ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

The application concerns allegations of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial execution of the applicants’ relatives by law-enforcement agencies perpetrated in the end of 2016 - beginning of 2017 in the Chechen Republic. After the disappearance of their relatives, the applicants and their family members have allegedly been subjected to intimidation by local authorities in attempts to dissuade them from lodging complaints for criminal investigation into the incidents. No criminal case was opened into the applicants’ allegations by the domestic authorities, albeit for an inquiry which resulted in refusals to open a criminal case. On 18 December 2019 the applicants were granted anonymity pursuant to Rule 47 § 4 of the Rules of Court. The applicants complain under Article 2 of the Convention that their relatives were abducted and most probably killed by State agents and that the authorities failed to investigate the matter.

The applicants, Mr S.T. and Ms Y.B., are Russian nationals who were born in 2001 and 1999 respectively and live in Grozny (Chechen Republic, Russia). They are a couple. The case concerns an allegation of unlawful detention and ill-treatment of the first applicant, a moderator of an opposition channel known for criticising the Chechen authorities, by State agents in September 2020 in Chechnya, and the ineffectiveness of the ensuing investigation into the matter. Relying on Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 5 (right to liberty and security), the applicants complain that the first applicant was unlawfully detained and subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by State agents.

The applicant was a sister of Ms Natalia Estemirova, now deceased, a prominent human rights activist and campaigner in Russia working in the North Caucasus, including documenting cases of human rights violations in the Chechen Republic. The applicant complained under Articles 2 and 13 of the Convention of the murder of her sister and the authorities’ failure to thoroughly, effectively and speedily investigate her death.

Muslim Zulkarnayev is currently serving a term of imprisonment in correctional colony IK-4 in the Mariy-El Republic. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that he had been subjected to repeated ill-treatment and that the authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation into it. He further submits that he was held in unacknowledged detention between 15 and 25 April 2006, in breach of all guarantees of Article 5 of the Convention.

The applicant, Rizvan Abdulkhanov, is a Russian national who was born in 1974 and lives in Grozny (Russia). The case concerns the serious wounding of the applicant by the police and their allegedly obstructing him from receiving medical treatment for his injuries. Relying on Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment) and 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the Convention, the applicant complains that he was seriously wounded as the result of excessive use of force by the police, that the authorities prevented him from receiving necessary medical treatment and failed to investigate the matter effectively.

The applicants are 29 Russian nationals who were living in village Borozdinovka inhabited mostly by ethnic Avarians and few Chechen and Russian families. On 4 June 2005 a military convoy, later identified by villagers as soldiers from the Vostoc battalion (formed of ethnic Chechens and headed by Sulim Yamadayev), entered the village. Armed men in camouflage proceeded to passport check of all male inhabitants of the village, and searched several houses. About 200 men over the age of fifteen were taken to local school and there were beaten and humiliated by the men in military uniform during several hours. Following the personal identification of all villagers, eleven men, one Russian and ten Avars – Kamil Magomedov, Abakar Aliyev, Said Magomedov, Ahmed Abdurakhmanovich Magomedov, Ahmed Payzulayevich Magomedov, Eduard Lachkov, Shakhban Magomedov, Murtuz Umarov, Magomed Isayev, Ahmed Kurbanaliyev, and Magomed Kurbanaliyev - were taken with the armed forces when those left the village, and never seen again alive. Chechen villagers were released. On the same day, Magomazi Magomazov was found burnt with a gun shot wound. Also, before leaving the armed men had set on fire the houses of Said Magomedov and Kamil Magomedov. Within two following days, burnt human remains were found at the site of two houses. In total, four houses were burnt. Soon after start of investigation, the villagers left for Republic of Dagestan requesting authorities to grant them with refugee status and compensate for property losses. Some applicants were compensated of RUR 200,000 (EUR 5,035) by the authorities of the Shelkovskoy district in exchange for the transfer of their houses to Chechens. In July 2005, internet media reported about the document confirming the special operation of Vostok battalion with names of the arrested men coincided with the names of disappeared. It also mentioned death of Magomazi Magomadov. On 27 July 2005 the military prosecutor of the United Group of Forces instituted the criminal proceedings against the commander of the Vostoc battalion, Mr Aziev. Later, Grozny Garrison Court found Mr Aziev guilty of exceeding official powers and sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, with one year suspended term. The families of the victims were not notified in advance about the forthcoming trial and could not, therefore, challenge the judgment. The investigation into the special operation of 4 July 2005 is still pending. The applicants, some of whom had been granted victim status, were not properly informed about the progress of the investigation, including results of forensic examination of the human remains from the two burnt houses.

In the beginning of January 2010 Mariya Malayeva went to the investigators of the Leninskiy Inter-District Investigations Department in Grozny who told her that on 5 January 2010 her son Aslambek Saidakhmadov had been brought to them for questioning and then released. They also told her that on 7 January 2010 Aslambek Saidakhmadov had bought a train ticket to Rostov. The applicant learned from her neighbour, Ms I.T., that her relative, Mr M., an officer of the OMON, had been arrested after the applicant’s son had absconded from the OMON headquarters. According to the neighbour, the abductors believed that Mr M. had helped Aslambek to run away and held him in detention on their premises until Aslambek Saidakhmadov had been abducted in Astrakhan and taken back to them.

Roman Magomedovich Gastemirov, is a Russian national who was born in 1979 and lives in the town of Groznyy, the Chechen Republic The applicant complained under Articles 3 and 13 of the Convention that he had been ill-treated by the police officers to obtain confession, that the authorities had failed to investigate these episodes, that the domestic courts had breached his presumption of innocence by convicting him on the basis of the evidence obtained under torture.

At about 12.30 p.m. on 20 July 2005 a group of four policemen of the Nadterechny ROVD arrived at the sheepfold and ordered Aslanbek Vitrigov  to follow them to the ROVD. On 21 July 2005 a group of policemen of the Nadterechny ROVD arrived at the sheepfold in Komarovo, where were Anzor Agamerzayev. Six to seven persons grabbed and beat him up in front of his relatives. They twisted his arms behind his back, tied them with his belt and threw him into their car, where they continued beating him up on the way to the Nadterechny ROVD. On 30 July 2005 Adam Tuntuyev was instructed by his superior to follow police officers to the Nadterechny ROVD “for an identification parade”. Upon arrival the applicant was filmed and photographed. At about 11 p.m. on 30 July 2005 he was placed in the ROVD detention ward. Within the premises of the  ROVD Aslanbek Vitrigov, Anzor Agamerzayev and Adam Tuntuyev were severely tortured into confessing to crimes.

Murat Ismailovich Shavayev, is a Russian national, who was born in 1975 and is detained in Kharp. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that he was subjected to ill-treatment and that the authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation into his allegations. He further complains under Article 13 of the Convention that he had no effective remedies in respect of his grievances under Article 3.

The applicant, Mr Aslan Aliyev, is a Russian national, who was born in 1981 and is currently serving a prison sentence in correctional colony IK‑2 in the Kurgan Region. The applicant complains under Article 3 of the Convention that he was subjected to ill-treatment and that the authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation into his allegations. He further complains under Article 13 of the Convention that he had no effective remedies in respect of his grievances under Article 3.

The applicants, Mr Ismail Mutayev and Mr Ismail Tatayev, are Russian nationals. The first applicant was born in 1981 and the second applicant – in 1975. The applicants are currently serving their terms of imprisonment in colony IK-2 in the Tomsk Region and in a colony in the Volgograd Region, respectively. The applicants complain under Article 3 of the Convention that they were subjected to torture and that the domestic authorities failed to carry out an effective investigation of their allegations.

On 31 October 2004 Imran Uspanov was apprehended in his house in the village of Assinovskaya by a group of servicemen (“kadyrovtsy”), who took him to the Sunzhenskiy District Department of the Interior (ROVD) and tortured there. In the following months, Imran was detained at the Achkhoy-Martanovskiy ROVD and subjected to repeated torture and ill-treatment. Imran Uspanov complained in writing to the prosecutor’s office of the Chechen Republic about his ill-treatment by officers of ROVD. The Prosecutor's office refused to open a criminal inquiry into the ill-treatment despite the existence of medical reports and witness statements in support of his complaints. In 2005, Imran was convicted to over 18 years imprisonment on the basis of the confessions obtained through torture.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vladovskiy was ill‑treated at the hands of the police in 2004, that there was no effective investigation into the matter, and that he had no effective domestic remedy at his disposal to complain of the ill-treatment.

At approximately 12.30 p.m. on 8th January 2005 Muslim Chudalov was stopped at the Kupskiy check-point and driven to the Leninskiy ROVD by policemen. Within the premises of the district police station (hereinafter Leninskiy ROVD) he was severely tortured into confessing to 15 crimes. The confessions signed by Muslim under torture formed the basis for his conviction on 12 charges out of 15. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by a final decision of the Judicial Council of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 15 June 2006. The Prosecutor's office refused to open a criminal inquiry into the ill-treatment despite the existence of medical reports and witness statements in support of his complaints.

In the middle of the night on 26 May 2004 a group of masked military servicemen detained X in Grozny and brought him to the Leninsky District Department of the Interior (ROVD). A number of policemen started to beat him with truncheons, electroluted him with wires attached to different parts of his body and sexually abused him. X eventually signed a confession. In the following weeks, the torture and ill-treatment continued both at the Leninsky ROVD and in ORB-2.

Between 12 and 1 p.m. on 7 October 1999 the village of Elistanzhi in the Vedeno district was subjected to an aerial strike by Russian military forces. According to the applicants, there were no military or other facilities, or objects which could have been perceived as such, in the village or in the vicinity at the material time and the attack was therefore unprovoked and sudden. A number of buildings, including the local school, were destroyed in the attack. Thirty-five residents of the village were killed and sixty were wounded.

The applicants complained under Article 2 of the Convention that the State agents had been responsible for their relatives’ abduction and subsequent disappearance and that the authorities had failed to carry out an effective investigation into the matter. Under Article 3 of the Convention, the applicants complained that they had suffered mentally on account of their relatives’ disappearance and their inability to ascertain their faith as well as the authorities’ indifference to their complaints and requests for assistance in elucidating the circumstances of the incidents. Under Article 5 of the Convention, the applicants complained that their relatives’ 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 3 December 2004 the first applicant and his wife were away staying at their relatives’. Their three children – the second and third applicants and fourteen-year-old Saydan – remained at home. At about 8.30 p.m. the second applicant heard a helicopter approaching the village and then a bomb exploding in the vicinity of their house. The windows were blown out and the candles went out. The second applicant tried to calm down the third applicant and Saydan who were very frightened. He lit a candle and asked his brother and sister to lie down on the floor. He then ran out to open the door of the cowshed. Immediately after the second applicant returned to the house he heard the helicopter approaching again and a new explosion followed. He lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness his head ached, he was blinded and blood covered his face. He heard the third applicant screaming. He found her by the sound of her voice, pulled her out from the debris and carried her outside. He then returned to the house in search of Saydan. He found his body lying on the floor and carried it outside. The neighbours came to help them. One of them brought the second and third applicants to the doctor at the neighbouring village. They were transported to a hospital in Gudermes and then in Grozny. The third applicant was diagnosed with an open craniocerebral injury, brain contusion, a penetrating head trauma and a trauma of the left eye. She followed a lengthy treatment. In January 2006 she had an ocular prosthesis fitted. The second applicant also had an eye trauma and had to follow lengthy treatment. He is now blind in left eye. The applicants’ house completely burned down.

In the evening on 31/10/2011 Ms Mezhidova, having returned home from work, received several phone calls. She left her mobile telephone home and gone out to meet someone late in the evening. According to the applicant, her daughter left the house to meet a police officer Mr I.M. from the Shali district police station and gone missing since. According to the witness statements obtained by the investigation, since 2009 Ms Mezhidova had a romantic relationship with Mr I.M. which they kept secret as the officer was afraid of retaliation from her male relatives. On 06/12/2011 the profile of Ms Mezhidova on social network “Odnoklassniki” was accessed and posts were made. According to the applicant, third parties have accessed her missing daughter’s profile.