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“As If They Fell from the Sky” “As If They Fell From the Sky” Counterinsurgency, Rights Violations, and Rampant Impunity in Ingushetia Copyright © 2008 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-345-5 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th floor New York, NY 10118-3299 USA Tel: +1 212 290 4700, Fax: +1 212 736 1300 [email protected] Poststraße 4-5 10178 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 30 2593 06-10, Fax: +49 30 2593 0629 [email protected] Avenue des Gaulois, 7 1040 Brussels, Belgium Tel: + 32 (2) 732 2009, Fax: + 32 (2) 732 0471 [email protected] 64-66 Rue de Lausanne 1202 Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 738 0481, Fax: +41 22 738 1791 [email protected] 2-12 Pentonville Road, 2nd Floor London N1 9HF, UK Tel: +44 20 7713 1995, Fax: +44 20 7713 1800 [email protected] 27 Rue de Lisbonne 75008 Paris, France Tel: +33 (1)43 59 55 35, Fax: +33 (1) 43 59 55 22 [email protected] 1630 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 500 Washington, DC 20009 USA Tel: +1 202 612 4321, Fax: +1 202 612 4333 [email protected] Web Site Address: http://www.hrw.org June 2008 1-56432-345-5 “As If They Fell From the Sky” Counterinsurgency, Rights Violations, and Rampant Impunity in Ingushetia Map of Region.................................................................................................................... 1 I. Summary.........................................................................................................................2 II. Recommendations.......................................................................................................... 7 To the Government of the Russian Federation..................................................................7 To Russia’s International Partners .................................................................................. 9 To the Council of Europe................................................................................................. 9 III. Methodology................................................................................................................11 IV. Background: How the Conflict in Ingushetia Has Unfolded ........................................... 12 Note on Ingushetia ........................................................................................................12 Crisis Spillover to Crisis Nexus: The Unfolding Conflict in Ingushetia .............................14 1999: Ingushetia and the second Chechen War .......................................................14 Human rights and security dynamics in Ingushetia 1999-2003 ................................14 2003: Sweep operations and insurgent attacks .......................................................16 Mid-2004: Severe deterioration...............................................................................17 2006 and beyond: insurgents’ agenda and operations in Ingushetia, and the counterinsurgency.................................................................................................. 20 Parliamentary acknowledgment of abuses during counterinsurgency operations.... 24 General Characteristics of Insurgents in Ingushetia, Links to Chechnya ........................ 24 V. Domestic Legal Framework for Counterterrorism........................................................... 27 2006 Norms ..................................................................................................................27 Restrictions on rights in counterterrorism operations.............................................. 29 Lack of specific preconditions for counterterrorism operations............................... 30 Structure of Counterterrorism Operations ......................................................................31 Other Laws Amended by Counterterrorism Legislation...................................................33 VI. Extrajudicial Executions .............................................................................................. 34 Killing of Islam Belokiev ......................................................................................... 36 Killing of Apti Dalakov ............................................................................................ 38 Killing of Rakhim Amriev, age 6 ...............................................................................41 Killing of Said-Magomed Galaev and Ruslan Galaev ................................................45 Killing of Khusein Mutaliev ..................................................................................... 48 Killing of Adam Gardanov and Magamed Chakhkiev ................................................ 51 Attempted killing of Adam Malsagov .......................................................................52 VII. Abductions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture..................................................... 55 Abductions and Enforced Disappearances.....................................................................57 Enforced disappearance of Ibragim Gazdiev ............................................................57 Abductions of Khusein Mutsolgov and Zaurbek Yevloev and enforced disappearance of Khusein Mutsolgov............................................................................................. 60 Enforced disappearance of Akhmet Kartoev.............................................................61 Abductions and Torture ................................................................................................ 63 Abduction, torture, and death of Murat Bogatyrev .................................................. 63 Abduction and torture of Magomed Osmanovich Aushev........................................ 66 Abduction and torture of Timur D............................................................................ 68 Abductions................................................................................................................... 69 Abduction of Uruskhan Inalov ................................................................................ 69 Abduction of Malika Chabieva................................................................................ 70 VIII. Special Operations Involving Cruel and Degrading Treatment .................................... 73 Sweep operation, Gairbek-Yurt ................................................................................74 Targeted raid, Ordzhonikidzevskaya....................................................................... 76 Targeted raid, Surkhakhi ........................................................................................ 78 Sweep operation, Ali-Yurt ....................................................................................... 80 IX. Public Protests and Response of the Authorities..........................................................88 Evolution of the Protest Movement in Ingushetia .......................................................... 88 Demonstration on September 19, 2007 .................................................................. 89 Government Efforts to Restrict Public Protests ...............................................................91 Demonstration on November 24, 2007 ................................................................... 93 Demonstration on January 26, 2007 ....................................................................... 99 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................. 105 Map of Region 1 Human Rights Watch June 2008 I. Summary It really hurts! Supposedly, neither the leadership of the republic nor the leadership of the Russian military knows who did it. Here are men in uniforms and armed to the teeth coming into the village, abusing masses of people, and leaving. And then no one is able to explain what happened. As if they fell from the sky. —An Ingushetia resident seriously assaulted, along with his pregnant wife and his neighbors, during a July 28, 2007 counterterrorism sweep operation at the village of Ali-Yurt The Chechnya armed conflict affected stability and the security of communities across the North Caucasus region of Russia, and continues to do so. In Ingushetia, the republic into which Chechnya’s conflict overflowed, the grave conflict dynamics of its larger neighbor have arisen. For the past four years Russia has been fighting several militant groups in Ingushetia, which have a loose agenda to unseat the Ingush government, evict federal security and military forces based in the region, and promote Islamic rule in the North Caucasus. Beginning in summer 2007, insurgents’ attacks on public officials, law enforcement and security personnel, and civilians rose sharply. Human Rights Watch condemns attacks on civilians and recognizes that the Russian government has a duty to pursue the perpetrators, prevent attacks, and bring those responsible to account. Attacks on civilians, public officials, and police and security forces are serious crimes. Russia, like any government, has a legitimate interest in investigating and prosecuting such crimes and an obligation to do so while respecting Russian and international human rights law. Regrettably, Russia is failing to respect or to adhere to these laws. Law enforcement and security forces involved in counterinsurgency have committed dozens of extrajudicial executions, summary and arbitrary detentions, and acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. “As If They Fell From the Sky” 2 These practices evoke, albeit on a far smaller scale, the thousands of enforced disappearances,
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