Disappearances Spread to Ingushetia:

Torture, Ill-Treatment and Looting During Mop-up Operations in IDP Camps - Continued Impunity Demonstrates Need for ad hoc Tribunal

Vienna, 18 June 2003.

Since 3 June, the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) has learned of multiple serious human rights violations during so-called “mop-up” operations in Ingushetia. These Ingushetia-based mop-up operations, carried out by masked Russian forces, have targeted internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in camps and private residences in an alarming escalation of state-sponsored abuses. According to information gathered by the Russian human rights group Memorial during these raids, Russian forces have subjected Chechen IDPs to forced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment and have looted their property.

According to reports, these raids are being carried out by Russian forces and pro-Moscow Chechen police under the control of Chechnya administrator, Akhmad Kadyrov. The raids in Ingushetia demonstrate a widening of the near four-year-long Chechnya conflict, and violate international protection standards for IDPs. These standards include the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, which state that “national authorities have the primary duty and responsibility to provide protection and humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons within their jurisdiction” (Principle 3). Moreover, the Principles specifically require that IDPs “be protected in particular against . . . enforced disappearances, including abduction or unacknowledged detention, threatening or resulting in death” (Principle 10 (d)).


Urgent call for the immediate release of disappeared Chechen IDPs

The IHF is deeply concerned about the fate and whereabouts of the following individuals who “disappeared” following raids on IDP camps and residences in Ingushetia in June 2003:

- Ruslan Arsaev, who disappeared after being forcibly taken from IDP camp OOO Urs (Nazran)

On 3 June 2003, at 4:00 AM, the IDP camp was surrounded by armed individuals in camouflage uniforms and wearing masks, who arrived in six military vehicles. They broke into the shelters and forcibly rounded up all men older than 14 years, who were taken to the camp yard. The men were made to lie on the ground with their faces down. All were photographed and their identities were checked, while at the same time their houses were searched and looted by the soldiers. The soldiers took seven to eight boxes containing humanitarian aid delivered by the Ministry of Emergency Situations. At no point did the armed persons identify themselves or give explanations for their actions. Only two out of the six military cars had identification numbers.

Four of the IDPs were detained and brought to Chechnya. Three of them reappeared near the military base in Khankala three days later and stated their captors beat and subjected them to torture. The fate and whereabouts of 34-year old Ruslan Arsaev remain unknown.

- Rustam Lichaev and Adam Tambiev, who were taken from a refugee camp in the Nesterevskaya settlement

On 3 June 2003, more than twenty armed persons wearing masks entered the camp territory in four vehicles, and started firing into the air. They forcibly gathered all men, shouting “You are all bastards, you sit here in Ingushetia, and do not want to return back home. Do you think we will not reach you here?” Rustam Lichaev was pushed into his car, together with Adam Tambiev, and driven to Chechnya together with the four military vehicles. The convoy was stopped at a regular Ingush police block post near the Chechen border. The Ingush policemen allegedly unsuccessfully opposed the forced removal of the two men from Ingushetia to Chechnya. The fate and whereabouts of the two men are unknown.

- Buvaisar Khadisov, taken from a private flat in Sovietskaia street in Nazran

On 7 June 2003, at around 5:00 AM, twenty armed individuals in camouflage uniforms and with masks broke down the door and burst into the flat of Mr. Khadisov, a Chechen IDP. They beat him, handcuffed and arrested him in front of his wife, who was also assaulted, along with their 5-month old child who suffered head injuries. The assailants had come in four military cars. The fate and whereabouts of 27-year-old Buvaisar Khadisov are unknown.

The IHF urges the Russian authorities vigorously to investigate these disappearances, prosecute the perpetrators and ensure the safety and security of the abovementioned individuals.

- Kharon Yasaev, 19- year- old, and Kura Geysumov,47- yeas- old, violently arrested in IDP camp “Tanzila” (Nazran)

On 12 June 2003, masked soldiers carried out an operation of stopping and searching cars at the entrance of the IDP camp “Tanzila” in Nazran. According to reports, they started beating drivers of the cars, and others present at the camp gate at that time. They detained nine persons, including Kharon Yasaev, who was filling a bucket with water at the time of his arrest, and Kara Geysumov, who was sitting near the gate of the camp, reading a human rights newspaper. The two men are reportedly being detained in Vladikavkaz and are reportedly facing as yet undetermined criminal charges.


Bringing the perpetrators to justice

The IHF calls upon the Russian military and security forces to immediately put an end to such abusive practices. Military and civilian prosecutors should investigate these incidents and bring to justice all those who have committed acts of torture or ill-treatment against Chechen IDPs during such operations. These individuals should also be held accountable for the fate, safety and security of Ruslan Arsaev, Rustam Lichaev, Adam Tambiev and Buvaisar Khadisov.

In the absence of any clear sign that these recent acts will be investigated promptly and all perpetrators be charged and sentenced for their crimes, the IHF considers that these and other gross violations of human rights in Chechnya and neighboring republics lend additional credence to the call for establishing an international ad hoc tribunal to bring these perpetrators to justice, as per a recent resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) .

For more information, please contact:

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights,
Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director, +43-1-408 88 22 or +43-676-635 66 12,
Brigitte Dufour, IHF Deputy Executive Director, +43-676-690 2457,
Henriette Schroeder, IHF Press Officer, +43-676-725 48 29

Human Rights Centre MEMORIAL,
Eliza Moussaeva, Director of Nazran Office, +7 8732 22 23 49

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1) PACE Resolution 1323 (2003) reads:
10. To ensure that those responsible for abuses are brought to justice, the Assembly: [...]
iii. considers that, if the efforts to bring to justice those responsible for human rights abuses are not intensified, and the climate of impunity in the Chechen Republic prevails, the international community should consider setting up an ad hoc tribunal to try war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Chechen Republic[.]