ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

On 23 January 2000, servicemen from the Russian Ministry of the Interior detained Suleyman Medov and seven other men in the Staropromyslovsky district in the city of Grozny, Chechnya. Medov was initally brought to a nearby military encampment and later transferred to Chernokozovo detention centre and detention centres in Mozdok, Pyatigorsk and Stavropol. Medov was finally released on 3 May 2000 and criminal proceedings against him were dropped, officially under a 1999 amnesty. In his application to the ECHR, Medov complained about the conditions of detention, that he had been tortured during his detention, and that the Russian authorities had failed to properly investigation his allegations of torture.

On 22 January 2000, Kheyedi Makhauri returned to the Staropromyslovskiy district in Grozny with two other women, Larisa and Nura. They had decided to return after having watched a Russian TV channel broadcast the news that the federal forces had full control of their settlement, and that it was hence safe to return. The women wanted to check on the houses that they had left behind. Turning a street corner, they came across a large group of soldiers who were taking valuables out of the houses and stacking them into armoured personnel carriers. The soldiers stopped the women, covered their eyes and escorted them into a courtyard. Two soldiers suddenly started to shoot at them with machine guns. Makhauri lost consciousness. When she woke up, she had lost a lot of blood. A bullet had entered her arm and exited her neck. Larisa and Nura were both dead, killed by several gunshots. The official investigation has not produced any conclusive results.

On 19 January 2000, the federal forces carried out a massive attack on the Staropromyslovskiy district in Grozny. Yelena Goncharuk and five other persons hid in a cellar to avoid the shelling. When the shelling subsided, several military servicemen ordered them out of the cellar. The soldiers told them that they should be killed and subsequently commanded them back into their hiding place. Shortly thereafter, tear-gas grenades were thrown into the cellar. The six persons were then asked to come out again one by one. As they did, the soldiers shot at them with machine guns. Goncharuk lost consciousness. When she awoke, she discovered that the others were dead. She had gunshot wounds in her legs and chest, and later had to undergo surgery. An official investigation into the summary executions was opened but it has not been meaningful.

When the applicant's mother was wounded by shrapnel in the Staropromyslovsky district in the city of Grozny on 19 January 2000, three men including the applicant's brother tried to take her out of Grozny in a wheel barrow. A witness saw the three men with the wheel barrow being stopped by Russian military servicemen. Without warning a serviceman shot the applicant's mother in the head and the three men were taken away. Their bodies were discovered in garage nearby on 10 February. The bodies had numerous gunshot wounds. Russian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation into the summary executions, but the investigation has not been meaningful. <br><br>The two men detained together with the applicant's brother were Khamid Khashiyev and Rizvan Taymeskhanov. The European Court of Human Rights held Russia responsible for their deaths in the case Khashiyev and Akayeva v. Russia, (57942/00 and 57945/00). <br><br>Dozens of people were killed in the Staropromyslovsky district in the relevant period. The following cases are also related: Goncharuk v. Russia (58643/00), Makhauri v. Russia, (58701/00), Tangiyeva v. Russia, (57941/00, 58699/00, and 60403/00).

On 8 August 2000 a Russian armoured personnel carrier (APC) was attacked and blown up in the vicinity of Gekhi and the military responded with a "sweeping" operation in the village. During this operation, an armed man entered the Musayev family's house and the military strafed the house using machine-guns and grenade launchers. After the armed man was killed, the military detained and took with them Ali and Umar Musayev. On 13 September 2000, the relatives discovered the remains of Ali and Umar together with two other men in a mass grave indicated to them by military servicemen. All the bodies bore signs of violent death. Multiple injuries and stab wounds on Umar's body showed that he had been tortured. The authorities admit to having detained the brothers, but claim that they were later released. The authorities know the hull number of the APC that was used in the operation and they know what military units took part. However, the investigation has failed to identify who detained and subsequently killed the Musayev brothers.

On 5 February 2000 Russian forces began a "mopping-up" operation in the district of Novye Aldy in Grozny. In the course of the operation dozens of civilians were killed and numerous houses were burnt down. The three applications, which the Court joined into one case, concern the killing of 11 people that day: Yusup Musayev witnessed seven of his relatives being killed in Novye Aldy. Suleyman Magomadov and Tamara Magomodova who had fled the hostilities later found out that Magodev's two brothers, one of them married to Magomodova, had both been shot to death. Khasan Abdulmazhidov and Malika Labazanova, husband and wife, witnessed the execution of Abdulmazhidov's sister and brother. The servicemen set their house and barn on fire before they left. The criminal investigation into the extra-judicial excecutions has not produced any tangible results.<p> On 12 October 2006, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case <a href=http://www.srji.org/cases.html#Estamirov%20and%20Others%20v.%20Russia target=_blank>Estamirov and Others v. Russia</a>, holding the Russian government reponsible for the extra-judicial execution of five family members of the Estamirov family in Novy Aldy on the same day.

On 2 October 2000 an armed unit of the Federal Service Agency arrived at the Magomadov's house in the village of Kurchaloy. Ayubkhan Magomadov was arrested and driven away. He has not been seen since. His family immediately complained about his disappearance to several state agencies. A criminal investigation was opened but it failed to identify his whereabouts or the persons responsible for his abduction. In April 2004, Ayubkhan's brother, Yakub Magomadov, was in Moscow. On 19 April, he contaced his relatives for the last time. A month later, his family received a note from him saying that he was detained in the Russian military base in Khankala. However, the Russian authorities deny that they have had anything to do with his disappearance. The criminal investigation into his case has not produced any results.

On 17 May 2000 at 11.15 a.m. several armoured personnel carriers (APCs) of the Russian forces surrounded the house of Ruslan Alikhadzehiyev, speaker of the Chechen parliament from 1997 to 1999, while two helicopters hovered above the district. Around twenty armed men in camouflage uniforms entered the house. They handcuffed Alikhadzehiyev, took him to one of the APCs and drove away towards Grozny. Five of his neighbours were abducted together with him. At their subsequent release they stated that they had been blindfolded and questioned about Alikhadzehiyev. Alikhadzehiyev was separated from the other men in detention. Alikhadzehiyev's family has had no news from him since. The official investigation into his case did not produce any results, it was adjourned in 2004 as no perpetrators could be identified.

At around 3.30 a.m. on 21 May 2003 a group of armed men, by witnesses recognized as the special forces, entered the house of Zura Bitiyeva in Kalinovskaya. Within minutes, several sounds of muffled blows were heard. Bitiyeva's son later found the bodies of his mother, father, brother, and uncle inside the house. The criminal investigation into the killings failed to follow leads to identify the perpetrators. Full autopsies on the bodies were never conducted. The investigation was further adjourned and reopened on several occasions over the years.      

Before she was killed, Bitiyeva had lodged a complaint with the ECHR concerning ill-treatment in detention. The complaint referred to events in January and February 2000 when she, as well as her son, were detained at the Chernokozovo detention facility. Her detention was never linked to any criminal investigation. In detention, she was kept in a small cell with many other women. They did not recieve any medical attention. Bitiyeva witnessed how other detainees were beaten and humiliated and could sometimes hear her son's screams when he was beaten outside her cell. NGO reports and statements from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture support the allegations of ill-treatment in Chernokozovo. The Russian authorities has not investigated the allegations, nor taken steps to provide redress to Bitiyeva and other detainees.

During a March 2001 sweep operation in Argun, Russian federal forces detained Shamil Akhmadov, along with at least ten other men. Although the dead bodies of four of the men were found days later outside the Khankala military base, Akhmadov's relatives searched for him for over a year. In May 2002, they found his remains, bearing signs of extrajudicial execution, in a vacant lot on the outskirts of Argun.

Russian federal troops detained Shakhid Baysayev during a sweep operation in Pobedinskoe (near Grozny) on 2 March 2000. Baysayev's wife, Asmart Baysayeva, has been looking for her husband ever since. In August 2000, armed masked men sold her a videocassette containing footage of her husband's detention. Russian prosecutors opened a criminal investigation, but failed to take basic and necessary steps to determine the perpetrators of the crime. The Chechnya Justice Project submitted the videotape to the prosecutor's office with a request to identify the individuals on the videotape and question them, but never received a response.

On 12 April 2000, the brothers Adam and Arbi Chitayev were detained by Russian military servicemen in their home in the village Achkhoy-Martan in Chechnya, Russia, and taken to the local police-station where they were questioned about the activities of Chechen fighters. They were later taken to the Chernokozovo detention center in north-west Chechnya. <p> During their detention both at the Achkhoy-Martan police-station and at the Chernokozovo detention center: the brothers were subjected to a range of torture methods; they were handcuffed to a chair and beaten; electric shocks were applied to various parts of their bodies; they were forced to stand for a long time in a stretched position; their arms were twisted; they were beaten with rubber truncheons and with plastic bottles filled with water; they were strangled with adhesive tape, with a cellophane bag and a gas mask; dogs were set on them; parts of their skin were torn away with pliers and more. The brothers were released on 5 October 2000, after almost six months in detention. Chitayev and Chitayev was the first torture case from Chechnya to be decided by the European Court of Human Rights.

On 3 June 2000, armed masked men on an armored personnel carrier detained Nura Luluyeva, her cousins and several other people at the Northern market in Grozny, where they had been selling strawberries. In March 2001, Luluyeva's body and those of her cousins were discovered among those retrieved from a mass grave in Dachny village, outside Grozny. Russian prosecutors failed to conduct a meaningful investigation. No full forensic examination was conducted on the body, and physical evidence, including clothing and blindfolds, was not saved as material evidence. (See also Magomed Musayev and Others v. Russia, judgment of 23 October 2008)

On 17 December 2000, twenty-three year old Said-Khusein Imakayev was driving home from the market when a group of armed men stopped his car and detained him. Said-Khusein subsequently disappeared. Investigators failed to question key witnesses and soon suspended the investigation. <p> In February 2002, Said-Khusein's parents filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights. Four months later, on 2 June 2002, Russian federal forces detained Said-Khusein's father, Said-Magomed, at his home. Said-Magomed subsequently disappeared. The official investigation failed to follow leads that could help identify the officers who detained him. The Russian government later acknowledged that they had detained Said-Magomed, but claimed that he had been released the same day.

On 5 February 2000, Russian federal troops summarily executed five members of the Estamirov family in the Novye Aldi suburb of Grozny. Among the victims were a one-year-old boy and a woman who was eight months pregnant. The criminal investigation into the killings failed to secure physical evidence at the scene of the crime or conduct full forensic medical examinations of the bodies, and neglected to question witnesses.

On 2 February 2000, Russian federal troops detained a wounded Khadzhimurat Yandiyev at a hospital in Alkhan-Kala. Video footage of the detention submitted to the prosecutor showed how a Russian general questioned Yandiyev, and then ordered his execution. Yandiyev's mother has been looking for her son ever since. The general questioning Yandiyev was later identified as general Baranov, now commander of all Russian troops in the North Caucasus. Even though the general was identified quickly, the prosecutor's office only questioned him four years after the detention, after the ECHR had communicated the case to the Russian government. On 27 July 2006, the ECHR held Russia responsible for the illegal detention, disappearance and murder of Yandiyev. The case was the first disappearance case from Chechnya to be decided by the Court.

On 19 January 2000 Lidiya Khashiyeva, Anzor Taymeskhanov, Rizvan Taymeskhanov, Khamid Khashivey and  Adan Akayev were apprehended by Russian federal forces in the Staropromyslovskiy district in Grozny. The district was at the time under Russian control. On 25 january, relatives found the bodies of Khashiyeva, Anzor Taymeshkanov and Akayev in a courtyard nearby the place of apprehension. In the beginning of February, Rizvan Taymeskhanov and Khashiyev were also found dead. All bodies bore signs of violent death with multiple stabs, gunshot wounds and fractures. The criminal investigation into the killings did not produce any results. No autopsies were conducted and the investigators failed to identify potential witnesses. On 24 February 2005, the ECHR held Russia responsible for the murder of the five members of the Khashiyev and Akayeva families.

In the early hours of 4 February 2000 the village of Katyr-Yurt, declared a ''safe zone'', came under aerial attack without any previous warning. Zara Isayeva and her family hid in a cellar until the bombing subsided in the afternoon. When the shelling stopped, they   entered a minibus which would bring them out of the village through a safe exit. As the minibus headed out of the village the planes suddenly reappeared and the bombing resumed. Isayeva's son, Zelimkhan Isayev, and her three young nieces, Zarema, Kheda and Marem Batayeva, were killed as a result of the shelling. Several of the passengers in the minibus, including Isayeva, were wounded. An official criminal investigation was initiated but later closed as no criminal acts could be established. On 24 february 2005, the ECHR held Russia responsible for the killing of Isayeva's family members and for the injuries she suffered as a result of the attack.

On 29 October 1999, Medka Isayeva, Zina Yusupova, Libkan Bazayeva and their families were traveling in a civilian convoy towards the border of Ingushetia. Approaching the village of Shaami-Yurt, the convoy was hit by an aerial missile attack carried out by the Russian armed forces. As a result of the attack, Isayeva and Yusupova were wounded and Isayeva's two children, Ilona Isayeva and Said-Magomed Isayev were killed. Bazayeva's car and possessions were further destroyed. The official criminal investigation was instigated only after a considerable delay and was later closed as no criminal acts could be established. On 24 February 2005, the ECHR held Russia responsible for failing to protect the right to life of Yusupova, Bazayeva, Isayeva and her children.