11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

In Chechnya there continued to be reports of torture by government forces; according to report by Human Rights Watch, most incidents occurred at unlawful detention centers ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 22609]

"Armed forces and police units were reported to have routinely abused and tortured persons in holding facilities where federal authorities sorted out fighters or those suspected of aiding rebels from civilians.

In Chechnya there continued to be reports of torture by government forces. On March 13, the Council of Europe's Committee for Prevention of Torture published a statement about cruel treatment and torture in Chechnya, based on visits to the region in 2006 and the Russian government's comments. The committee noted Russia's inability to effectively combat torture in Chechnya. In March European Council Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hummarberg visited Chechnya and stated that torture and cruel treatment were widespread in Chechnya, and that those who used torture acted with total impunity. On March 14, Amnesty International accused the Russian government of negligence with regard to violations in Chechnya and called on it to take immediate steps to eradicate torture, cruel treatment, arbitrary detentions, and disappearances, and to prosecute those who committed such crimes.

In 2006 Human Rights Watch reported that it had documented 115 torture cases in Chechnya between July 2004 and September 2006. The report concluded that most of the incidents occurred at one of at least 10 unlawful detention centers. In 2006 Memorial representatives discovered an illegal detention center in Groznyy where detainees were reportedly held, tortured, "disappeared," and killed by federal police units that had temporarily been assigned to Chechnya. Despite appeals to officials to investigate Memorial's allegations, the building --a former boarding school for deaf children--was demolished. (…)"

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Secret prisons maintained by security forces in Tsentoroy, Gudermes and other locations; according to human rights groups there are cases of illegal places of detention in Chechnya and other locations in North Caucasus were abuses occur ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19297]

"Human rights groups also documented cases of illegal places of detention in Chechnya and in other locations in the North Caucasus where abuses occurred. Chechen Republic security forces reportedly maintained such secret prisons in Tsentoroy, Gudermes, and other locations. Human Rights Watch reported it had detailed descriptions of at least 10 unlawful detention facilities. Human rights groups also reported that officers of the federal Ministry of Internal Affairs' Second Operational Investigative Bureau illegally detained and tortured people in its Groznyy offices. The UN Committee Against Torture noted its concern about these unofficial places of detention."

Document(s): Open document

01.2007 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Continuing human rights abuses by Second Operative and Search Bureau under the Russian Ministry of Interior (ORB-2), mostly in secret places of detention that violate international and Russian law; International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has not visited prisoners since 2004 ("Nordkaukasus; Entwicklungen in Tschetschenien sowie in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkarien, Inguschetien und Nordossetien") [ID 18685]

"Auch die Zweite Operationelle Untersuchungsbehörde (ORB-2) für den Nordkaukasus des föderalen Innenministeriums macht sich immer wieder schwerer Menschenrechtsverletzungen schuldig. Schauplätze dieser Verstösse sind häufig geheime Gefängnisse, wie sie in Tschetschenien nach wie vor existieren, obwohl solche Einrichtungen nicht nur gegen internationales, sondern auch gegen russisches Recht verstossen. Das UNOKomitee gegen Folter hat die Russische Föderation unlängst aufgefordert, die Standorte aller Gefängnisse publik zu machen. Vor diesem Hintergrund erscheint es besonders gravierend, dass das Internationale Komitee vom Roten Kreuz (IKRK) seit September 2004 in Tschetschenien keine Gefangenen mehr besucht. Das IKRK hat diesen zentralen Teil seiner Tätigkeiten suspendiert, weil es sich auf Grund der russischen Bedingungen ausser Stande sah, die Besuche in Übereinstimmung mit den eigenen Kriterien durchzuführen. Vor dem Abbruch der Gefangenenbesuche hatten sich die IKRK-Delegierten um mehrere hundert Personen gekümmert, die von den russischen Behörden im Konflikt verhaftet worden waren. Auch die persönliche Intervention des IKRK-Präsidenten Jakob Kellenberger bei Präsident Putin ist diesbezüglich bisher erfolglos geblieben."

Document(s): Open document

13.11.2006 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Detainees held by Kadyrov's units in unlawful and secret places of detention, mostly bases or private houses owned by Kadyrov's loyals ("Chechnya: Research Shows Widespread and Systematic Use of Torture") [ID 17629]

"Kadyrov’s units hold and torture detainees in premises that are not lawful places of detention. The detention has no legal framework, and detainees cannot exercise their rights guaranteed by Russian and international law, including access to lawyers or medical professionals. (...) Human Rights Watch obtained detailed descriptions of at least 10 unlawful detention facilities—for the most part bases or private houses owned or used by regional commanders loyal to Kadyrov — in towns and villages throughout Chechnya. They include at least two different bases located in Kadyrov’s home village of Tsentoroi; the ATC headquarters in the city of Gudermes; ATC bases in the villages of Tsotsin-Yurt, Mairtup, Geldagen, Novogroznyi, and Avtury; and facilities run by the Oil Protection Unit in Grozny and the village of Jalka.  Most detainees whom Human Rights Watch interviewed spent from several days to several weeks in detention. Those detained as hostages to compel the surrender of their relatives were held considerably longer, sometimes for many months. "

Document(s): Press release
Briefing paper

23.06.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Torture and ill-treatment in unofficial places of detention (""Normalization" in whose eyes?") [#23468],  [ID 16059]

"Amnesty International has received credible and consistent reports of secret, unofficial places of detention, sometimes referred to as “filtration camps”, where Chechens detained during raids are held and often tortured. One such facility, located in Grozny, is known as ORB-2. It is run by the Operative and Search Bureau under the Russian Ministry of Interior, which primarily deals with organized crime, and is one of the most notorious alleged “torture centres” in the Chechen Republic. Although this facility is not official, it has been visited in 2002 and, most recently, in May 2003, by the European Committee for Prevention of Torture (CPT) and mentioned as an establishment which “stands out in terms of the frequency and gravity of the alleged ill-treatment”.16 When the CPT made this unprecedented second public statement in July 2003 17 , concerning human rights abuses in the Chechen Republic, it paid particular attention to conditions in this facility and expressed its deep concern about the fate of persons taken into custody at the ORB-2. The CPT noted that the detainees “were extremely reluctant to speak to the delegation and appeared to be terrified” and that there was “every reason to believe that they had been expressly warned to keep silent”. The CPT recommended to the authorities to initiate a thorough and independent inquiry into the methods used by ORB-2 when questioning prisoners and repeated its call upon the Russian authorities to “put a stop to illtreatment” at this facility. Amnesty International has received reports that Akhmed Gisaev was kept in ORB-2 for several days in late 2003 before being transferred to the headquarters of the Russian federal forces in Khankala. It appears from this testimony as well as other reports, which Amnesty International received that the recommendations made by the CPT were being ignored and that the treatment of detainees at ORB-2 was reportedly as harsh as ever."

Document(s): Open document

24.05.2004 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Reports on so-called filtration camps set up by Chechen and Russian security forces ("Tschetschenien und die tschetschenische Bevölkerung in der Russischen Föderation ") [#23046],  [ID 16060]

"Wiederholt wird von so genannten Filtrationslagern berichtet, die die tschetschenischen und russischen Sicherheitskräfte an verschiedenen Orten in Tschetschenien errichten. So seien beispielsweise Ende März 2004 nach Säuberungen in den Dörfern Sernowodskaja und Assinowskaja alle Männer ab 14 Jahren in ein in einer Schule eingerichtetes Filtrationslager gebracht worden. Dort seien sie einzeln stun- denlang gefoltert und nach Namen und Aufenthaltsorten von Rebellen gefragt worden."

Document(s): Open document

05.02.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

“Filtration camps” at Chernokozova, PAP-1 (a former bus garage in Grozny) and the Khankala military base virtually ceased to operate ("Chechnya: New Methods, Same Old Abuses") [#19220],  [ID 16061]

"The infamous “filtration camps” at Chernokozova, PAP-1 (a former bus garage in Grozny) and the Khankala military base, where large numbers of Chechen men were detained and tortured, have virtually ceased to operate. They have been replaced, however, by a series of underground pits, known as “zindans” (prisons), located at almost all military bases in the republic, including Khankala. These appear to be the destination of most of the abducted men - but few get out alive, and those relatives who do manage to extract their loved ones from a “zindan” are reluctant to speak about it. The pro-Moscow government of Chechen leader Akhmad Kadyrov also now runs a series of small “private prisons” across the republic. One of them is in Tsentoroi, Kadyrov’s home village of Kadyrov, and is under the charge of his son, Ramzan. Two others have been set up in Pobedinskoe and Krasnaya Turbina outside Grozny, run respectively by Kadyrov’s security chief Movladi Baisarov and Russian special forces commander Said-Magomed Kakiev, who is a Chechen. Another special forces officer, Sulim Yamadayev, runs a “private prison” in the town of Gudermes."

Document(s): Open document