Annex
INDIVIDUAL CASES
RELATING TO
THE NORTH
CAUCASUS
Enforced disappearance of Artur Akhmatkhanov
Artur Akhmatkhanov worked for the NGO Russian-Chechen
Friendship Society when he was detained on 2 April 2003 in Chechnya
near his house in Shali, by men who appeared to be members of
the Russian federal forces, and subsequently "disappeared".
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, a criminal
investigation was opened into the reported arbitrary detention
under Article 126 of the Russian Criminal Code, which found that
unknown armed, masked men wearing camouflage uniform had abducted
Artur Akhmatkhanov on 2 April 2003 and taken him away to an unknown
destination. However, the criminal investigation was suspended
on 10 July 2004, due to the failure to identify suspects in the
case. Since then the case has been opened again but according
to Amnesty International's information has been halted.
Enforced disappearance of Bashir Mutsolgov
Bashir Mutsolgov from Karabulak in Ingushetia
was last seen in the afternoon of 18 December 2003 as he was forced
into a car by several men in camouflage uniforms outside of his
family home. A witness tried to get the Ingush traffic police
to stop the car, in which Bashir Mutsolgov was taken away as well
as another car, which was also involved in the incident. However,
both cars reportedly had a special permit to travel and the police
did not attempt to stop them. His family has since heard from
contacts in the Federal Security Service (FSB) that he was taken
to the headquarters of the Ingush department of the FSB in Magas,
where he was reportedly kept until the next day. From there he
may have been transferred to the Russian military base at Khankala
in the Chechen Republic, but his fate and whereabouts remain unknown.
The criminal investigation into Bashir Mutsolgov's enforced disappearance
has been halted at the moment for lack of identification of suspects.
After Bashir Mutsolgov disappeared in Ingushetia in December 2003,
his brother Magomed set up the NGO Mashr ("peace" in
Ingush) in order to highlight the plight of victims of enforced
disappearance and their families in the Republic. In October 2006,
he together with other human rights activists organised a vigil
for murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Nazran, Ingushetia,
which was dispersed violently by police and men in civilian clothes.
Magomed Mutsolgov was fined for violations of procedure of organising
a picket. According to him and to local human rights lawyers,
he had followed the law.
"Disappearance" of Bulat Chilaev and
Aslan Israilov
Bulat Chilaev, a driver for the Russian non-governmental
human rights and humanitarian organisation Komitet Grazhdanskoe
Sodeistvie (Civic Assistance Committee), and Aslan Israilov were
arbitrarily detained on 9 April 2006 in Chechnya by security forces
personnel and have subsequently disappeared. The office of the
Sunzhenskii District public prosecutor opened a criminal investigation,
which, according to Memorial, has ground to a halt. When Amnesty
International spoke to colleagues of Bulat Chilaev in June, they
were told that about 10 people witnessed the detention of Bulat
Chilaev and Aslan Israilov, of whom at least three had also given
a statement to the public prosecutor's office. These statements
had included details on the registration numbers of the cars,
and had also referred to a military identity tag, with the number
142733, found next to where the two men had been dragged out of
the car. When the head of Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie met with the
then President of Chechnya, Alu Alkhanov, and the Chechen Procurator
in May 2006 to discuss enforced disappearances and abductions
in Chechnya, the Chechen Procurator reportedly stated that his
office had so far been unable to question the owner of the identity
tag, giving the reason, according to the NGO report, that since
the owner was a member of the Ministry of Defence battalion Zapad
(West) he had many duties to perform—in other words, he
was too busy to be questioned. Nevertheless, according to an official
letter from the military prosecutor's office to the head of Grazhdanskoe
Sodeistvie in June 2006, the owner of the identity tag was subsequently
questioned and stated that it was possible he had lost the tag
at about 10am on 9 April at the crossroads with the Kavkaz highway,
in the Suzhenskii district of Chechnya. He stated that he only
noticed it was missing on returning to his battalion's base, and
filed a report. Bulat Chilaev and Aslan Israilov had been arbitrarily
detained at the same crossroads at about 1pm. At the moment the
investigation is open, but no further information has been made
available to relatives and colleagues of the two men.
Apparent enforced disappearance of Elina Ersenoeva
and her mother, Margarita Ersenoeva
Freelance journalist and humanitarian worker
Elina Ersenoeva and her aunt were detained on 17 August 2006 in
the centre of the capital Grozny, Chechnya, by armed, masked men
and taken away in a car. While the aunt was released after a couple
of hours, Elina Ersenoeva has not been seen since. Reportedly,
her mother Margarita Ersenoeva learned a few days after her daughter's
reported enforced disappearance that she had been married to Chechen
separatist leader Shamil Basaev the year before. Margarita Ersenoeva
told Amnesty International that she considered her daughter to
have been a hostage of Shamil Basaev rather than his wife. Margarita
Ersenoeva met with representatives of the Committee for the prevention
of Torture (CPT) of the Council of Europe in September 2006. Amnesty
International is concerned that she and other people who met with
the representatives of the CPT were filmed by police when they
entered the meeting place. On 2 October, Margarita Ersenoeva reportedly
received a call on her mobile phone and was asked to come to the
building of the local administration in Starye Atagi, in order
to receive information about her daughter. Following that call
she left the house of her relatives where she was staying at the
time. She has not been seen since and it is believed that she
has also been "disappeared" or abducted. The authorities
in Chechnya have opened criminal investigations into the abductions
but no one has yet been identified as being responsible.
RELATING TO
FREEDOM OF
EXPRESSION AND
ASSEMBLY
Murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya
Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered
on 7 October 2006 outside the entrance to her flat in Moscow.
The journalist, who had written extensively about the human rights
situation in Chechnya and in other regions of the Russian Federation,
had received numerous threats against her life and had allegedly
been poisoned in order to prevent her from reporting about the
human rights crisis in the North Caucasus. Her murder is currently
being investigated by the Office of the Prosecutor General of
the Russian Federation. While there have been media reports that
the investigators have stated suspects for her murder have been
identified, no further information is currently available. Amnesty
International is concerned that the investigation into Anna Politkovkaya's
murder should be prompt, thorough and impartial.
RESTRICTIONS ON
FREEDOM OF
ASSOCIATION IN
KRASNODAR
On 23 January 2007 members of the human rights
organisation FRODO, whose members are mainly former members of
the closed "school of peace" in Krasnodar, held a meeting
in an art school for children, where the human rights activists
together with students and other interested people from Krasnodar
had organised an exhibition of children's art on the issue of
interethnic tolerance. Two guests from Germany wanted to discuss
a project on football for tolerance. The meeting was broken up
by a group of policemen, staff from the Federal Migration Service
and the Federal Security Service. The participants were separated
and most of them were questioned by the law enforcement officials
without been given an official reason and without the presence
of a lawyer. The head of the children's art school, the organiser
of the exhibition and the head of the organisation FRODO, Vadim
Karastelev were accused of holding an unsanctioned meeting and
charged with violations of Article 20.2 the Administrative Code
of the Russian Federation (violations of the regulations for organising
and holding meetings, demonstrations and vigils) and were ordered
to pay a fine. Following an appeal against his sentencing, a regional
court decided to reduce the fine for Vadim Karastelev but did
not clear him.
Attacks on Mari activists Galina Kozlova and Vladimir
Kozlov
Galina Kozlova, from the Republic of Mari El
in the Volga Federal District, works as a subeditor and campaigns
for the protection of the Mari culture. She told Amnesty International
that on 25 January 2007 she was attacked on her way home by an
unknown man, who sprayed what she believes to be teargas in her
face, kicked her and beat her. When she fell to the ground he
dragged her along the icy street for several meters (about 50).
According to Galina Kozlova, the man did not attempt to take her
bag or any of her possessions. She was hospitalised and stayed
in hospital for 11 days, only returning to work in March. After
the attack, a police investigator came once to see her in hospital
but, according to Galina Kozlova, did not seem to be very interested
in what had happened to her. She said that only after the European
Parliament adopted a resolution on 15 March, calling on the authorities
to bring the perpetrators to justice and ensure respect for freedom
of expression did the local authorities start a more thorough
investigation into the attack. Galina Kozlova's husband, Vladimir
Kozlov, who is also a well known activist for the Mari culture,
was similarly attacked in February 2005 on his way to work. He
was beaten up by one man, while two others stood guard. He reportedly
lost consciousness during the attack. The men did not attempt
to steal anything from him. Until now, none of the attackers have
been found. Galina and Vladimir Kozlov believe that the attacks
are likely to be connected to their work for the protection of
Mari culture and for their criticism on current government policies.
Vladimir Kozlov told Amnesty International about what he considered
to be other recent attempts by the authorities of the Republic
of Mari El to hinder his campaigning, including preventing him
from attending an international meeting in May 2006 with other
representatives of Finno-Ugric ethnic groups, to which the Mari
belong, and confiscation of his computer also in May 2006.
PRESSURE ON
LEGAL TEAM
FOR FORMER
YUKOS EXECUTIVES
The legal defence team of former Yukos executives
Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev is concerned that the
public prosecutor's office is deliberately hindering their access
to their clients and putting undue pressure on them in an attempt
to intimidate them. In January 2007 the public prosecutor's office
opened new criminal investigations against Mikhail Khodorkovskii
and Platon Lebedev and decided to hold the initial stage of investigation
in Chita rather than in Moscow, which would have been possible
under Russian law. A Moscow court found on 20 March that the decision
to hold the initial investigation in Chita was in violation of
Russian law. The defence team believes that this decision was
taken in order to hinder their access to the two men, requiring
them to undertake the lengthy journey to Chita to visit their
clients. Moreover, on 4 February 2007 a group of lawyers working
for former Yukos executives Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev
were stopped by police officers from boarding a plane to Chita,
in the Far East of Russia, where their clients are currently detained
during the initial investigation into the new charges against
them. The lawyers claim that they were detained by police at the
airport in Moscow for nearly two hours before being able to board
the flight. On their way back to Moscow one of the lawyers, Karinna
Moskalenko, had to sign a statement that she had acquainted herself
with some documents of the investigation but that she would not
reveal any of the details of the preliminary investigation. The
lawyer told Amnesty International that she signed the statement
in order to be able to get on the plane to Moscow together with
her colleagues, despite wholly disagreeing with the demands of
the statement and not having seen the mentioned document. Upon
her arrival in Moscow she filed a complaint with the Office of
the Prosecutor General against the way she had been treated by
the law enforcement officials. Amnesty International are deeply
concerned that on 18 April 2007 the Russian Procurator General
sent a request to the Moscow Bar Association to initiate disciplinary
proceedings against Karina Moskalenko on the basis that she may
not have represented Mikhail Khodorkovsky in bona fide manner.
Deportation of Rustam Muminov
Rustam Muminov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, had
been detained in February 2006 following an extradition request
from the Uzbekistani authorities. The Russian Procurator General
decided on 29 September that Rustam Muminov could not be extradited
to Uzbekistan and he was released the same day from detention.
However, during his period in detention, his registration in the
Russian Federation had expired and following his release, the
authorities refused to renew it. On 17 October he was detained
again at the office of the Russian human rights organization Komitet
Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie in Moscow. The same day a court in Moscow
found him guilty of violations of the Administrative Code of the
Russian Federation in connection with his expired registration
permit, and issued an order for his deportation. A lawyer from
Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie appealed against this order on his behalf.
Rustam Muminov also appealed to the European Court of Human Rights
to take interim measures to halt his deportation. Despite these
two pending court decisions on 24 October Rustam Muminov was taken
in handcuffs to an airport in Moscow and flown to Uzbekistan.
According to the news agency Interfax, the FSB proclaimed Rustam
Muminov guilty of crimes committed in Uzbekistan, which constituted
a violation of the principle of presumption of innocence. A week
after his deportation, the district court in Moscow found Rustam
Muminov not guilty of violations of the Administrative Code. A
criminal investigation into the unlawful deportation of Rustam
Muminov was opened. Despite all this, the FMS informed Grazhdanskoe
Sodeistvie on 18 December that Rustam Muminov had left the country
voluntarily on 24 October, not awaiting a final court decision.
In March 2007, Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie learned that Rustam Muminov
had been sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment in Uzbekistan.
In May 2007, Grazhdanskoe Sodeistvie presented material to the
media, indicating that the Federal Security Service of the Russian
Federation had ordered the deportation of Rustam Muminov and had
requested to tap his telephone conversation in clear violation
of Russian and international human rights law. At the moment,
a member of the Federal Migration Service has been sentenced for
exceeding official authority in connection with the unlawful deportation
of Rustam Muminov. No official from the FSB has been charged so
far.
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