tuburov and Zainap Dzhavatkhanova, put their bodies in the car and set it on fire. Dzhamlail Musaev reportedly escaped but died later from his injuries.

In May 2004 Captain Eduard Ulman, Lieutenant Alexander Kalaganskii, Sergeant Vladimir Voevodin and the deputy commander of the unit, Major Alexei Perelevskii, were acquitted of the charges of premeditated murder, premeditated destruction of property, and exceeding official authority. Following an order for retrial from the Military Collegiate of the Supreme Court, on 19 May 2005 the men were again found not guilty by a jury at the same court.

Recommended Action:

Please continue to send appeals in Russian or your own language: - expressing deep concern about the repeated acquittal of Captain Eduard Ulman, Lieutenant Aleksander Kalaganskii, Sergeant Vladimir Voevodin and Major Alexei Perelevskii; - expressing deep concern that the commander of the unit, who gave the order to kill unarmed detained civilians, was never prosecuted for this crime. - stating that wilful killing, and the order that there shall be no survivors, constitute serious breaches of the laws of war according to the Geneva Conventions and its Protocol II and that the Russian Federation, as a High Contracting Party, has an obligation to prosecute all persons suspected of commissioning or committing these crimes; - calling on the Russian Federation to observe the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which represents the current consensus of the international community for definitions and procedures relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity
and to which it is a Signatory; - citing article 25.3(b) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which states that a person shall be criminally responsible and liable for punishment for a crime within the jurisdiction of the Court if that person orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact occurs or is attempted; - citing article 33 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which states that the fact that a crime has been committed by a person pursuant to an order of a Government or a superior, whether military or civilian, shall not relieve that person of criminal responsibility; - pointing out that the killings of Abdul-Wakhab Satabaev, Shakhban Bakhaev, Khamzat Tuburov, Zainap Dzhavatkhanova and Dzamlail Musaev are in violation of Article 2 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the right to life), to which Russia is a party, and that the use of lethal force in the death of
Said Alaskhanov raises serious concerns under Article 2; - condemning the ongoing grave and systematic human rights abuses in the Chechen Republic, and calling on the Russian authorities to take immediate steps to end such violations, including extrajudicial executions, unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, "disappearances" and torture, including rape, and ill-treatment.

APPEALS TO: (Fax machines may be switched off outside office hours – GMT+3)

President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN Kreml, Moscow, Russian Federation Fax: +7 095 206 85 10 / +7 095 206 51 73 / +7 095 230 24 08 (if someone answers say "fax please") e-mail: Please go to the website of the President of the Russian Federation and paste your letter into the space provided: http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/articles/send_letter_Eng1a.shtml Salutation: Dear President Putin

Procurator General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir USTINOV Ul. B. Dimitrovka 15a, 125993 Moscow, GSP-3, Russian Federation Fax: +7 095 292 8848 (if someone answers say "fax please") Salutation: Dear Procurator General

Chief Military Procurator of the Russian Federation, Let.-Gen. Aleksandr SAVENKOV pereulok Khulzunova, 14, 103160 Moscow, Russian Federation Fax: +7 095 247 50 19 (if someone answers say "fax please") Salutation: Dear Chief Military Procurator

COPIES TO: Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation Fax: +7 095 207 76 30

Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Presidential Council for the development of civil society institutions and human rights Fax: +7 095 206 48 55

Maj.-Gen. Anatolii Petrochenkov, Chairman of the Military Collegium of the Russian Supreme Court Fax: +7 095 293 55 84

Sergey Borisovich Ivanov, Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Fax: + 7 095 293 83 98 and to diplomatic representatives of the Russian Federation accredited to your country.



The deteriorating human rights situation in Ingushetia, North-Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria

Vienna, 2 June 2005. Today the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) issued a new report on the human rights and humanitarian law situation in three neighboring republics of Chechnya: Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria. The report once again documents that the severe human rights violations by Russian and Chechen security forces are increasingly spreading across the borders of Chechnya into its neighboring republics.

Ingushetia has attracted the attention of human rights activists for over two years due to increasing numbers of human rights abuses. Initially there were reports of cars with dark tinted windows and no license plates arriving from neighbouring Chechnya and abducting people, then driving off in an unknown direction. The victims were primarily Chechen refugees. Since the end of 2003, these abductions have become more frequent, and increasing numbers of Ingush civilians are also being abducted. This criminal trend in Ingushetia is made evident by data from the Human Rights Center “Memorial,” which consistently monitors the situation in the region: · 2002 - 28 abductions (27 Chechens and 1 Ingush) - Six persons remained 'disappeared' (5 Chechens, 1 Ingush) · 2003, 52 abductions (41 Chechens, 9 Ingush, 2 Armenians) - Fourteen persons remained 'disappeared' (11 Chechens and 1 Ingush). · 2004, 75 abductions (38 Chechens and 37 Ingush) - Twenty three persons remained 'disappeared'
(12 Chechens and 11 Ingush).

The deputy prosecutor of Ingushetia, Rashid Ozdoev, attempted to investigate the role of the local FSB office in these abductions. As a result, on 11 March 2004 he too, was abducted, and then “disappeared.” More than a year has passed since his abduction, and while the facts surrounding his abduction and the abductions he was investigating received a good deal of publicity, no proper investigation has been conducted, and those who are guilty have not been identified and brought to justice.

Following the 21-22 June 2004 events, when fighters carried out an armed raid on the republic, a specially tasked group from the Office of the Russian Prosecutor General, headed by M.Lapotnikov, an investigator dealing with particularly important cases in the North Caucasus Prosecutor’s Office, arrived in Ingushetia. They disregarded the concept of “civilian”, and as a result, another Chechnya-like “anti-terrorist operation” was launched, this time in Ingushetia. Now, any resident of the republic can be detained, abducted, subjected to torture, beaten and even killed, and the perpetrators are not held responsible for their actions.

The extensive data provided in the given report shows that even in cases where the names of the perpetrators are known, none of them are brought to justice. The climate of impunity, which originated in Chechnya, has effectively spread to Ingushetia.

Furthermore, following the Beslan tragedy, Northern Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria also became “places beyond the rule of law”.

The varied and disturbing cases described, demonstrate that the wide range of gross and systemic human rights violations, which used to be localized in Chechnya have been steadily spilling out into neighboring Ingushetia and then into other republics of the Northern Caucasus. The worsening human rights climate and the impunity of security forces for their lawless actions contribute to the over-all deterioration of the security situation in the entire Northern Caucasus region. These developments represent a serious danger to the Russian Federation and, consequently, to the European community as a whole.

The IHF report may be found in English and Russian language at www.ihf-hr.org

For more information: IHF Secretariat, Tel. +43–1–408 88 22: Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, Tel. +43–676–63 566 12; Henriette Schroeder, IHF Press Officer, Tel: +43–676–725 48 29, Joachim Frank, IHF Project Coordinator, Tel. + 43-676-31 22 3 48, Eliza Moussaeva, IHF Consultant, Tel: +43–676-305 26 42 In Moscow: Tanya Lokshina, +7- 916 624-1906

__________________________________________
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
______________________________________



To: Head of the North Caucasus Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Yessentuki Via facsimile + 7(8653) 460 700

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 Council under the President of the RF Via facsimile +7 (095) 206-48-55

OPEN LETTER

Vienna, 2 June 2005

Dear Prosecutor,

I am writing to you on behalf of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) regarding two cases: · the unlawful detention and the death of Adam Gorchhanov (born 1968), resident of the Ingush village Plievo, Gorchhanova street #6, on 23 May 2005. Gorchhanov died on the 30 May, after having been in the temporary isolator (IVD) in Vladikavkaz, and then allegedly in the building of the Russian Administration for Combating Organized Crime (RUBOP) in Vladikavkaz. His body evidences traces of torture. · the unlawful detention of Ibragim Dzaurov (born in 1979), resident of Nasyr-Kort, Sovietskaya Street 63, Nazran, Ingushetia, who was abducted from his house on 27 May 2005. There are grounds to believe that he is held in Vladikavkaz.

Details:

According to his relatives, early in the morning of 23 May 2005, several cars (including a UAZ, a white Gazelle-minibus, and an armored troop-carrier) approached the house of Adam Gorchhanov, and more than forty armed and masked persons of an unknown power structure entered the house. Not showing any documents, they began to search the house, and to beat Adam Gorchhanov and his brother Bashir Gorchhanov (born 1970). They filmed everything with a video-camera, seized two photo albums and various documents, including the passports of the two men. They claimed to have found two guns in the house, but provided no witnesses to confirm that weapons were found, as would have been the lawful procedure.

On that same day, the Gorchhanov family made inquiries regarding the abduction of Adam Gorchhanov to the republican and regional Offices of Public Prosecutor, Ingush branch of FSB, and also to Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, the head of the FSB of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, and the Ingush deputy to the State Duma Bashir Kodzoev.

On 25 May, his family managed to find out via informal channels, that Adam Gorchhanov had been taken to one of the temporary isolators (IVS) of Vladikavkaz (North Ossetia). On 28 May, they learned, that Adam Gorchhanov was in the reanimation section of the Republican Hospital of Vladikavkaz in a very grave condition (he was in a coma). Svetlana Gannushkina, human rights activist and member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, called the hospital, and the senior doctor in the emergency ward confirmed that Gorchhanov was there with a serious skull injury. A policeman informed the family that Gorchhanov had allegedly been delivered to the hospital from the RUBOP of Vladikavkaz, where – again allegedly – he had jumped from the fourth floor. However, people who saw him in the hospital confirmed that Gorchhanov had no broken bones but many bruises and haematomas that were most likely the consequences of severe beatings.

On 30 May Adam Gorchhanov died in the hospital. His relatives who saw the body maintain that it bears numerous marks of violent treatment.

*******

On 27 May, the inhabitant of Nasyr-Kort, Sovietskaya Street 63, Nazran, Ibragim Dzaurov, was abducted from his house. It is believed that he is held in Vladikavkaz, but his family has not yet received a notification of his detention.

According to his relatives, on the evening of 27 May, a large group of soldiers and policemen approached their house in three armored troop-carriers, three Gazelle micro-buses, one UAZ (Tabletka) and a VAZ-21099. Without a search warrant, the armed men ordered that all inhabitants of the house stand against the wall. They broke some furniture in the house and stole 5,000 roubles and a mobile phone. The policemen took photos of all the tenants of the house and took some photos from their photo album. At the end of the search, they forced Ibragim Dzaurov into one of their cars and left with him in an unknown direction.

According to his father, Ibragim had been abducted once before. On 25 December 2004, he was unlawfully detained in broad daylight at the market “Markhab”, where he worked at the currency exchange counter. The abduction was presumably perpetrated by the Ingush branch of FSB. At that time, Ibragim’s relatives immediately contacted the police and asked them to inquire at the local FSB. The FSB answered that Dzaurov was not with them. Two days later, on 27 December, he was thrown out from a car near Assinovskaya (Chechen Republic, close to the Ingushetian border). He had been severely beaten, and told his relatives that his abductors had put a black plastic bag over his head, and he therefore did not know where they had taken him. He had been held in a cellar the entire time, and was interrogated and severely beaten (hung by his feet and hands and beaten with an iron square). They demanded that he identify unknown persons in a photo, and repeatedly asked whether he participated in
events on 21-22 June. Additionally, his abductors stole 1.000$ from him, which he was carrying when he was abducted. Because he was frightened, Ibragim Dzaurov did not contact law enforcement bodies about what had happened to him and from then until the date of his second abduction – 27 May 2005 -- stayed at home most of the time.

******

We appeal to you to conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons for the death of Adam Gorchhanov. In particular the evidence that he died due to torture should be considered, and the perpetrators should be identified and duly brought to justice. Further, the circumstances of the unlawful detention of Adam Gorchhanov should be clarified.

We appeal to you to investigate the fate and whereabouts of Ibragim Dzaurov and either to ensure that he is released immediately by those who hold them, or to provide a legal arrest warrant stating the reasons for his detention, which should be communicated to his family members.

We ask you to inform us about developments in this case.

Sincerely,

Dr. Aaron Rhodes (Executive Director)

cc OSCE Delegations Council of Europe, Mr. Rudolf Bindig, Chechnya-Rapporteur for the PACE Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights; Mr. Alvaro Gil-Robles, Commissioned for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Mr. Stephen J. Toope, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances 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
______________________________________



eng.kavkaz.memo.ru Caucasian Knot


30/5/2005

IDPs pressurised

Forced migrants in the Okruzhnaia temporary settlement point (TSP) in Grozny's Zavodskoi district, are alarmed at recent events in their camp. They say officers of various law enforcement and security agencies have literally terrorised people in this TSP, says the Council of Nongovernmental Organisations.

At about 4.00 pm on 28 May, armed people in camouflage uniforms driving two cars without registration number plates arrived at the TSP and abducted two young men: Muslim Musayevich Rasuyev, b. 1984, and Kiuri Lechiyevich Bagayev, b. 1982. At night, cruelly beaten, the young men were thrown out by the abductors not far from the camp. The reason for such actions of the abductors is unknown.


30/5/2005

Abuse unlimited

At least six people have been missing or abducted in Chechnya over the past few days, a source with Chechnya's law enforcement agencies told Caucasian Knot.

A group of armed people abducted a local resident in Samashki, Achkhoi-Martan district.

Armed people in camouflage uniforms abducted a young man from his own house in Shelkovskaia in the morning on 28 May.

Another two, one of them a cameraman at a local television and radio company, were abducted in Grozny's Leninskii district.

A young woman, a nurse with a local hospital, is missing in Podgornoye, Grozny district, and a 16-year-old girl is missing in Grozny.

Besides, the body of a 27-year-old local resident with multiple gunshot wounds has been found in his own house in Serzhen-Yurt, Shali district, Interfax says.


31/5/2005

One day in Chechnya

Law enforcement agencies have killed three rebels in the past 24 hours in Chechnya, a source with the republican Internal Affairs Ministry told Caucasian Knot.

Ramzan Shoipov who is reported to have been an accomplice of terrorist Movsar Barayev destroyed during the Dubrovka Theatre onslaught was killed in Grozny's Leninskii district yesterday. Sultan Akhmedov reported to have been the leader of a gang operating in the Shelkovskaia district was found and destroyed in a private house in Grozny.

Besides, a source with Chechnya's Internal Affairs Ministry told RIA Novosti another rebel had been killed in Grozny's Staropromyslovskii district last night. A grenade he threw wounded a police officer.

Two local residents, one of them a Chechen police officer, found a homemade grenade near Zakan-Yurt, Achkhoi-Martan district, on 30 May, a source with Chechnya's law enforcement agencies told Caucasian Knot. Trying to neutralise the grenade, the officer triggered it accidentally and was killed by the explosion. His companion sustained serious shrapnel wounds and was admitted to hospital.

Two eleven-year-old boys, Masud Akhayev and Anzor Yesiyev, triggered an unexploded shell while trying to disassemble it on the outskirts of Novyi Sharoi, Achkhoi-Martan district, yesterday. Both children died on the spot, the source said.


1/6/2005

Drug abuse becomes serious problem in Chechnya

Chechnya's governmental Anti-Drug Commission held a meeting in Grozny yesterday.

Rudnik Dudayev, Chairman of the republican Security Council, said at the meeting the situation with the circulation and use of drugs in Chechnya was acquiring "disastrous dimensions," a member of the governmental staff told Caucasian Knot. Those present expressed serious concerns that most drug users were young people or adolescents, while women and girls were increasingly often drawn into the delivery and sale of drugs in the republic.

There are 1,645 officially registered drug users in Chechnya, but the actual numbers of people who use drugs are 10-12 times higher. These figures were given at the meeting by Ibrahim Nuradiyev, chief of the Department of the Federal Service for Control of the Circulation of Drugs on Chechnya, says RIA Novosti.

The percentage of HIV infected persons is growing along with the growing numbers of drug users, according to Nuradiyev. There are 505 registered cases of AIDS in Chechnya and most of the ill persons were infected while injecting drugs, Nuradiyev said.

He noted no work on the primary prevention of drug abuse was conducted in Chechnya. All treatment and rehabilitation work is actually carried out with respect to persistent drug users, he said.


1/6/2005

Chechnya victims

A federal contract serviceman died because of carelessness in handling a grenade in Tangi, Urus-Martan district, yesterday, while another one who was nearby sustained shrapnel wounds and was admitted to hospital, Chechnya's military commandant's office said. Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent.

Another Russian military man was seriously wounded after triggering a bomb in the forest near Meskety, Nozhai-Yurt district, where a rebel camp had been uncovered, the military commandant's office said. Sultan Abubakarov, CK correspondent.

Armed people in camouflage uniforms driving an UAZ vehicle with darkened windows abducted a local resident, Aslan Aldamov, in Samaschki, Achkhoi-Martan district, on 29 May. Two of his companions were cruelly beaten by the abductors, the Information Centre of the Council of Nongovernmental Organisations said.




Thursday, June 2, 2005

Chechen Women Stage Protest

The Associated Press

GROZNY -- Dozens of anguished women who lost relatives during the rebel war in Chechnya demanded on Wednesday that authorities do more to find and punish those responsible for allegedly killing or abducting them.

More than 100 women turned out for the demonstration in the center of war-ravaged Grozny, carrying photos of missing relatives -- mostly young men.

Abductions have been common in the republic for years, with civilians and rights groups blaming Russian troops and rebels as well as security forces under the command of the pro-Moscow Chechen government.

Osma Novruzova, 54, said "military men" came to her house on July 14, 2003 and took away her 30-year-old son, a driver for a local television station.

She said her attempts to get information from government and law enforcement officials about why her son was taken or where he was had been fruitless.

"I've come to the conclusion that nobody cares about our troubles and that the authorities just need us to vote in the elections that are held in our republic from time to time," she said.

Another demonstrator, 45-year-old Khabila Aidamirova, said that military forces stopped a car in 2000 carrying four relatives, including her 8-year-old nephew, and shot them all to death. She said authorities had done nothing to find out who was responsible or punish them.








 

 

 



June 3rd 2005 · Prague Watchdog

Local resident refused asylum in Germany abducted in Chechnya

By Ruslan Isayev

NOVYE ATAGI, Chechnya – On May 30 in the village of Novye Atagi, local resident Rizvan Usayev, who had returned to Chechnya only a few days before, was abducted by armed men in several motor vehicles.

Rizvan Usayev and his wife went to Germany several months ago as refugees, asking for political asylum. But the German authorities finally rejected the Chechen family’s application, and Rizvan had to return to Chechnya.

So far his relatives have been unable to discover his location, but according to an unconfirmed version the abduction may have been organized by members of the local law enforcement agencies.

Translated by David McDuff.

www.watchdog.cz