ECHR Cases from the North Caucasus

On 2 November 2002 Mr Alaudi Tutkhanov was abducted from his work in Achkhoy-Martan by servicemen in camouflage uniforms who drove in two UAZ vehicles. On 29 November 2002 the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 63095. The investigation is currently pending.

On 5 October 2000 a group of about ten armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ house in a military Ural lorry and a UAZ vehicle and took Mr Abdallakh Zanziyev away. On 31 October 2000 the Grozny city prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 12203. The investigation is still pending.

On 3 May 2000 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicant’s house in Avtury in two UAZ minivans (“tabletka”) without identification numbers, four APCs and a URAL lorry and took Mr Mukhadi Maltsagov away. On 25 December 2000 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 22087. The investigation is currently pending.

At about 10 p.m. on 11 March 2004 Mr Rasukhan Yevloyev and Mr Ibragim Izmaylov were driving in their white VAZ 2107 car on the
motorway from the direction of the town of Malgobek towards the Volga-14 stationary traffic checkpoint located at the intersection of the
Malgobek-Mayskoye and Nazran-Kantyshevo motorways in Ingushetia (also known as the Kantyshevkiy intersection). When they reached the checkpoint, a dark-grey metallic (цвет «мокрый асфальт») VAZ 21099 car without registration numbers overtook them at high speed and blocked the road. At the same time a white Niva car without registration numbers approached them from behind and bumped into their car’s rear end. Ten armed men in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas jumped out of the two cars, surrounded Mr Rasukhan Yevloyev and Mr Ibragim Izmaylov and opened fire; the armed men then handcuffed them, forced them into their vehicles and drove off in the direction of Nazran.

On 7 September 2002 several armed servicemen in balaclavas broke into the applicant’s house and took Mr Khamit Dzhambulatov away in an APC. On 12 October 2002 the Grozny town prosecutor office opened criminal case no. 54087. The investigation is currently pending.

On 1 November 2003 a group of armed servicemen apprehended Mr Sharpudi Mukhtarov and Mr Zaurbek Umarov on the outskirts of the village of Nesterovskaya, Ingushetia, and took them away in UAZ and VAZ vehicles without registration numbers to an unknown destination. On 18 November 2003 the Sunzhenskiy district prosecutor’s office in Ingushetia opened criminal case no. 23600076. The investigation is still pending.

On 6 January 2005 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 28 January 2005) the applicant and Mr Bekmagomed Daniyev were at home in their flat at 109 Shosseynaya Street in Argun when at about 6 a.m. a group of armed men in camouflage uniforms arrived at their block of flats in three cars, one of which was a white Gazel minivan. The men spoke Chechen and Russian; some of them were wearing balaclavas. They broke into the applicant’s flat, forced Mr Bekmagomed Daniyev outside, put him in one of their vehicles and drove off to an unknown destination. The white Gazel minivan was subsequently seen exiting from the premises of the office of the Argun military commander (комендатура г. Аргун). It is unclear whether the applicant provided this information to the investigators. The whereabouts of Mr Bekmagomed Daniyev have remained unknown ever since.

At about 12 noon (in the documents submitted the time of the event was also referred to as 2 p.m.) on 24 July 2005 Mr Magomed Mezhiyev, who was an officer of the Chechnya Ministry of the Interior at the material time, and his acquaintance, Mr A.M. (in the documents submitted also referred to as Mr A.Kh.), were on Pobedy Avenue in Grozny when a group of armed men in camouflage trousers and black T-shirts forced them out of their car. The men apprehended Mr Magomed Mezhiyev and loaded him into the trunk of a car which was parked nearby. Shortly afterwards several VAZ 2107 cars without registration numbers arrived on the scene. The men forced Mr A.M. into one of those cars and drove off in the direction of Minutka Square, Grozny. According to the applicants, several days after the abduction an unidentified armed man in a black uniform contacted them and offered a video recording depicting Mr Magomed Mezhiyev and Mr A.M. detained on the premises of the Grozny district department of the interior (Грозненский районный отдел внутренних дел (РОВД)) (hereinafter “the Grozny ROVD”) in exchange for money (1,000 United States dollars (USD)). The applicants paid the requested sum for the video recording and submitted it to the investigators (see below). The whereabouts of Mr Magomed Mezhiyev have remained unknown ever since.

At about 2.30 p.m. on 7 December 2004 Mr Usam Reshidov was at the intersection of Zavodskaya and A. Sheripova Streets in Argun, Chechnya, when a group of armed servicemen in military camouflage uniforms arrived in an armoured personnel carrier (APC), an UAZ car and a Niva car. The servicemen arrested Mr Usam Reshidov and took him away to an unknown destination. At about 7 p.m. on the same date presumably the same group of armed servicemen in military vehicles (among which were APCs an UAZ car and a Niva car) carried out a special operation in Sakhzavodskaya Street in Argun. The servicemen surrounded building no. 34 on that street, broke into flat no. 54 – where Mr Islam Reshidov was with his friends, Mr A.Kh. and Ms I.D. – arrested them and took them to the Argun military commander’s office. Ms I.D. was subsequently released and returned home. The whereabouts of the Reshidov brothers have remained unknown ever since.

On 25 November 2004 a group of armed servicemen in two UAZ (“tabletka”) minivans and three URAL lorries arrested Mr Alikhan Golbatsov on a street in Avtury and took him away. On 10 January 2005 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 46002. The investigation is still pending.

The applicants are close relatives of of Ruslanbek Boltiyev  who was allegedly abducted in 2003 by servicemen from home in Chechnya. The event took place in the area under full control of the military forces. The applicants have had no news of their missing relative thereafter. The proceedings, after having been suspended and resumed on several occasions, have been pending for several years without attaining any tangible results. Referring to Article 2 of the Convention, the applicants complain of the violation of the right to life of their relative and submit that the circumstances of his abduction and ensuing disappearance indicate that he had been abducted by State agents. The applicants further complain that no effective investigation was carried out into the incident.

On 4 May 2003 (in the documents submitted the date was also referred to as 5 May 2003) a group of about thirty armed servicemen arrived at the applicants’ house in APCs and UAZ minivans and took Mr Lema Khamzatov away. On 15 May 2003 the Zavodskoy district prosecutor’s office in Grozny opened criminal case no. 30069. The investigation is still pending.

On 7 October 2003 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicant’s relatives’ house in Ingushetia in a military UAZ vehicle, a Niva car and a Gazel minivan and took Mr Ruslan Pareulidze away. On 20 October 2003 the Sunzhenskiy district prosecutor’s office in Ingushetia opened criminal case no. 23600067 (in the documents submitted the number was also referred to as 036600067). The investigation is still pending.

On 18 September 2002 seven to eight armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms broke into the applicants’ house and took Mr Said-Emin Magaziyev to the Samashki military commander’s office. A few hours later he was transferred from there to an unknown destination. On 28 September 2002 the Achkhoy-Martan district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 63072. The investigation is currently pending.

On 14 October 2004 a group of armed servicemen arrived at the applicant’s house in two APCs and two URAL vehicles and took Mr Aslan Abubakarov away. On 1 November 2004 the Achkhoy-Martan inter-district prosecutors’ office opened criminal case no. 38050. The investigation is still pending.

On 29 September 2004 Mr Arbi Isiyev was abducted from Gudermesskaya Street in Argun by several servicemen in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas. On 23 October 2004 the Argun town prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 48042. The investigation is currently pending.

On 12 May 2002 a group of eight to nine armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas took Mr Alvi Lorsnukayev from his brother’s flat in Grozny to an unknown destination. On 24 July 2002 the Grozny prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 48116. The investigation is currently pending.

On 17 July 2002 several armed servicemen in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas broke into the applicant’s house in Shali and took away Mr Khamzat Chapsurkayev. On 29 November 2002 the Shali district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 59267. The investigation is currently pending.

On 11 July 2002 federal servicemen conducted a special operation in Chechen Aul during which Mr Said-Magomed Vatsayev was shot and wounded by the servicemen on the bank of the Argun river and then taken away to an unknown destination. On 24 January 2006 the Grozny district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 54006 under Article 105 of the Criminal Code. The investigation is currently pending.

On 28 May 2000 Mr Shamil Amirkhadzhiyev was detained by servicemen at the checkpoint near the canning factory in Grozny, forced into the APC and driven away. On 29 July 2005 the Leninskiy district prosecutor’s office opened criminal case no. 40147. The investigation is currently pending.