ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

At the relevant time the applicant and Aldan Eldarov lived in neighbouring houses in Gekhi. According to the applicant, on 9 August 2000 federal servicemen started a three-day sweeping-up operation in Gekhi. They surrounded the settlement in their UAZ cars and URAL lorries, cordoned off the area and blocked the roads leading to and from the settlement. The servicemen deployed on the eastern outskirts of Gekhi. Around two hundred of the village’s male residents were arrested during the operation. At around 10.30 a.m. a group of servicemen conducted a search at Aldan’s house. They took away a group photograph of Aldan, his brother and some police officers from Grozny, all of whom were in military uniforms. Then the servicemen left and Aldan went to see the applicant. Later, at around 11 a.m., two servicemen arrived at the applicant’s house in a UAZ lorry, no. OBS 31-62 (ОБС 31-62). The applicant knew the servicemen personally as Mr Vadim and Mr Oleg Yefimenko. The latter was in charge of the operation in the applicant’s street. Prior to their being sent to work with the Urus-Martan ROVD, both officers had worked in the economic crimes unit of the Penza ROVD. The servicemen told the applicant that they were to bring Aldan to the military base in connection with the photograph, then they put him in their car and left. The applicant was unable to follow them because his car was stopped by servicemen carrying out the special operation. On that day the servicemen also arrested Mr Akhmet Kadyrov and his two brothers. After checking their passports, the servicemen took them to the military base in an APC and placed them in cages and tents with other detainees. The cages were surrounded by dozens of military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers (APCs), tanks and a helicopter. The detainees, who were questioned about whether they knew any rebel fighters or local residents who had weapons, were subjected to beatings. Akhmet shared his cell with Aldan. As Aldan was in a very bad state after questioning, servicemen took him in an APC to hospital. Akhmet and his brothers were released. On 10 August 2000 the head of the local administration, Mr Said-Selim Aydamirov, informed the applicant that the servicemen conducting the operation would release the detainee in exchange for a machinegun. The applicant agreed to the exchange. However, after having visited the military base, Mr Aydamirov stated that Aldan had been taken to hospital. In September 2000 a burial site was discovered on the outskirts of Gekhi. Two of the bodies identified belonged to the Musayev brothers, also Gekhi residents, who had been arrested in the same period of time as Aldan. The applicant has not seen Mr Aldan Eldarov since his abduction on 9 August 2000.

At the material time the applicants resided in Stariye Atagi together with their family, including Ziyavdi and Zayndi, the first applicant’s husband. On 21 April 2002 at around 7.30 a.m. a group of about fifty or sixty armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms arrived at the applicants’ house in APC no. 422 BB (422 ВВ) and two armoured infantry combat vehicles nos. 344 and 346. They were of Slavic appearance and spoke unaccented Russian. The servicemen broke into the house, arrested Ziyavdi and Zayndi, dragged them outside, put them in the APC and departed towards the outskirts of Stariye Atagi. In about a hundred metres, they had to let Zayndi go as he was having a stroke. Then the servicemen continued driving until they arrived at a windmill on the outskirts of Stariye Atagi where a Russian military unit was stationed. The applicants, their relatives and neighbours followed the intruders. When they approached the windmill, they saw the three abductors’ vehicles parked on the premises of the military unit. The visitors attracted the servicemen’s attention to this fact and the latter obscured the plates with mud. The deputy head of the Stariye Atagi administration was not allowed to enter the premises. At around 3 p.m. on the same day servicemen left the military unit in two APCs, one of which had registration no. 422 BB, a white VAZ-2106 car and a khaki UAZ “tabletka” minivan with blackened windows. They drove in the direction of Grozny. The applicants have not seen Mr Ziyavdi Elmurzayev since his abduction on 21 April 2002.

At the material time Mr Islam Ibragimov and Mr Apti Sadulayev resided in two neighbouring houses in Shali with the applicants and their respective families. On 17 January 2003 at 4 a.m. a group of armed and masked servicemen arrived at the applicants’ homes in seven APCs with obscured plates. They burst into the two houses, ordered everyone to lie down on the floor in unaccented Russian and checked the identity documents of Isman, Apti and the first applicant. Then the servicemen took them outside, along with the second applicant and Mr Rashid Sadulayev, Apti’s cousin, forced them into an APC, pulling their T-shirts over their heads, and drove away. A package dropped off from an CAP. One of the servicemen told the third applicant to look for their relatives at the ROVD. At first, Islam, the first and the second applicants were placed in the same APC with Apti and Rashid. After about twenty-five minutes the servicemen pulled over, took the arrested men outside, made them lie down on the ground, then put them back in the APC, save for Ilyas, who was put in another APC, and continued to drive. The servicemen drove Ilyas to Tsotsan-Yurt and released him. As to the other four arrested men, their APC pulled over again and the men were put on the ground, asked to say their names and then placed in a wagon. Forty minutes later the servicemen put Rashid and the first applicant in a URAL lorry and drove away. After about thirty minutes the two men arrived at a garage-like building where they were kept until 18 January 2003. According to the applicants, the two men must have been detained in a windmill in Staryie Atagi, which was used as a filtering point by Russian servicemen (see Arzu Akhmadova and Others v. Russia, no. 13670/03, § 195, 8 January 2009). After that, the men were taken in an APC to the vicinity of the town of Argun and released. In the days following the abduction, the applicants, their relatives and neighbours contacted various authorities. In particular, while in Khankala, Mr Khasin Abkayev met Generals Said-Selim Tsuyev and Ibragim Suleymanov, who promised their assistance, and Generals Abrashin and Pospelov, who said that the matter was not in their competence. Furthermore, Mr Bachal Baysuyev talked to Akhmed-Khadzhi Kadyrov and to General Makarov, both of whom promised to help to solve the matter within a week but failed to do so. According to them, a criminal investigation had been opened against Islam and Apti and the latter was being questioned by the prosecuting authorities. Mr Fedorov, the Shali military commander, confirmed this on local TV, adding that Islam and Apti were safe and sound. The applicants did not manage to obtain a copy of the TV programme. The applicants have not seen Mr Islam Ibragimov and Mr Apti Sadulayev since their abduction on 17 January 2003.

On 11 January 2003 at around 4 a.m. a group of masked servicemen in camouflage uniforms armed with machineguns arrived in at the applicant’s house in three UAZ cars, a white VOLGA car and a GAZEL minivan. Some of them spoke unaccented Russian, while the others had a Chechen accent. The intruders broke inside, beat up the family members, including Mansur, and drove him away in an unknown direction. The applicant subsequently learnt that Mansur had been taken to the Novogroznenskiy police station (the ROVD), then to the sixth department of the Gudermes ROVD and after that to Khankala. The applicant has not seen Mr Mansur Esuyev since his abduction on 11 January 2003.

In 2001 Mr Zelimkhan Batariyev studied and rented a flat in Grozny. According to the documents submitted, on the night of 4 May 2001 Russian servicemen conducted a special operation to arrest a certain one-handed Mr Taysumov. The latter resided in the same block of flats as Zelimkhan. A number of armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms cordoned off the neighbourhood in their APCs and UAZ cars. They arrested Mr Taysumov and a number of his relatives as well as Zelimkhan and two to five other young men who rented flats in the building. Some of the arrested were Wahhabis, radical Chechen rebels. On 6 May 2001 brothers Bislan and Turpal Sadayev, who had been arrested on 4 May 2001 at the Grozny central market and later released, contacted the applicant. They told her that the servicemen had taken them, together with Zelimkhan, to the Main Federal Military Base in Khankala. The servicemen had beaten them up and suggested that Zelimkhan’s relatives exchanged him for a ransom. Subsequently, one of the Sadayev brothers went missing and the other left Russia. In June 2001 the applicant spoke to Mr Khamzat Israpilov, who had been detained with Zelimkhan in Khankala. The two of them had spent 16 days in a pit at the military base. Servicemen had repeatedly subjected them to beatings, coercing them to confess to illegal armed activities. Most of the time the detainees had been blindfolded, their hands tied and they had been allowed to speak only at night. In 2003 Khamzat died in an accident. According to anonymous witnesses, Zelimkhan remained in Khankala at least until 20 May 2001. In July 2001 the applicant met Ms Tumisha Zaurbekova, whose son, Mr Isa Zaurbekov, had been detained in Chernokozovo with Zelimkhan until October 2001. The applicant tried to confirm this information with the prison’s guard Mr Ruslan Elzhurkayev; but the latter denied that Zelimkhan’s had been detained there. In July 2010 the applicant visited Ms Zina Dashayeva, who had been arrested on the same day with Zelimkhan (see above). Zina recalled that she had heard servicemen exchanging in unaccented Russian before taking Zelimkhan away: “This guy is clean, we might have problems” - “We don’t need live witnesses”. The servicemen had driven Zina and her sister Zaira to a building in Grozny in a UAZ car. She had recognised Zelimkhan among the detainees. He had been lying on the floor and looked as if he had been beaten up. The applicant has not seen Mr Zelimkhan Batariyev since his abduction on 4 May 2001.

On 8 May 2004 at around midnight a convoy of vehicles, including two APCs (one of which had the registration no. 233), a UAZ “tabletka” car, two NIVA cars, four VAZ cars and a GAZEL minivan, arrived at the neighbourhood. Several groups of up to fifteen armed, masked and camouflaged servicemen got out of the vehicles and stormed into the applicants’ and Ramzan’s mother’s houses, as well as three other neighbouring houses. The servicemen conducted a quick search in Ramzan’s mother’s house, locked her inside and left. At the applicants’ house, the servicemen, who spoke unaccented Russian, checked Ramzan’s passport and took Ramzan outside. Around five or six servicemen searched the premises saying that they were looking for Wahhabis, radical Chechen rebels, as they had received information that the applicant’s family was a Wahhabi one. Then the intruders tied the first applicant’s limbs, sealed her mouth with duct tape and left. Shortly afterwards the applicant managed to set herself free and tried to follow the departing vehicles. She saw them passing through checkpoint no. 121 between Chiri-Yurt and Novye Atagi. On 10 May 2004 the Shali district prosecutor’s office denied that they had any information of the events. The applicants conducted their own investigation into the abduction. Their acquaintance, Mr Nur-Ali Eskiyev, informed them that Ramzan had been taken to the FSB department in Avtury upon the order of Mr Sergey Gromov, a FSB officer, also known as ‘Terek’. After that Ramzan had been transferred to a FSB department in Stariye Atagi headed by a FSB officer nicknamed ‘Piton’. Both FSB departments acknowledged Ramzan’s detention on their premises and guaranteed his safety. At a certain point ‘Piton’ negotiated Ramzan’s release with the applicants against a machinegun. They agreed on meeting for the exchange in the outskirts of Mesker-Yurt by the Rostov-Baku road. At the meeting ‘Piton’ informed the applicants that Ramzan had been transferred to the Main Federal Military Base in Khankala and therefore he was unable to obtain his release.  The applicants have not seen Mr Ramzan Shaipov since his abduction on 8 May 2004.

On 16 July 2003 at around 5 p.m. a gray UAZ “tabletka” car without registration numbers and a white VAZ-21099 car with blackened windows arrived at the applicant’s house. A group of twelve to fifteen camouflaged servicemen in helmets got out of the UAZ. They spoke unaccented Russian and were armed with machineguns, pistols and special firearms with silencers of Russian special forces (“vintorezy”, винторезы). The servicemen quickly searched the premises looking for firearms. Then they put Artur Ibragimov in the UAZ and drove in the direction of Serzhen-Yurt. The servicemen also used an APC, which departed in the direction of Avtury. On 17 July 2003 Mr Dakayev, the head of the Shali administration, told the applicant that the servicemen could have belonged to special division no. 1 or 2 (Дивизия особого назначения № 1, 2, ДОН-1, 2) or the Federal Security Service (the FSB) unit stationed in the outskirts of Avtury whereas the Shali district military commander’s office denied any knowledge of the events. On 18 July 2003 the applicant handed over the serviceman’s identification tag to an investigator of the Shali district prosecutor’s office, who promised to her to have it examined by experts. In 2004 the applicant learnt from anonymous witnesses that her nephew had been taken to the Main Federal Military Base in Khankala and then transferred to a detention ward in Chernokozovo. The applicant has not seen Mr Artur Ibragimov since his abduction 16 July 2003.

On 3 May 2001 at around 7 a.m. federal servicemen started a sweeping-up operation in the settlement of Tsa-Vedeno. A group of thirty armed servicemen, some of whom were wearing masks, parked their two APCs and a URAL lorry by the applicant’s porch and burst into the house. They forced outside Mr Isa Mikiyev and his son, Mr Khalid Mikiyev, and put them in one of the APCs. Further, the servicemen took Khalid’s passport and drove in the direction of Grozny. The applicants followed the intruders. According to them, the servicemen freely passed through a checkpoint situated at the exit from the village; the checkpoint was closed for crossing that day. However, on-duty officers denied to the applicants that they had seen the vehicles and suggested that the applicants returned home in case of another check. The applicants obeyed. Upon return, they saw groups of servicemen who were conducting identity checks in almost every courtyard. There were many military vehicles, including APCs, and helicopters were flying over the settlement. As a result of the operation, the servicemen took away another 18 men, including Mr Akhyad Saydulayev, a neighbour. One abduction case, Atabayeva and Others v. Russia (no. 26064/02, 12 June 2008), was examined by the Court. All but five men (Isa Mikiyev, Sultan and Chumadi Indarbayev, Khampasha and Ramzan Kukuyev) were subsequently released. The last release took place on 21 May 2001. According to Khalid Mikiyev, once arrived at the checkpoint on 3 May 2001, the servicemen put Isa, Akhyad and himself, along with the other 17 Tsa-Vedeno residents, in a military helicopter and took them to a military base in Khankala. There servicemen took out all of the detainees, except for Khalid and Akhyad. The latter were further escorted to Serzhen-Yurt. In the afternoon on the same day the Tsa-Vedeno district military commander’s office informed the applicants that Khalid and Akhyad were in Shali. Local policemen brought them home in the evening. Other detainees told the applicants that in Khankala they had been placed together with Isa in a cellar. Servicemen had questioned the detainees one by one and beaten them up. The applicants have not seen Mr Isa Mikiyev since his abduction on 3 May 2001.

On 14 January 2005 Sultan Vagapov was killed in the course of a mopping-up operation carried out by Russian military servicemen in the Chechen village of Zumsoy. It appears that his body was taken to the military base of Khankala. His mother has since unsuccessfully requested to see her son's body and to have the body handed over for burial. In a decision of 26 April 2005 the military prosecutor denied her request stating that “the bodies of terrorists are not handed over for burial and the place of their burial remains undisclosed”.

On 11 August 2002 at around 4 a.m. a group of masked and camouflaged servicemen armed with machineguns broke into the applicants’ house in the Avtury settlement, the Shali District. They arrived in two grey APCs and a UAZ vehicle without registration plates. The servicemen threatened the applicants with firearms and then took Uvays Dokuyev away in the UAZ. They told the applicants that they intended to check his identity through a computerised database at the Shali district military commander’s office. The servicemen did not let the applicants follow, throwing smoke grenades to keep them away. The Shali district military commander’s office denied to the applicants that Uvays had ever been brought there. The applicants have not seen Uvays Dokuyev since his abduction on 11 August 2002.

On 8 June 2002 at 6 a.m. an APC with registration no. 023 and a UAZ vehicle without registration plates arrived at the applicants’ house in Shali. A group of masked and camouflaged servicemen carrying shields and machineguns got out of the vehicles. A part of them cordoned off the house, whereas the others stormed inside. After searching the premises, the servicemen took Rizvan and Bislan outside and pushed them to the ground. They told the applicants in unaccented Russian that they would check whether the two brothers were involved in something illegal and, if not, would set them free. Then the servicemen put Rizvan and Bislan in their military vehicles and drove away to an unknown destination. The applicants have not seen Rizvan and Bislan Musliyev since their abduction on 8 June 2002.

On 21 July 2002 at 2.30 a.m. around ten to fifteen camouflaged servicemen armed with machineguns broke into the Alkhazur Salmurzayev's house. All but one were masked and had Slavic features. The intruders locked the Alhkazur's mother and father in a room, searched the house, then Alkhazur and his brother and checked their passports. Then they took Alkhazur outside and walked away with him in the direction of the Urus-Martan – Alkhazurovo road, where a military checkpoint manned by servicemen from the Yaroslavl Special Task Police Unit (ОМОН) was situated. Shortly afterwards the applicant heard the noise of starting engines. Other witnesses saw an APC and 3 UAZ vehicles in the vicinity. On the same night the servicemen also broke into a neighbouring house. For two months after the abduction the applicant regularly contacted various law-enforcement agencies and local administrations, which promised to her to establish her son’s whereabouts. In the end, Mr Kovrayev, the head of the Urus-Martan district administration, told her that Alkhazur was dead; at some point later he retracted and claimed that Alkhazur was somewhere in detention. The applicant has not seen Mr Alkhazur Salmurzayev since his abduction on 21 July 2002.

On 14 July 2001 at around 3 a.m. a group of masked servicemen in camouflage uniforms, armed with machineguns, broke into the Baymuradovs’ house in Serzhen-Yurt. They beat up Mr Sobur-Ali and Mr Bislan Bedigov, then covered their heads with white cloths and dragged them to the backyard. The servicemen continued beating the men outside. Then they tied Sobur-Ali’s limbs and covered the two men’s mouths with duct tape. Further, one of the servicemen, acting on an order received through his portable radio, led Bislan to the basement and mined the door. Meanwhile, the servicemen locked the applicants in a room. Then they searched the house and took away a number of valuables, leaving the house in a mess. After that the servicemen put Sobur-Ali in an APC and, accompanied by a convoy of another APC and two URAL lorries, drove away. The vehicles’ registration numbers were obscured with mud. The applicants have not seen Mr Sobur-Ali Bedigov since his abduction on 14 July 2001.

On 4 January 2003 at around 4 a.m. a group of armed and camouflaged servicemen cordoned off the Mazhiyevs’ block of flats on 2 APCs, 2 UAZs “tabletka” and a URAL. They burst into the Mazhiyevs’ flats on the pretext of an identity check. Some of them were wearing masks and helmets with torches. The unmasked servicemen had Slavic features. In unaccented Russian they asked the applicants and their relatives for the identity documents, arms, money and valuables and ordered them to lie down on the floor. Then the servicemen tied Alik’s, Arbi’s, Khasan’s and Khuseyn’s hands, gagged them and the men’s mouths with duct tape, took their identity Documents and led them outside. They put four men into their vehicles and drove away in an unknown direction. The applicants have not seen Mazhieyv Alik, Arbi, Khasan and Khuseyn since their abduction on 4 January 2003.

On 16 July 2003 between 4 and 5 a.m. groups of up to ten camouflaged servicemen armed with machineguns broke into Mr Rustam Shakhgareyev’s and Mr Zelimkhan Kagirov’s flats. Some servicemen did not have masks and had Slavic features. After quick questioning and search of the premises, the servicemen took the two men outside, put them in their vehicles with obscured registration numbers and departed in an unknown direction. The servicemen told the applicants to look for Rustam and Zelimkhan at the Ministry of the Interior. Meanwhile Mr Zelimkhan Latayev and Mr Khavazhi Aliyev noticed that their house was surrounded by servicemen and tried to escape through the window. However, once in the street, they were arrested by servicemen who drove them away. It appears that ten other residents were arrested by the servicemen on the same day. A convoy of several cars freely passed through a checkpoint situated on an exit road from Chernorechye. Offices of the law-enforcement agencies located in the vicinity, such as the Zavodskoy district department of the interior (the ROVD) and the district military commander’s office, denied having any knowledge of the events. The applicants have not seen Rustam Shakhgareyev, Zelimkhan Kagirov,  Zelimkhan Latayev and Khavazhi Aliyev since their abduction on 16 July 2003.

On 6 January 2005 at around 4 p.m. 3 armed persons arrived at the applicant’s house in a silver VAZ-21099 car without registration plates. They talked to Lom-Ali outside in the street and then took him in their car to Gudermes. The applicant has not seen Mr Lom-Ali Akhmoatov since his abduction on 6 January 2005. The investigation has been suspended and resumed on several occasions (the last resumption took place on 17 February 2010), without attaining any tangible result.

On 26 May 2001 a special regiment of the federal forces conducted a military operation in Shali. At around 4 a.m. a group of armed, masked and camouflaged men broke into Adam Abdulvakhidov’s house and took him away in an APC without registration numbers. The applicant has not seen Mr Adam Abdulvakhidov since his abduction on 26 May 2001.

At the relevant time the applicant, her husband Mr Masud Khakimov and their children resided in the Red Cross refugee camp situated on the premises of a secondary school in Novye Atagi. On 24 April 2001 armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms broke into the building and abducted Mr Masud Khakimov together with four other men. Sometime later Mr Gennadiy Nakhayev, the Shali district military commander, told the applicant that her husband had been taken away either by servicemen from special division no. 2 or by special regiment no. 19 of Novosibirsk, headed by colonel Mr Dortsenko. The applicant has not seen Mr Masud Khakimov since his abduction on 24 April 2001.

On 17 March 2006 at 11 p.m. 15 servicemen with Slavic features broke into the applicant and her husband's flat in Grozny as if for an identity check. They had previously searched adjacent flats and blown up a grenade by the applicant's porch. Some of the men spoke unaccented Russian, some spoke Chechen. The servicemen were wearing Russian uniform and carrying machine-guns, shields, caps and helmets with torches. After a quick search of the flat, the men pulled Mr Zayndi Ayubov's jacket over his head, dragged him outside, put him in one of their two white GAZEL cars and drove away. The applicant has not seen Mr Zayndi Ayubov since the abduction on 17 March 2006.

The Basnukayevs and the Alisultanovs are neighbours. Mr Mausyr Basnukayev lived together with his family. Mr Vakha Alisultanov lived together with his family and son Rustam. Mr Vakha Alisultanov’s brother, Mr Shamsudi Alisultanov, was staying at Vakha’s place in April 2000. The Basnukayevs’ house was situated in 300 metres from the Alisultanovs’ house in the settlement of Chechen-Aul. In April 2000 Chechen-Aul was under curfew and surrounded by Russian military checkpoints. On 16 April 2000 at around 3 a.m. around thirty camouflaged servicemen armed with short barrelled machine-guns cordoned off the applicants’ houses and broke inside. They parked their APC, URAL lorry and two UAZ cars in the vicinity. Those of the intruders who were unmasked had Slavic appearance. Questioning the applicants about drugs and firearms in unaccented Russian, the servicemen searched the dwellings. They beat up Shamsudi and Vakha. They checked Mausyr’s, Vakha’s and Shamsudi’s identity documents and took them outside. Rustam accompanied Vakha and Shamsudi. After placing Mausyr and Vakha in the URAL lorry and Shamsudi in one of the UAZ vehicles, the servicemen drove away towards the outskirts. The 7th applicant submitted that he had seen UAZ track prints on the ground next to the Alisultanovs’ house on the morning following the abduction. The applicants have not seen their three relatives since their abduction on 16 April 2000.