HUMAN RIGHTS “Invisible War” Russia’s Abusive Response to the Dagestan Insurgency WATCH “Invisible War” Russia’s Abusive Response to the Dagestan Insurgency Copyright © 2015 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-6231-32477 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org JUNE 2015 978-1-6231-32477 Invisible War Russia’s Abusive Response to the Dagestan Insurgency Map .................................................................................................................................... i Summary ........................................................................................................................... 1 Watch Lists .............................................................................................................................. 2 Abuses in Counterinsurgency Operations .................................................................................. 3 Enforced Disappearances, Torture, Due Process ........................................................................4 Threats against Lawyers, Human Rights Defenders, and Journalists ........................................... 5 Insurgent Attacks on Civilians .................................................................................................. 6 Recommendations .............................................................................................................. 7 To the Government of the Russian Federation ............................................................................ 7 To Russia’s International Partners ............................................................................................ 8 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 10 I. Background ................................................................................................................... 12 Islam and the Salafi Movement in Dagestan ............................................................................ 14 The Rise of Islamic Militancy and the 1999 Incursion from Chechnya ....................................... 15 Counterinsurgency and Continued Radicalization 1999-2010 .................................................. 16 2010-2012: Attempts at Dialogue ............................................................................................ 19 2013: The Shift from Reconciliation ......................................................................................... 21 II. Counterinsurgency, Counterterrorism and Russian Law ................................................ 23 Counterterrorism Operations .................................................................................................. 24 Detention of Suspects ........................................................................................................... 26 Lack of Specific Preconditions for Counterterrorism Operations .............................................. 26 Lack of Standards for Use of Lethal Force ................................................................................ 27 III. Abuses in Counterinsurgency Operations .................................................................... 28 Gimry .................................................................................................................................... 29 Vremenny ............................................................................................................................... 33 Other Destruction of Homes .................................................................................................... 39 IV. Harassment of Salafis by Law Enforcement Authorities ................................................ 42 Wahhabi Registration, Operative Control, and Russia’s Legal Obligations ............................... 46 V. Abuses Related to Detention of Suspects ...................................................................... 48 Ongoing Enforced Disappearances ......................................................................................... 50 Abduction-style Detentions, Ill-treatment, and Lack of Access to Lawyers ................................ 57 Lack of Access to Lawyers of Choice ....................................................................................... 66 VI. Threats to Lawyers, Journalists, and Rights Defenders ................................................. 72 Journalists, Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders .................................................................. 73 Lawyers .................................................................................................................................. 73 VII. Insurgent Attacks on Police and Civilians ................................................................... 84 Attacks on Police .................................................................................................................... 85 The Killing of Sheikh Said Afandi al-Chirkavi, Chirkey, August 28, 2012 .................................. 86 The Killing of School Director Seikhulakh Ahmedov, July 9, 2011 .............................................. 87 The Killing of Imam Ilyas Ilyasov in Makhachkala, August 3, 2013 ........................................... 88 Rabbi Ovadia Isakov, July 25, 2013 ......................................................................................... 88 VIII. International Human Rights Standards ...................................................................... 90 Use of Force and the Right to Life ........................................................................................... 90 Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment ..................................................................... 91 The Crime of Enforced Disappearance ..................................................................................... 91 Destruction of Homes and Personal Property ........................................................................... 93 Right to Privacy ....................................................................................................................... 93 Freedom of Religion ............................................................................................................... 94 Nondiscrimination .................................................................................................................. 95 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... 97 Map © 2015 John Emerson/Human Rights Watch I JUNE 2015 | HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Summary For more than a decade, Russian security forces in Dagestan, a southern republic of the Russian Federation, have been battling an armed insurgency conducted by an array of Islamist militant groups which were until recently affiliated to the Caucasian Emirate, but are now increasingly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Both the Caucasian Emirate and ISIS have been banned by Russia’s Supreme Court as “terrorist” organizations. The insurgents have committed numerous lethal attacks against state officials, law enforcement and security forces, and civilians. Human Rights Watch condemns attacks on civilians and recognizes that the Russian government has a duty to prevent attacks, pursue the perpetrators and bring those responsible to account. Attacks on civilians, public officials, and police and security forces are serious crimes. Russia, like any government, has an obligation to investigate and prosecute such crimes and to do so while respecting Russian and international human rights law. Regrettably, law enforcement and security forces involved in counterinsurgency in Dagestan often do not respect or adhere to these laws, and counterinsurgency efforts in Dagestan have been marked by a wide range of serious human rights violations. This report documents violations that took place mostly between 2012 and 2014. It also describes some attacks by insurgents on civilians that took place just prior to and during that time. It is based on five Human Rights Watch fact-finding missions to Dagestan in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In countering the insurgency, the authorities have cast an excessively wide net by essentially treating Salafis (adherents of Salafism, a fundamentalist interpretation of Sunni Islam that is increasingly popular in Dagestan) as criminal suspects without charging them with any specific offense. During the special counterterrorism operations Human Rights Watch documented, law-enforcement personnel have forcibly displaced civilians leaving them homeless; destroyed or damaged civilian property, for which most owners have not received compensation; and in some cases blown up homes of families