HumanRightsCenter «Memorial»
A Conveyer of Violence
Human rights violations during anti-terrorist operations in the Republic of Ingushetia
Contents
Introduction 3
1. The dynamics of human rights violations in the course of "special operations" in the Republic of Ingushetia: 1999 — 2004 4
1.1. 2002: First abductions and "disappearances" 4
Abduction and murder of D. Bataev and M. Tokaev, February 2002 5
Abduction and murder of Naip Idigov, February 2002 5
Abduction of S. Sainaroev, October 2002 7
Special operation of Kadyrov's security services in the city Malgobek, November 2002 7
Abduction statistics for Ingushetia in 2002 8
1.2. 2003: Escalation of violence 8
Abduction statistics for Ingushetia in 2003 8
Detention of the Shokarov brothers; the death of one and the disappearance of the other, January 2003 8
Attack of boeviks[1] in the first half of 2003 9
"Cleanup" operations in the villages Arshty and Chemulga, the abduction and murder of U. Zabiev, June 2003 10
"Special operation" in the polyclinic station in stanitsa Ordzhonikidzovskaja, August 2003 10
Abduction and disappearance of Bashir Mutsolgov, December 2003 11
1.3. 2004: "Chechenization" of Ingushetia 12
Abduction statistics for Ingushetia in 2004 12
Abduction of A. Medov, June 2004 13
Attack of boeviks on Ingushetia on the night from 21 to 22 June, 2004 16
"Cleanup" operation of IDP settlements, June 2004 17
Abduction of six residents of the city Karabulak, July 2004 17
Illegal detention of the Velkhiev brothers, their torture, and the murder of one of them,
July 2004 20
Murder of Beslan Arapkhanov, July 2004 21
Complaint of Defense Lawyer of suspect Solsbek Gelogaev, August 2004 21
Adbuction and disappearance of Adam Bersanov December 2004 21
2. Methods used at the inquests and investigations of residents of the Republic of Ingushetia suspected of terrorism and of participation in illegal armed units 22
3. Ingushetia in 2005: Examples of detention operations on individuals suspected of terrorist activities and participation in illegal armed units; investigations of crimes allegedly committed by them 26
3.1. Illegal detention and death of Adam Gorchkhanov 27
3.2. Case of Adam Parchiev 28
3.3. Case of Magomed Khamkhoev 30
3.4. Case of Magomed Tsakhigov and Alikhan Ibragimov 35
3.5. Case of Bekkhan Gireev 39
3.6. Case of Khasan Egiev 40
3.7. Case of Gelani Kholukhoev 41
3.8. Five statements from those accused of participation in the events of the night of 21 — 22 July, 2004 42
3.9. Illegal detention and disappearance of the Kodzoev brothers 49
3.10. Illegal detention and "disappearance" of Magomed Merzhoev 50
4. Recommendations 51
List of Abbreviations 54
Introduction
The first version of this report was published in July 2005.
The draft of this report was presented to the President of the Russian Federation 20 July, 2005, at meeting of the President with the President of the RF's Council on assistance for the development of institutes of civil society and human rights, among the materials of the Council.
In October 2005 small additions have been made to the report.
Abductions continued in the fall of 2005 in Ingushetia; relatives of the abductees turned to human rights center Memorial in Nazran. The majority of the abducted were subsequently “found” by lawyers within a few days in provisional detention facilities in North Osetia or Ingushetia, as a rule, having already managed to confess to committing terrorism-related crimes. One person died from his injuries received in detainment. Two abductees disappeared without a trace.
In 2005, judicial decisions on indictments in terrorist activities were made for several cases which Memorial had been tracking since 2004. Evidence of the guilt of the accused comprised, on the whole, their own confessions regarding their criminal acts, which were made during preliminary investigations. According to the testimony of lawyers and the statements of relatives, these people had been cruelly tortured. In addition, Memorial received six statements from the detention locations — from the accused themselves — wherein it was described in detail how the young people were subjected to torture and humiliation until they signed "voluntary confessions".
"Who will I become? How will I live in this country if you sentence me, without evidence of my guilt, to such a long prison term for crimes I did not commit?" asked 27-year-old Magomed Khamkhoev in his closing statement in court. Khamkhoev was sentenced to 10 years — in the opinion of his lawyer Umar Khayauri, chairman of the 21st Century board of lawyers in the Republic of Ingushetia, Khamkhoev was sentenced despite the complete absence of an evidentiary basis for his having committed the crime.
The evidence collected in this report compels us to demand an examination of the activities of law-enforcement agencies and the provisional detention facilities in Ingushetia and North Osetia. It is clear that a conveyer of violence has been installed in the North Caucasus which comprises law-enforcement agencies, the special forces, the inoperative office of the public prosecutor, the courts which are incapable of revealing falsification, and even some lawyers. Innocent people are inevitably lost to the machine while the real criminals go unpunished.
Memorial warns that the existing system is incapable of effectively fighting terrorism and will, on the contrary, beget the most horrendous forms of terror.
Memorial does not call into question the necessity of the fight against terror. However, this fight must be conducted in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and the international obligations of the Russian Federation to observe human rights.
1.The Dynamics of Rights Violations Practices in the Course of Counter-terrorist Operations in the Republic of Ingushetia: 1999 — 2004
Ingushetia is a small north Caucasian republic[2] bordering North Osetia to the west, Chechnya to the east, and Georgia to the south. Until 1991 Ingushetia was a member of the Chechen-IngushRepublic of the RSFSR (RussianSovietFederativeSocialistRepublic). An IngushRepublic as a member of the Russian Federation was proclaimed on 15 September, 1991, in a congress of deputies of Ingushetia from all levels. When a de facto independent separatist regime was installed in Grozny, residents of Ingushetia confirmed in a referendum (30 November — 1 December, 1991) their decision to remain a member of the Russian Federation and to build their own republican state on the basis of the Constitution of the RSFSR. With a 75% turnout, 90% of voters decided in favor of the referendum. Six months later on 4 June, 1992, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR approved the law "On the Formation of the Republic of Ingushetia as a member of the RSFSR".
Cultural, economic, and family ties with Chechnya, however, remained. On 11 December, 1994, at the start of the first Chechen war, when federal forces were moving through Ingushetia to Chechnya, residents of the republic blocked the roads trying to prevent their progress. When the war had become an inevitable reality, the Ingush took in hundreds of thousands of forced migrants from neighboring republics.
At the very beginning of the second Chechen war, on 25 September, 1999, general Vladimir Shamanov, commander of the "West" group of federal forces, ordered that administrative borders of subjects of the federation contiguous with Chechnya be closed to the people fleeing the shelling and bombing. In defiance of this order, the President of Ingushetia, Ruslan Aushev, opened the border, and Ingushetia took in about 300 thousand migrants from the ChechenRepublic.
Because the very presence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ingushetia testified to the adverse situation in Chechnya, the federal government brought pressure to bear on them from the very beginning, attempting to force their return. The efforts did not meet with any particular success. The absence of security in Chechnya kept IDPs in Ingushetia — more than two years after the war began, their numbers were about 150 thousand. Despite the hard living conditions, they felt relatively secure.
The frequent "cleanup" operations did not lead to ‘the pacification’ of Chechnya. Federal agencies found an explanation for this — apparently, boeviks were sheltering beyond the borders of the republic— and insisted on the expansion of the zone of "counterterrorism operations" to Ingushetia. However, Ingush authorities successfully resisted these attempts until the end of 2001, thereby supporting the stability of the republic.
1.1. 2002: First Abductions and "Disappearances"
The situation began to change in 2002. Abductees, most of them IDPs from Chechnya, disappeared in the course of the "special operations" which had begun in Ingushetia. The bodies of some of the "disappeared" were later discovered on the territory of the ChechenRepublic. In the majority of cases, the circumstances of abduction directly implicated representatives of the federal law-enforcement agencies in criminal acts.
We do not assert that none of the abductees in Ingushetia did not participate in the armed units resisting the Russian state. However, in a civilized state, suspects can be detained or arrested only on a lawful basis, investigations should be carried out within procedural norms, and the guilt of the accused can be determined only by a court. Otherwise justice is replaced by arbitrariness and reprisals, the victims of which are invariably innocent people.
"Special operations" which at times became large-scale "cleanup" operations began in IDP camps around the middle of 2002. This practice was part of a campaign to stimulate the out-migration of IDPs back to Chechnya. In some cases these operations were provoked by the actions of boeviks. For example, the first "cleanup" operation we know of took place in the IDP camp at a Milk Farm (MTF) in the city Karabulak on 6 June, 2002, after the murder of three Ingush police officers. In the majority of cases, however, the motivation for the special operations and abductions remained unclear.
The abduction and murder of the IDPs Danilbek Bataev and Murad Tokaev is a typical episode for 2002.
On 4 February, 2002, in the city Malgobek, armed men in masks burst into building no. 4on Zyazikova street. They seized Danilbek Bataev, born 1981, and Murad Tokaev, born 1980, IDPs from Chechnya living there, and took them away in an unknown direction. The armed men did not present any documentation, but did administer a beating to Laura Bataeva, Danilbek's wife, who attempted to prevent the abduction of her husband.
On 9 April, 2002, the corpses of Danilbek Bataev and Murad Tokaev were discovered about 1 km from the position of Russian forces, in the Staropromyslovsky district of Grozny in the area of Tashkala. They had had their throats cut, their faces were covered with tape, and their hands were bound behind their backs.
The only instance of a person's disappearance in this period for which we can conjecture a motive for the actions of the federal authorities is the abduction and murder of Naip Idigov.
Around midnight (24:00) on 14 February, 2002, a house on Zarechnoi street in the town Karabulak, where Naip Idigov was living as a forced migrant, was surrounded by a large group of armed men in camouflage and masks. They burst into the house, seized Naip Idigov, and took him outside, having administered beatings to his wife and (female) cousin, who attempted to interfere. The men traveled in several cars along the Rostov — Baku route, taking Idigov with them through the Kavkaz-1[3] checkpoint into Chechnya.
On 15 and 16 February Russian mass media reported that the boevik Naip Idigov had been killed while trying to install a landmine on the territory of Chechnya in the Achkhoi-Martanovsky district. From that moment, relatives searched for Idigov dead or alive. Referring to media reports, they turned to the office of the public prosecutor of the Sunzhensky district of Ingushetia and to the public prosecutor of the ChechenRepublic; however, they could not obtain any information concerning either the whereabouts of Indigov or the source of the reports of his death.
The Human rights center “Memorial” dispatched an inquiry into the "disappearance" of Naip Idigov to the public prosecutor of the ChechenRepublic. In addition, the matter was addressed on 28 February, 2002, in a session of the Permanent Working Group[4]; however, human rights workers still could not obtain any information regarding Idigov's fate.
On 21 October relatives learned by chance that on 18 February, 2002, in the Oktyabrsky district of Grozny, residents discovered the body of an unidentified man and, having made preliminary photographs, buried him in the courtyard of the mosque. The relatives identified Naip Idigov in the photographs. The report in the federal news turned out to be accurate in its assertion that Idigov had been detained and killed — and false in all other respects. Idigov was executed shortly after being taken from his home in Ingushetia on the night of 14 February, 2002. The body showed evidence of beatings: discolorations and bruising, the hands tied with rope behind the back. On the temple there was an aperture from the executioner's bullet.
In the first war, Naip Idigov participated in Chechen armed formations, which may have been the motivation for his detention. However, everything else — his abduction, torture, and murder — undoubtedly lies beyond the boundaries of the law. The falsifications of his abduction — the reports that a "boevik was killed while installing a landmine" — are equally illegal[5].
Federal units and subdivisions began deploying to Ingushetia in summer 2002. Subdivisions of the internal forces were stationed next to the tent camps of IDPs, while the 503rd mobile infantry regiment was deployed around the stanitsa Troitskaya. Incidentally, the "reinforcement" was observed along the entire Caucasian ridge from Dagestan to Karachaevo-Cherkessia, since with the opening of the mountain passes it was expected that the detachments of the field commander Ruslan Gelaev would cross over from Georgia. It turned out the preparations were in vain: on 11 September, in the vicinity of the village Olgetti in the Dzheirakhsk district, Gelaev's detachments crossed the Russian border unimpeded. For two weeks they remained unnoticed in the mountainous wooded area not far from the village Tarskoe in North Osetia — perhaps the most militarized republic in the North Caucasus. On 26 September near the village Galashki, where the detachments were crossing the Assinovskaya gorge, their rearguard came into contact with federal forces, but in the end the Chechen detachments escaped into Chechnya practically without casualties.
The result of the belatedly undertaken "operational reconnaissance measures" was the abduction and "disappearance" of a local resident of Ingushetia — the first known to Memorial. It is hard to imagine what attracted the attention of the "law-enforcement agencies" to the 77-year-old beekeeper Sultan Sainaroev, born in 1925, resident of Galashki village, 48 Shosseinaya street. He raised bees in the small place Berezhka, seven kilometers from the village. On 22 October, 2002, soldiers seized him in his bee garden, put him into a military transport vehicle, and took him away in the direction of the village Arshty, after which he disappeared. On 14 November, 2002, the public prosecutor of the Republic of Ingushetia opened a criminal investigation per Article 126 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abduction).
The human rights center Memorial is in possession of a copy of the response to the inquiry which was directed to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Ingushetia, addressed to the Commander of the unified military forces. The inquiry was answered[6]29 November, 2002, by the commander of detachment no. 74814 (205th mobile infantry brigade), the subdivisions of which were deployed during that period in the vicinity of the Arshty and Galashki villages. The commander of the detachment reported that "Subdivisions of the 205th mobile infantry brigade in Arshty did not detain any citizens on suspicion of participation in an illegal armed unit. The indicated citizen, Sainaroev, was detained by representatives of the Regional Operational Headquarters for the North Caucasus of the FSB of the Russian Federation."
It should seem that the fate of Sainaroev could now be established for investigation without particular difficulty. The matter was forwarded to the military prosecutor. On 1 July, 2005, S. Sainaroev was still listed as missing. The criminal investigation has been stopped "due to the impossibility of establishing the identity of the persons who should be indicted for criminal acts."
Special operations to capture so-called boeviks were often conducted as though in a desert, with no regard for the safety of the civilian population, which sometimes produced unwarranted victims. The attempt by members of Akhmad Kadyrov's security service to detain two residents of the ChechenRepublic, Imran Musalaev and Isa Mikailov,alleged combatants, is an example. On 14 November, 2002, members of the security service attempted to ambush Musalaev and Mikailov in their vehicle in the vicinity of the central bus station of the town ofMalgobek.
Musalaev, however, escaped. Attempting to avoid his pursuers, he jumped on a regularly scheduled bus with passengers. His pursuers boarded the bus and opened fire, shooting to kill. According to witness accounts, Kadyrov's men saw that Musalaev was holding a live grenade. Nevertheless, they shot him several times at point-blank range. There was an explosion. In addition to the boevik, three passengers were killed and nine wounded by the bullets and shrapnel.
Both of the opposing sides evinced an equal readiness to sacrifice the lives of civilians uninvolved in the conflict.
The actions of the law-enforcement agencies of the ChechenRepublic, taken without the agreement of organs of the Interior Ministry or the office of the public prosecutor of Ingushetia, were illegal. It was later ascertained that Kadyrov's men acted, not on their own initiative, but on the orders of the regional operational headquarters. The actions of Kadyrov's security service on the territory of the neighboring republic were only brought to light because of the practical failure of the special operation, the deaths of the passengers, and the following investigation. If there had been no victims, all that would have been recorded was another abduction of two IDPs by "unidentified armed men".
In all, Memorial documented 28 cases of abduction for Ingushetia in 2002 (27 residents of Chechnya, one resident of Ingushetia). Four of them were killed, two were released by their abductors after interrogation and beating, and sixteen went missing. Six of the abductees were soon found in preliminary detainment or temporary detention center. Of these, one was sentenced for participation in an illegal armed unit, four were acquitted in court, and one is still under investigation.
1.2. 2003: Escalation of Violence
The year 2003 saw a significant escalation of violence in Ingushetia. Memorial has documented 52 cases of abduction in the republic for that year. Of these, 38 are residents of Chechnya, 12 are residents of Ingushetia, and 2 are citizens of Armenia. The corpse of one of the abductees was found subsequently, 32 people went missing, and 19 were released after protracted interrogations accompanied by beatings. The released people do not know who interrogatedthem, or where they were detained. Nonetheless, the character of the questions askedto them in detainment suggests that quite probably they were detained by representatives of one of the security agencies of the Russian Federation.