Unified
Russia questions Kadyrov's “death squad” allegations
Chechen
puppet administration head Kadyrov told journalists in Grozny on 28
August that he has written to top Russian law enforcement officials
requesting the creation of an intergovernmental commission to investigate
the nocturnal abduction of Chechen civilians, Interfax reported. On
19 August, Chechen First Deputy Interior Minister Movsar Khamidov told
Interfax that 267 people were abducted during the first half of this
year. Kadyrov blamed the disappearances on a "third force" consisting
of "a death squad in armored vehicles." But Duma Deputy Frants Klintsevich,
who heads the Chechen office of the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia party,
told Interfax the same day that although he has comprehensive information
about the security situation in Chechnya, he has never heard of the
death squads Kadyrov blames for the disappearances. Klintsevich argues
that it is crucial to determine which officials and organizations have
the right to arrest or detain Chechen civilians, and that the relatives
of detained people should be informed immediately. According to Russian
journalist and Chechnya expert Anna Politkovskaya, many such abductions
are the work of security police headed by Kadyrov's son, Ramzan.