ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

On 16 July 2001 a group of armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms and masks broke into the applicants’ house in Selmentauzen and took Mr Ruslan Adamov and Mr Supyan Adamov away to an unknown destination. On 25 November 2001 the Vedenskiy district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 37062. The investigation is still pending.

On the night of 27-28 July 2002 Mr Dangiriyev and his family members were at home at 22 Nuradilova Street in Geldagan, Chechnya, when between midnight and 1 a.m. a group of about ten armed servicemen wearing camouflage uniforms and balaclavas broke into their house. The servicemen spoke unaccented Russian; one of them was not wearing a balaclava and had a Slavic appearance. The servicemen searched the premises, then forced Mr Dangiriyev outside and took him away to an unknown destination.
In June 2005 an unidentified person contacted the applicants’ relative, Mr S.D., and gave him a list of seven persons who had allegedly been abducted by federal forces and who were still alive but being held in detention in Grozny. Mr Dangiriyev’s name was on the list. The applicants submitted this information to the investigators (see below).
The whereabouts of Mr Dangiriyev have remained unknown since the date of his abduction. His abduction took place in the presence of members of his family.

At about 3.00 a.m. on 21 March 2002 a group of ten to fifteen armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas arrived at the applicants’ house at 18 Sportivnyy Lane in Achkhoy-Martan in an UAZ car and an UAZ minivan (tabletka). Having broken into the house, the servicemen checked Mr Ibragimov’s passport, then forced him outside, put him into the UAZ minivan and drove off in the direction of Katyr-Yurt. The whereabouts of Mr Ibragimov have remained unknown ever since. His abduction took place in the presence of the applicants and their neighbours.

At about 3 a.m. on 1 March 2003 a group of ten armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms arrived at the applicants’ house at 36 Chkalova Street in Katyr-Yurt, Chechnya, in two UAZ cars without registration numbers. The servicemen wore balaclavas and spoke unaccented Russian. They searched the premises, checked the identities of all those present in the house, then forced Mr Lom Israilov outside and took him away to an unknown destination.
The whereabouts of Mr Israilov have remained unknown ever since. His abduction took place in the presence of the applicants, other family members and neighbours.

On 23 April 2004 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 23 March 2005) a group of men in camouflage uniforms seized Mr Isa Gaydakov on a street in Grozny and took him away. On 1 August 2005 the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office in Grozny opened criminal case no. 40157 (in the documents submitted the number was also referred to as 44064). The investigation is still pending.

On 11 September 2002 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicant’s house in three APCs and three UAZ vehicles and took Mr Khamzat Larsanov away. On 26 September 2002 the Grozny town prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 48162. The investigation is still pending.

On 5 February 2003 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ house in an UAZ minivan and a Gazel minivan and took Mr Magomed Azizov away. On 8 February 2003 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 22026. The investigation is still pending.

On 10 August 2005 a group of armed servicemen in two UAZ vehicles arrested Mr Sayd-Eli Garbulatov in Grozny and took him away. On 8 May 2006 the Zavodskoy district prosecutor’s office in Grozny opened criminal case no. 51072. The investigation is still pending.

On 20 November 2000 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ house in an APC and an Ural lorry and took Mr Musa Tashayev away. On 17 May 2001 the Urus-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 25052. The investigation is still pending.

On 4 June 2002 Mr Tapa Tagirov left his home in Yandare and disappeared. A few hours later his brother Mr Apti Tagirov left to search for him and also disappeared. On 7 June 2002 fifteen armed men in two white GAZelle minivans without registration numbers arrived at the applicants’ house with Mr Tapa Tagirov, searched the premises and left with Mr Tapa Tagirov. On 3 October 2004 the Nazran district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 045000023. The investigation is still pending.

On 29 April 2000 Mr Isa Tovdayev went to a rubbish dump in Petropavlovskaya, Chechnya, and never returned home. On 12 February 2001 the Chechnya prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 19016. The investigation is still pending.

On 12 May 2002 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 17 May 2002) a group of men seized Mr Said-Magomed Abdulazimov in the centre of Chiri-Yurt, Chechnya, and took him away in a Gazel minivan. On 1 August 2002 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 59177. The investigation is still pending.

On the morning of 29 December 2004 Mr Ibragim Altyyev, who was a taxi driver in Grozny at the material time, left his home and went to work. He did not return. On the following day, two unidentified men contacted the applicant and gave her the passport of Mr Ibragim Altyyev and some documents from his car. On the same date the car was found abandoned on a street in the Zavodskoy district of Grozny. According to the applicant, she learned from an eyewitness, Mr R.B., that Mr Ibragim Altyyev had been abducted by a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms who had been in a Gazel minivan and a VAZ-21099 car. The men had stopped Mr Ibragim Altyyev’s car on a street in Grozny, apprehended him and driven off. Mr R.B. was subsequently questioned by the investigators. The whereabouts of Mr Ibragim Altyyev have remained unknown ever since.

On 14 July 2000 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 15 July 2000) Mr Ibragim Nurkayev left his home in Grozny and never returned. On 4 September 2006 the Staropromyslovskiy district prosecutor’s office in Grozny opened criminal case no. 53121. The investigation is still pending.

On 8 January 2002 Mr Khamzat Beldurov left his home in Sernovodskaya, Chechnya, and did not come back. On 14 November 2002 the Sunzhenskiy district department of the interior in Chechnya opened search file no. 23005. On 26 December 2005 the Achkhoy-Martan inter-district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 59023. The investigation is still pending.

On 28 November 2002 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicant’s house and took Mr Akhmed Abdulkerimov and Mr Abu-Shakhid Abdulkerimov away. On 6 December 2002 the Vedeno district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 73124. The investigation is still pending.

On 8 August 2002 a group of armed servicemen in an APC and an UAZ (“tabletka”) minivan apprehended Mr Makhran Tayubov on the Rostov-Baku motorway next to Gudermes and took him away. On 9 August 2002 the Gudermes district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 57063. The investigation is still pending.

The circumstances of the abduction are similar to those described above in Makayeva v. Russia (no. 56577/11). On 18 February 2003 the Urus‑Martan prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 34024. The investigation is currently pending.

On 23 May 2005 Mr Alash Elmurzayev was taken by servicemen to the Vostok battalion’s headquarters in Gudermes. His whereabouts have remained unknown ever since. On 4 July 2008 the Gudermes inter-district investigative department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened criminal case no. 44028. The investigation is still pending.

At about 3 a.m. on 25 January 2003 a group of armed men in camouflage military uniforms and masks broke into the house at 16 Kluchevaya Street in Goy-Chu and took Mr Mokhadi Makayev and Mr Isa Dzhabrailov away to an unknown destination. On 20 March 2003 the Urus-Martan district prosecutors’ office opened criminal case no. 34031. The investigation is currently pending.