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HUMAN RIGHTS in the OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2007 CHECHNYA and ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS 231 Boring Republics Were Subject to Pressure Down Their Arms Within Two Weeks

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HUMAN RIGHTS in the OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2007 CHECHNYA and ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS 231 Boring Republics Were Subject to Pressure Down Their Arms Within Two Weeks 230 CHECHNYA AND ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS Serious restoration of Grozny’s ruins was under way in 2006 - accompanied by a personality cult around then Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov. However, the town's scars were still to be seen everywhere. HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS IN CHECHNYA AND ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS In 2006 the delegation of law enforce- sought to evade criticism from the interna- ment and security responsibilities from tional community. federal authorities to local power struc- The strengthening of Kadyrov’s perso- tures in Chechnya was practically complet- nal authority had become the basis for the ed. Most of the local structures were de “Chechenization” process. The Kremlin ga- facto controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov, who ve him unconditional backing and did not was officially appointed prime minister of hold him accountable for any actions he the Chechen Republic at the beginning of ordered, from forcibly collecting donations the year.1 Although the actions of Kadyrov from citizens for the purpose of speeding up the reconstruction of the Chechen cap- and his subordinates, who engaged in ital Grozny to unlawful police operations. gross human rights violations, were sup- Forces subordinate to Kadyrov – the ported by the Kremlin, the federal authori- so-called “Kadyrovtsi” – as well as other lo- ties disclaimed responsibility for what was cal pro-Moscow forces, and to a lesser de- going on in Chechnya. gree also federal forces, continued to en- In 2006, the “Chechenization” of the gage in abductions, detention in secret conflict, which had developed as local pro- prisons, “disappearances,” torture and fal- Moscow structures assumed growing pow- sification of criminal cases with almost er, had reached a stage where the conflict complete impunity. Similar abuses were was no longer depicted as a separatist but also reported from other republics in the as an internal one by the federal authori- North Caucasus, and displaced persons ties. In this way, the federal authorities also from Chechnya who remained in neigh- HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2007 CHECHNYA AND ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS 231 boring republics were subject to pressure down their arms within two weeks. The to return to Chechnya. president of the Chechen Republic, Alu While in 2006 there were no Chechen Alkhanov, subsequently declared August to rebel attacks on civilians, the rebels contin- be a month of reconciliation with fighters, ued to ambush federal police and military ordered the creation of hotlines for mem- as well as pro-Moscow Chechen units. The bers of illegal armed formations and prom- rebel movement was, however, consider- ised that the rights of those who request- able weakened by the deaths of rebel ed amnesty would be respected and that leaders Shamil Basayev and Abdul Khakin- impartial investigations into their cases Saidulaev. would be conducted and just decisions made. The amnesty period was subse- Weakening of the Chechen rebel quently extended several times, eventually movement to 15 January 2007. In the summer, the Chechen rebel An official text spelling out the condi- movement lost two of its leaders: the pres- tions for the amnesty was adopted only in ident of the non-recognized Chechen late September, when the Russian State Republic of Ichkeria, Abdul-Khalim Sadula- Duma quickly passed a draft law put for- yev, was killed on 17 June and the chair- ward by President Putin. This law was ap- man of the rebel commanders’ council, plicable not only to members of illegal ar- Shamil Basayev, died on 10 July. According med groups but also to Russian service- to official information, both of them were men who had committed crimes “during killed in carefully planned “special opera- the counter-terrorist operations in the terri- tions.” However, other available informa- tory of Russian entities within the Southern tion indicated that they rather died by Federal District.” However, persons who chance: the former in a short skirmish dur- had committed grave and particularly gra- ing a routine inspection of a house consid- ve crimes were excluded from the amnes- ered suspicious by Federal Security Police ty. The Russian human rights group “Me- (FSB) officers and local militia in Argun in morial” criticized this aspect of the law, ar- Chechnya and the latter due to an acci- guing that the law as a result was rendered dental explosion of a truck in a suburb of largely meaningless with respect to real Nazran, the capital of Ingushetia. fighters. The group also expressed concern Also after the deaths of these two rebel that the law would primarily be used to leaders, and the consequent weakening of amnesty former rebel fighters who have the Chechen rebel movement, the Russian joined the “Kadyrovtsi,” thereby legitimiz- government did not engage in dialogue ing their position.3 with moderate separatists. Cautious interna- According to official figures, 546 armed tional appeals to the Russian government to militants in Chechnya and other parts of hold negotiations with Chechen rebels, usu- the North Caucasus had laid down their ally formulated as “finding a political solu- arms under the amnesty as of the end of tion,” waned already after the death of the year. democratically elected Chechen President The IHF documented a series of cases 2 Aslan Maskhadov in March 2005. in which intimidation and physical force was used to pressurize Chechen civilians Amnesty into requesting amnesty for allegedly col- Following the death in July of Basayev, laborating with illegal armed forces. There the FSB head called on all members of il- were also reportedly cases where repre- legal armed groups in Chechnya to lay sentatives of local authorities had assisted IHF REPORT 2007 HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION 232 CHECHNYA AND ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS persons to obtain a submachine-gun, the fighters were reported to be held outside submission of which was a condition for the protection of the law and subjected to official surrender for those accused of col- cruel treatment. Another notorious place laboration. In addition, in a number of cas- was in the village of Dzhalka, in the Guder- es, amnestied citizens were subsequently mes district of Chechnya. accused of failing to disclose all crimes In early 2006, the Chechen parliament they had allegedly committed when re- established a working commission to over- questing amnesty and were criminally see efforts to trace abducted or missing charged with these crimes.4 Chechen citizens. According to the head of the commission, “Over 2,000 persons Abductions, torture and secret have gone missing during the two military prisons campaigns in the Chechen Republic, and According to preliminary data provided the task of the authorities is to identify by “Memorial,” 172 persons were abduct- their whereabouts, to find out about their ed in Chechnya in 2006. Out of these 86 fate and, in case they are dead, to indicate had been released, 17 had later been for- where they are buried.” The number of dis- mally arrested and 9 found dead by the appeared persons cited by him was signif- end of the year, while 60 remained “dis- icantly lower than figures provided by hu- appeared.”5 The figure decreased from man rights groups, which have reported 2005, when the organization registered 3,000-5,000 disappearances since 1999.6 320 abductions. However, this trend did During the year, the commission did not not necessarily reflect any real decline in engage in any concrete actions to track abductions but was largely a result of missing people. NGOs believed that this growing reluctance on the part of relatives inactivity was largely due to unwillingness of victims to report abductions to human to expose abuses by federal and local law rights groups out of fear for the life of enforcement authorities – including those kidnapped as well as for repercus- “Kadyrovtsi“ – involved in disappearances. sions for other family members. This trend In what appeared to be an effort to en- was reinforced as local law enforcement sure control over all law enforcement struc- structures assumed an increasing role in tures in Chechnya, Kadyrov announced his the perpetration of abductions. In many intention in April to have the federal Interior cases, relatives tried to ensure the release Ministry units stationed in the republic with- of the victims on their own, e.g. by paying drawn. This move followed numerous ransom. complaints by local residents against per- Those abducted were reportedly often sonnel of the Second Operational Investi- held in unlawful places of detention, gative Bureau (ORB-2) at the Interior Minis- where they were tortured and beaten in an try’s main directorate for the Southern Fe- attempt to extract confessions or state- deral District,7 known to operate several ments, which could be used to pursue fab- “quasi-legal” prisons in Grozny and other ricated criminal cases. While unlawful parts of Chechnya.8 According to Kadyrov, places of detention previously were locat- ORB-2 officials “detain citizens unlawfully, ed in facilities belonging to federal forces, beat them and treat them in a cruel man- most were now located within facilities ner” and force detainees to “sign confes- used by local pro-Moscow structures, mos- sions for crimes they have not committed.”9 tly the “Kadyrovtsi.” One of these places Subsequently he also claimed that the was located in Tsentoroi, Kadyrov’s native ORB-2 was “the only structure [in Chech- village, where primarily relatives of armed nya], which we cannot make observe basic HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OSCE REGION IHF REPORT 2007 CHECHNYA AND ADJACENT RUSSIAN REGIONS 233 law and order.”10 On 2 May, the Chechen man, who turned out to be a rebel fighter parliament forwarded a request to the Rus- - Shamil Basayev. However, sources close sian Interior Ministry, demanding that the to Ersenoyeva said that she had not mar- ORB-2 be shut down.
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