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News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International AI Index: EUR 46/022/2005 3 June 2005 Russian Federation: Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights ordered to halt activities The well-respected Russian human rights NGO, the Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights, today reportedly learned of an official decision to suspend their organization’s activities. According to Victor Gurskii, chairman of the organization and also a professional doctor, at 10am local time two representatives from the registration chamber of the Ministry of Justice burst into Victor Gurskii’s consultation room while he was receiving patients, disrupting the consultation. Reportedly, the representatives brought into the room two people they found on the street outside, who were not sober at the time, to serve as witnesses. According to Victor Gurskii, the representatives told him that there had been a decision to suspend the work of the organization, and attempted to hand him a copy of the decision. Viktor Gurskii told Amnesty International that he refused to accept the document while he was consulting patients and requested them to come back another time. Amnesty International is very concerned at this latest incident in a worrying trend of Russian authorities putting pressure on human rights defenders and human rights organizations who carry out legitimate and valuable work in the field of human rights in Russia. Amnesty International calls on the Russian authorities to halt the targeting of human rights organizations and to demonstrate that they not only tolerate but also respect and defend the right of individuals and organizations to be truly independent voices in society. Background The Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights was registered in 1993 and is one of the oldest and most high-profile human rights NGOs in the region. In cooperation with other NGOs, in particular, the Nizhnii Novgorod-based Committee Against Torture and the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, it conducts human rights monitoring, organizes campaigns, offers free legal consultations to individuals, and publishes material, including the Pravo-zashchita newspaper. It has been at the forefront of a campaign for the right to conscientious objection, and work against torture. The Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights has been in correspondence with the registration chamber of the Nizhegorodskii branch of the Ministry of Justice since February 2005. Since this time the Ministry of Justice has required the organization to submit documentation, which the organization has done. However, the decision to suspend the organization’s activities is reportedly based on the grounds that the organization has not submitted required information. The organization considers that it has been complying with all its legal obligations in this respect and according to Viktor Gurskii, a court on 19 April 2005 found that the organization had not violated the administrative code in its correspondence with the registration chamber of the Ministry of Justice. The Nizhnii Novgorod Society for Human Rights is not the only human rights organization currently under pressure in Nizhnii Novgorod. Amnesty International has detailed an apparent campaign of harassment and intimidation against the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society. The organization is undergoing a criminal investigation into the publishing activities of the organization, as well as simultaneous checks by the tax authorities and checks by the Ministry of Justice. At the same time, one staff member, Oksana Chelysheva, has been the subject of threatening leaflets which have been distributed in Nizhnii Novgorod. View all AI documents on the Russian Federation: http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maadALhabhwUxbeuxZvb/ Chastisers fire at village Dai for evidences of the peasants in the "Ulman's case" Marsho.dk informs, that inhabitants of village Dai of the Itum-Kali region of the CRI have written a collective letter to the Russian legal organization "Memorial", in which they complain of artillery bombardments from the invaders deployed in vicinities of the settlement Borzoi. As they said, thus, the Russian chastisers revenged them for that they had testified against captain of the GRU Ulman, who had killed five peace inhabitants of the settlement Dai. The indignant inhabitants earlier appealed to the so-called local commandant's office, where the main invader from the commandant's office declared to their request to stop shelling, that it was handwork of "the high heads" from Hankala, meaning the Russian terrorist organization GRU in the structure of which murderer Ulman consisted, the agency informs. Chechenpress, 04.06.05 http://www.chechenpress.co.uk/english/news/2005/06/04/06.shtml Monday, June 6, 2005. Issue 3181. Page 3. Maskhadov's Sister Tells of 6-Month Detention By Musa Sadulayev The Associated Press GROZNY -- The sister of slain Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov said Friday that unidentified abductors kept her and her relatives in a cramped room for six months, demanding information on her brother's whereabouts. Buchu Abdulkadyrova, who was released earlier in the week, told The Associated Press that armed people who did not identify themselves took her and nine of her relatives, including two brothers, from their homes on Dec. 2 and drove them to a remote location. "They put us in an brick shack without any conveniences," she said. "We didn't have a chance to wash our faces, let alone have a bath, until a week before our release. We looked much worse than coal miners coming back from work: black, dirty and in tatters." Rights groups contend that Chechen security services regularly abduct relatives of rebel leaders to force them to surrender. Maskhadov was killed in March by security forces. He was 53. Though the relatives feared for their fate, Abdulkadyrova said the abductors treated them normally and fed them three times a day. "They weren't beating or abusing us," she said. "But it was horrible to remain unaware of our fate." Citing witnesses, human rights group Memorial said Maskhadov's relatives were kidnapped by Chechen security forces under the command of Chechen First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. Abdulkadyrova said the "military people" did not identify themselves and demanded that she and the other relatives give information on Maskhadov's whereabouts. "We didn't know where he was, but we knew one thing very well: Aslan would never lay down his arms and surrender to his foes because of us," she said. Shortly before releasing them, the abductors told them about Maskhadov's death. "Frankly speaking, we didn't believe them," she said. "We learned the truth only when we were brought home." Abdulkadyrova defended her brother, saying he wanted to negotiate a peaceful settlement to end the second war in a decade. "If he hadn't been killed, he would have taken every effort to bring peace to Chechnya. They didn't let him do that." June 4th 2005 · Prague Watchdog / Ruslan Isayev Man arrested by "Kadyrovites" found dead By Ruslan Isayev CHECHNYA - Local residents discovered the remains of a man in a rock quarry near the town of Argun, and it soon became evident he was one of their neighbors, a young man who had disappeared several days ago. The 25-year-old victim was the son of Ayna Usmanova. He was arrested by the notorious Security Service of the President of the Chechen Republic (so-called "Kadyrovites") and released two days later, badly beaten. However, he was ordered to return in a few days for interrogation. After partially recovering at home, he then left to keep the interrogation date. And he was never seen or heard from again. In another case, two local residents, Timur Zukhayrayev and Adam Saykhayev, from the Serzhen-Yourt village in the Shalinsky district, were arrested by Kadyrovites without any explanations given. Zukhayrayev was released the following day, but the whereabouts of Saykhayev are still unknown. Translated by Mindaugas Kojelis. Russian troops carry out 10 pct of Chechen kidnaps 06 Jun 2005 12:29:29 GMT Source: Reuters By Sonia Oxley MOSCOW, June 6 (Reuters) - Russian military forces carry out up to 10 percent of the kidnappings that occur in turbulent Chechnya, although far fewer people are being abducted there in general, the region's Moscow-backed president said on Monday. "The percentage (of kidnappings) involving federal forces has decreased many-fold. Today, out of all kidnappings, those carried out by federal forces are around 5-10 percent," President Alu Alkhanov said. "This is a big drop on previous years," he told reporters. Human rights groups have for some time accused pro-Kremlin troops -- including militia groups under the control of Ramzan Kadyrov, son of assassinated Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov -- of overseeing kidnappings and committing torture and murder. Kadyrov denies this. But Alkhanov admitted federal troops had been involved in disappearances that have marked the decade-long war between Moscow and separatist rebels in the Caucasus region. Investigations had proved, however, that some people reported as missing had in fact been held as part of criminal inquiries, Alkhanov said. "It has become clear after checks that a person has not been abducted, but has been detained as a suspect in a specific crime," he added. Alkhanov said 58 people had initially been reported missing in the first five months of 2005, but that only 23 of them were still officially listed as missing. The number was considerably lower than in the same period last year, when 168 people were reported missing. "Unfortunately kidnapping happens in this region. Nevertheless, these crimes have decreased 10-fold, if not 100-fold," Alkhanov told reporters. "The problem is not yet solved. Solving this problem is the main task of both the Chechen president and the Russian president and I am confident we will accomplish this task." Human rights group Amnesty International said it was good that authorities were dealing with the issue, but that much more needed to be done. "Recognition by the Russian or Chechen authorities that disappearances and abductions are going on is a good start, but we are calling for the immediate stop and the prosecution of everyone responsible for these acts," Amnesty's researcher for the Russian Federation, Victoria Webb, told Reuters. "The security conditions for journalists or human rights activists trying to report on the situation are so difficult that it is very hard to know the true scale of the problem." Chechnya has been practically closed to foreigners since a string of violent kidnappings in the 1990s when several hostages were beheaded. Thousands of Russian soldiers and tens of thousands of Chechens have been killed during the rebel fight for independence from Russia.