ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

On 5 December 2014 a police officer arrived at one of the applicants’ houses and took Mr B.A. and Mr K. K. to the same police station to clarify some information. At about midnight of the same day the father of Mr. A. telephoned that police officer. The officer told him that his son and Mr K. would be released soon. However, the applicants’ sons did not return home. On 5 January 2015 the applicants were taken to the ROVD where they were informed them that both men had been released from on 6 December 2014 and that their whereabouts after that date were unknown. The applicants complained under Article 2  that the State agents had been responsible for the men's abduction and subsequent disappearance and that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. They additionally alleged the violation of Article 3, as the men's disappearance led to a mental suffering of the applicants. Under Article 5 of the Convention, they complained that their sons' unlawful detention violated that provision in its entirety and that, in violation of Article 13 of the Convention, they had no effective domestic remedies against the alleged violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention.

On 6 June 2007 about seven-eight armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms in GAZEL minivan with registration number A783AP 95 and VAZ-2110 broke to the applicant’s house and took away Mr Arsen Izhayev to an unknown location. The applicant’s neighbour Mr A. Dzh. was also taken away but released next day. On 18 June 2007 the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 10067. The investigation is currently pending.

On 25 April 2007 Mr Ramaz Dibirov disappeared in Makhachkala on the way home from a cafe. On 14 May 2007 the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office in Makhachkala opened criminal case no. 701605. The investigation is currently pending.

On 26 April 2007 Mr Isa Isayev left his home in Makhachkala, Dagestan, and did not return. On 29 May 2007 the Sovetskiy district prosecutor’s office in Makhachkala opened criminal case no. 702839 (in the documents submitted the number was also referred to as 702819). The investigation is still pending.

On 1 October 2009 about twenty armed servicemen forced their way into the applicant’s house in A.Sheripova village and took Mr Suleyman Ilyasov away. On 9 November 2009 the Grozny inter-district investigation department of the Chechnya Investigations Committee opened criminal case no. 81010. The investigation is still pending.

At the material time, Mr Bisultanov was a resident of Grozny. However, on account of the ongoing military operation in the Chechen Republic, he and his family moved to the neighbouring Stavropol Region, where they settled temporarily in the village of Nadezhda, in the Shpakovskiy district, situated about eleven kilometres from the city of Stavropol. At about 7.30 a.m. on 21 May 2004 (the date was also referred to as 22 May 2004 in the documents submitted), Mr Bisultanov, his wife Ms P.S. and their daughter, the second applicant, were at home when a group of about twenty armed military servicemen in camouflage uniforms arrived at their house at 15 Ponizovskaya Street (also spelled as Ponizovskogo and Ponazovskaya Street in the case file) in Nadezhda. The servicemen were in a PAZ bus and a Niva car without registration numbers. They were wearing balaclavas and military helmets. Having broken into the house, they conducted an unauthorised search of the premises and then forced Mr Bisultanov outside. Meanwhile, Ms P.S. asked one of the servicemen where her husband was being taken. The servicemen replied that, she would be able to find her husband at the Shpakovskiy district department of the interior (Отдел внутренних дел Шпаковского района Ставропольского края) as soon as certain questions had been clarified. Thereafter, the servicemen put Mr Bisultanov into the PAZ bus and drove off to an unidentified destination. The whereabouts of Mr Bisultanov have remained unknown since then.

At about 10 p.m. on 5 August 2008 a group of armed servicemen in civilian clothes arrived at the applicants’ house at 1 Tsvetochnaya Street in Mesker-Yurt, Chechnya in three vehicles: a white VAZ 2107 car with the registration numbers containing the digits 327 07 RUS; a VAZ 2112; and an UAZ jeep (the Hunter model) without registration numbers. The servicemen entered the courtyard of the applicants’ house, apprehended Mr Gadayev (a former member of illegal armed groups), forced him into the VAZ 2107 car and drove off in the direction of the Shali-Argun motorway. The first applicant saw the servicemen taking his son away and tried to intervene; however, one of the perpetrators threatened him with firearms and fired several warning shots into the ground. According to the applicants, shortly after the abduction the white VAZ 2107 car was seen parked on the premises of the Argun department of the interior (Аргунский отдел внутренних дел) (hereinafter “the OVD”). The car allegedly belonged to Mr Su.I., who was also abducted on 5 August 2008 by a group of armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms. According to the applicants’ version of the event, the servicemen seized Mr Su.I.’s VAZ 2107 car, changed its registration plate and drove to Mesker-Yurt, where they carried out the abduction of Mr Gadayev. The whereabouts of Mr Gadayev have remained unknown ever since.

In 2001, as a part of the military counter-terrorist operation, the Russian military forces opened shelling of the village of Gezenchu, as a result of which the applicant’s wife, Malika Vanayeva died. The applicant’s brother, Shamkhan Banzhayev, at the time was the head of the village administration. He lodged an official complaint about the incidence, where he argued that, since the village consisted of only seven families, the federal forces could readily have ascertained that, due to its size, the village would have been unable to harbour illegal armed groups without the authorities’ knowledge. He added, that the day prior to the shelling, he and a number of other representatives of the local community had gone to the military base in Engenoy and spoken with them in an effort to prevent any bombing. The military officers had promised to keep in mind their request. No criminal case on matter was opened. On 15 November 2002 Mr Shamkhan Banzhayev was abducted, allegedly by military servicemen who wanted to stop him from pushing the authorities to investigate the shelling. After his abduction the applicant’s brother had remained missing. The applicant complains under Article 2 of the Convention that his wife’s and his brother’s right to life was violated and that the authorities failed to effectively investigate the incidents.

On 29 December 2001 the applicant’s son was drafted for military service. From 10 July 2002 he served in military unit no. 44822, based in the village of Borzoy, the Chechen Republic.  On 8 August 2002 the military unit informed the competent military prosecutor’s office that the applicant’s son had been found dead on its premises.

On 5 December 2014 the five men (the sons of the four applicants) were taken by the police to the Naurskiy ROVD. According to the applicants, it was done within the campaign of reprisals for the armed attack on State bodies in Grozny on 3-4 December 2014. That campaign included burning of houses of family members of persons suspected of involvement in illegal armed groups, their arrests and detentions. It was told that the men had been released on 6 December 2014, bud they have gone missing since. The applicants complained under Article 2  that the State agents had been responsible for their sons' abduction and subsequent disappearance and that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. They additionally alleged the violation of Article 3, as the men's disappearance led to a mental suffering of the applicants. Under Article 5 of the Convention, they complained that their sons' unlawful detention violated that provision in its entirety and that, in violation of Article 13 of the Convention, they had no effective domestic remedies against the alleged violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention.

On the morning of 10 July 2012 Mr Badurgov left his home in Grozny for a 10.30 a.m. job interview at the Tyan Shin company, located in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. After the interview, shortly after he had left the company premises, two men in camouflage uniforms were seen in the vicinity asking questions about his whereabouts. Later in the morning, between 11 a.m. and 12 noon, Khusein Badurgov was allegedly seen near the Berkat marketplace in Grozny and then, about two hours later, next to a restaurant on the corner of Mayakovskogo and Zavety Ilyicha Streets. On that corner were located CCTV cameras. At some point after the job interview, Khuseyn Badurgov telephoned his sister. According to her, as they had been speaking, someone had greeted Mr Badurgov and then the connection had been cut off. The signal of Khusein Badurgov’s mobile phone was registered later in the afternoon as emanating from the village of Nesterovskaya, Ingushetia – about 9 kilometres from Ordzhonikidzevskaya, Ingushetia and 65 kilometres from Grozny, Chechnya. That day Mr Badurgov did not return home; since then he has been missing.

The applicant and her son Adam Khayrulayev resided together in Komsomolskoye (in the documents submitted also referred to as Komsomolskaya), a village in the Kizilyurt district of Dagestan. On several occasions prior to 2012 Adam Khayrulayev was detained on suspicion of terrorist-related activities and the police searched his house. On or around 1 August 2012 a local police officer was murdered. According to the applicant, the police suspected Adam Khayrulayev of involvement in the crime. At about 2.30 a.m. on 4 August 2012 Adam Khayrulayev and four other men (among them Mr Kurban I.) were sitting on a bench in front of 31 Kavkazskaya Street in Komsomolskoye, where Mr Kurban I. resided. The men were talking after the night prayer at the local mosque, when a group of seven to nine armed men in balaclavas, camouflage uniforms and military outfits, pulled over in two cars – a silver VAZ-217030 (Lada Priora model) and a black VAZ-21114) with tinted windows and without registration numbers. Making threatening gestures with their firearms, they forced everyone to the ground and then put the applicant’s son in one of their vehicles and drove off. The incident lasted for several minutes and was witnessed by several people.

On 30 July 2002 a group of armed servicemen abducted Mr Ruslan Ismailov from a car repair garage in the centre of Grozny. On 8 August 2002 the Grozny town prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 50121. The investigation is still pending.

On 5 February 2000 Mr Zelimkhan Dzhamaldayev and his neighbour Mr R. were taken away by servicemen from the special police task force unit (“OMON”) from Saint Petersburg. On 12 November 2000 the Grozny prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 12255. The investigation is currently pending

On 25 August 2009 Mr Magomed Kabilov disappeared after having got into a grey VAZ-2110 car. On 14 September 2009 the Zavodskoy district investigative committee opened criminal case no. 67057 under Article 105 of the Criminal Code (murder). 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.