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Abductions now target housewives, teenagers in war-torn Chechnya (AFP) 5 February 2005 ARGUN, Russia - No one is safe anymore from being abducted in war-torn Chechnya, where the kidnapping of civilians, once mostly restricted to combat-age men, is an increasing threat to women and teenagers. Tamara Magomedova, an old woman living in Argun, east of the Chechen capital Grozny, has no sympathy for the separatist fighters. But that did not bother the hooded armed men, a mix of Russian speakers and Chechen speakers -- giving credence to a belief they were forces from the local pro-Russian administration -- who last September crashed into her house before taking away her daughter Khalimat. Magomedova never saw her daughter again. Her tale mirrors that of countless families, who accuse pro-Russian forces of indiscriminately spreading terror throughout breakaway Chechnya. An offer to cooperate In Soviet times, Magomedova was a deputy in the local Supreme Soviet, and she still recalls fondly the day she was “decorated by Brezhnev in person.” She will not let anybody say that her daughter supports the Chechen rebels who, for over five years, have been fighting Russian forces in a brutal war. But she will talk openly about the day that turned her life into a nightmare, something very few here dare do. “On September 12, at 5:00 am, hooded armed men wearing military fatigues came to our house. I thought they had come to take away my son, since they usually take the men,” Magomedova recalled. “Then, the kids started to shout “They are taking Mom away, they are taking Mom away,’ she said as she sat in her well-heated kitchen with her three grandsons, aged eight, 11 and 14. “I came in running, holding her passport, but they did not even take it, and they drove away with her without even saying what they had against her,” Magomedova said. “Some spoke in Russian, others in Chechen,” she said. This could indicate that her daughter’s abduction was jointly carried out by men belonging to the Russian federal forces and pro-Russian Chechen troops, like the feared militia of pro-Russian deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. In spite of everything, Magomedova wants to believe her 38-year-old daughter is still alive, and shows her visitor a letter she received from a department of pro-Russian Chechen interior ministry. The letter came in an envelope imprinted with a floral motif and the words “Congratulations!” Sent from Khankala, Russia’s largest military base in the North Caucasus region, it informed Magomedova that her inquiry about her daughter, described as an “offer to cooperate,” had been received and passed on to the interior ministry. Like Magomedova, many Chechens cannot make any sense of the bureaucratic labyrinth that theoretically could allow them to ask the Russian general prosecutor’s office to open a criminal investigation. Many others are simply too afraid to even lodge a complaint. Cannot fight their own suspicions Based on this, some observers say the official number of people abducted in Chechnya is grossly underestimated. The pro-Russian Chechen interior ministry says 200 people were abducted last year. Just a few blocks away from Magomedova’s home, 15-year-old Usam Baruyev, a schoolboy, is also missing. He disappeared on December 7. “I had sent him to a shop just around the corner around 2:00 pm. He never came back,” said Usam’s mother, Tabarka. Late that same day, Usam’s elder brother, 18-year-old Mussa, was arrested, as he was about to spend the night at a friend’s place in a nearby apartment block. “Neighbors told me that hooded soldiers holding my younger son arrived in an armored vehicle,” Tabarka said. She then heard that her elder son had been briefly detained at Argun’s military komandantura. That was the last she ever heard of Usam or Mussa. With no verifiable information about their fate and no official investigation underway, all Tabarka has is rumours saying her younger son was about to plant a bomb at the local administration headquarters when he was arrested. Even she cannot fight her own suspicions about what her sons might have been up to. But above all, she wants to know what happened to them. “If these children are guilty, we should be told and they should be tried. But we cannot be left in the dark like this,” Tabarka said. Russians Arrest Chechen Schoolboy for Killing Servicemen Created: 04.02.2005 12:51 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 12:51 MSK, MosNews A Chechen schoolboy has been arrested in Grozny for killing two Russian servicemen last February. Arbi Edelbiyev, 16, and his classmate, allegedly killed two Russian servicemen last year using stolen weapons, the Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing local Interior Ministry officials. Edelbiyev confessed to the killing, saying that he acted in revenge because his relatives died during a military operation in Chechnya, but his accomplice is still on the run. They both sold their weapons at the local market after the killing. It took law enforcement authorities a year to find and arrest Edelbiyev. 4.2.2005 Chechen Refugee Committee Created in Ingushetia INGUSHETIA, Nazran. (Press Center SNO). On February 2nd, a "round table" of forced migrants from Chechnya in Nazran decided to create an organization for Chechen refugees living in Ingushetia. The creation of a new refugee organization, in the opinion of gathering, is necessary because there are no organizations in Chechnya and Ingushetia which are occupied with solving the problems of forced migrants. The chairman of the newly created committee is Aslmabek Alayev, leader of the public organization "Nokhcho" Translated by OM Kenney PRIMA-News Agency [2005-02-03-Ingush-03]] http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/2/4/31076.html February 4th 2005 · Prague Watchdog Norwegian migration officials assess human rights situation in Chechnya and Ingushetia Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus – Early this week a delegation from Norway’s Migration Service, headed by regional advisor Hans Arne Kjelsaas, arrived in Chechnya and Ingushetia for a three-day assessment tour of these regions. Between January 31 and February 2 they visited refugee camps, met with members from human rights and humanitarian organizations such as UNHCR and Memorial, and spoke to journalists who work in these republics. The main purpose of this trip was to assess the human rights situation in Chechnya and Ingushetia. This information will then be used by Norway's Migration Service, which is to decide on whether to continue receiving refugees from these republics. The delegation intends to extend their visit throughout North Caucasus, going also to North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygeia. February 4th 2005 · Prague Watchdog Four locals seized during military mop-up in Baytarki Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus – This morning four residents of the Baytarki village, the Nozhai-Yurt district of eastern Chechnya, were abducted as a result of a mopping-up operation carried out by Russian soldiers. The soldiers came in two Ural trucks and three APCs and immediately proceeded with their operation, which lasted about two hours. The whereabouts of the four men, aged from 28 to 35, that were taken away are unknown. February 4th 2005 · Prague Watchdog Kadyrov's forces "mop up" Vedeno district Ruslan Isayev, North Caucasus, February 1 – During the past ten days the situation in the Vedeno district, southeastern Chechnya, has considerably deteriorated. Two columns of armed units controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov, self-styled vice-premier of the Moscow-backed Chechen government, entered the district center of Vedeno on January 20. That same day Moguyev, head of the district police, was replaced by Musa Dekhiyev, who arrived with the units. And twelve local policemen were also dismissed. This so-called measure of revealing fighters and their sympathizers is being carried out in most of the district’s villages. Non-authorized searches take place in many homes and the number of night raids has sharply increased. The sudden appearance of these “Kadyrovites” in Vedeno is linked to Kadyrov’s recent statement that “regional authorities are practically non-functional and partly cooperate with Chechen guerrillas.” According to human rights activists who visited Vedeno, “Kadyrovites” take away items that can be stored for a long period of time - either for their own use or to prevent fighters from using them. The population is understandably frightened and prefers not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. On January 22, a young woman and distant relative of Chechen guerrilla commander Shamil Basayev, was abducted by armed assailants and returned home the next morning badly beaten. A few female relatives of guerrillas were also abducted from the Deragoi settlement in the Vedeno district, and so far no information is known about their fate. Human rights activists who visited the district stress that there are far more cases such as these, but locals are afraid to provide any information fearing retaliation against their families.