ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

On 8 August 2007 Mr Ibragim Gazdiyev’s car was stopped in Karabulak by five or six armed men in camouflage uniforms, balaclavas and khaki helmets. Mr Ibragim Gazdiyev has not been seen since. On 10 August 2007 the Karabulak prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 27520024. The investigation is currently pending.

On 2 June 2000 Mr Akhyad Gerimov was stopped on the way to his work at a military checkpoint in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. The servicemen put him in an APC and took him away to an unknown destination. On an unspecified date in August 2000 the Grozny prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 12073. The investigation is still pending.

On 12 September 2000 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 15 September 2000) a group of about twenty armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ house in two APCs and a VAZ vehicle and took Mr Lema Chapanov and Mr Aslan Chapanov away. On 15 February 2001 the Urus-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 25025. The investigation is still pending.

On 23 May 2001 a group of armed servicemen arrested Mr Uvays Shaipov at the checkpoint next to the Kirov-Yurt settlement in the Chechen Republic and took him away in an APC. On 18 July 2001 the Vedeno district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 73059. The investigation is still pending.
On 31 March 2002 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ block of flats in a URAL and UAZ-452 vehicles and took Mr Alvi Dzhankhotov away. On 31 July 2002 the Shali district prosecutors’ office opened criminal case no. 59174. The investigation is still pending.

The circumstances of the events are similar to those described in Vasilkova v. Russia, no. 16319/10 (see above). On 17 November 2000 the Grozny prosecutor’s office opened criminal cases no. 12284. The investigation is still pending.

On 15 February 2005 Mr Saitaksi Umarov went to work in Duba-Yurt, Chechnya, and never returned home. On 9 November 2005 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 46151. The investigation is still pending.

On 2 March 2011 Mr Said Sigauri left his home in Grozny and did not return. Later on the same date, he was seen detained by the police in the course of a special operation in Grozny. On 24 June 2011 the Achkhoy-Martan investigative department of the Chechnya Investigations Committee opened criminal case no. 67002. The investigation is still pending.

On 7 July 2009 Mr Khamzat Dzeytov was allegedly abducted by State agents on his way to work. On 7 October 2009 the Achkhoy-Martan district investigative committee opened criminal case no. 85012. The investigation is currently pending.

At about 11.20 p.m. on 15 December 2009 the applicant’s son Georgiy Nakani went to see his cousin, Ms B., who lived about a hundred metres from his home. Some ten minutes later, Ms B. called the applicant and asked her if Georgiy had got back home. She also said that a neighbour had heard a gunshot and seen a man being forced into a silver VAZ car. That car together with a black Priora car, both without registration plates, had driven away at high speed.

On the night of 24 to 25 December 2009 a group of about eight armed men broke into the applicant’s house in Gubden, Dagestan, and took Mr Magomed Rashidov away. On 1 January 2010 the Kaspiyskiy inter-district investigation department of the Dagestan Investigations Committee opened criminal case no. 0295. The investigation is still pending.

On 12 December 2003 six armed servicemen in balaclavas in UAZ vehicle arrived at Mr Umar Dzhabrailov’s house and took him away to an unknown location. On 15 December 2003 the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 44091. The investigation is currently pending.

On 23 May 2002 about thirty armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms arrived at the applicants’ house in Zakan-Yurt and took Mr Yusup Khamzatov away. On 25 May 2002 the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 63036 into Yusup Khamzatov’s abduction. The investigation is still pending.

On 21 May 2002, while he was on the way home from his neighbour’s house in Grozny, a group of armed servicemen hit Mr Islam Gelayev in the head with a rifle butt and took him away in an UAZ car. On 3 November 2002 the Urus-Martan town prosecutor’s office opened criminal case number 61153. The investigation is still pending.

On 31 March 2002 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ block of flats in two APCs, two UAZ (“таблетка”) and URAL vehicles and took Mr Ibragim Asabayev and Mr Alkhazur Asabayev away. On 15 July 2002 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 16 September 2002) the Shali district prosecutors’ office opened criminal case no. 59153. The investigation is still pending.

On 1 March 2002 a group of armed servicemen detained Mr Gilani Asukhanov at checkpoint no. 207 at the exit from Urus-Martan and took him away in a VAZ-2106 vehicle. On 4 March 2002 the Urus-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 61054. The investigation is still pending.

On 21 May 2004 a group of armed servicemen arrived at Mr Aslan Shabazov’s acquaintance’s house in two Gazel, one UAZ, three UAZ (“таблетка”) and VAZ-21099 vehicles. Having broken into the house, they took Mr Aslan Shabazov away in a helicopter. On 9 November 2004 the Sunzhenskiy district prosecutors’ office in the Republic of Ingushetia opened criminal case no. 04600072. The investigation is still pending.

On 27 July 2003 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ village in an APC and two UAZ (“таблетка”) vehicles. Having broken into the applicants’ house, they took Mr Abdul-Mezhid Israilov away. On 10 September 2003 the Urus Martan district prosecutors’ office opened criminal case no. 34092. The investigation is still pending.

At about 8 p.m. on 27 September 2004 a group of about ten armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms arrived at Mr Taysumov’s house at 23 Arsanova Street in Novyye Atagi, Chechnya, in a KAVS bus with registration numbers containing the digits 448 95. The servicemen were of Slavic appearance and spoke unaccented Russian. They checked Mr Taysumov’s passport, then forced him into the bus and drove off in the direction of Grozny. The whereabouts of Mr Taysumov have remained unknown ever since. His abduction took place in the presence of several witnesses, including his parents (Ms T.T. and Mr I.T.), his wife and neighbours.

At about 6 p.m. on 5 June 2004 Mr Taysumov was on a street in Vedeno, Chechnya, when armed servicemen in balaclavas arrested him, forced him into an UAZ minivan (tabletka) without registration numbers and drove off to an unknown destination. The whereabouts of Mr Taysumov have remained unknown ever since.