11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Continued reports during 2007 that government forces took relatives of Chechen rebels as hostages to force them to surrender ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 22604]

"There were continued reports during the year that government forces took relatives of Chechen rebels as hostages to force them to surrender. According to Memorial, on January 16, officers of the Republic of Chechnya's Antiterrorism Center abducted five relatives of Khozh-Akhmed Dushayev in the village of Kurchaloy. Dushayev was wanted on suspicion of being a Chechen rebel. All five were later released. On April 15, officers from the Antiterrorism Center (ATC) detained relatives of Bislan Ilmiyev, an ATC officer under suspicion of aiding antigovernment fighters. Ilmiyev's wife, mother, one-year-old child, his brothers, their wives, and their children were detained. Ilmiyev's brother Ruslan was later released and ordered to find his brother, according to Memorial.

Chechen security forces seized relatives of Chechen commander Doku Umarov in May 2005, including his father, wife, and six month old son. They later released the wife and child, but the father's location remained unknown. In August 2005 security forces also detained Doku Umarov's sister, Natasha Khumadova. A source in the Urus Martan district administration told Interfax that armed persons broke into Khumadova's house and threatening her with weapons, led her away. In August Chechen officials erroneously announced that Umarov, who later became the separatist "president," had voluntarily surrendered. Subsequent reports noted that it was Umarov's older brother, Akhmad, who surrendered. Appearing at a press conference with Chechen officials, Akhmad Umarov said that he had been arrested in March 2005 and held by authorities since. Human rights activists suggested that Akhmad Umarov had never participated in fighting alongside rebels, and that his detention was an effort to pressure Doku Umarov to surrender. At year's end there was no further information on the whereabouts of Umarov's relatives."

Document(s): Open document

16.05.2007 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

According to numerous testimonies civilians most at risk of persecutions are amnestied militants and their relatives; they are abducted and tortured, frequently with the purpose of fabricating criminal cases against them; some are extra-judicially executed ("Amnestied People as Targets for Persecution in Chechnya") [ID 20713]

For detailed information on "Amnesty"cases during and after the Chechen wars and on background of contemporary "Amnesty" process in Chechnya please see the report.

"Following the death on 10 July 2006 of Shamil Basaev, the leader of a Chechen armed resistance fraction responsible for numerous terrorist attacks, Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) director Nikolai Patrushev, on behalf of the anti-terrorist committee of the Russian Federation, called on all members of illegal armed groups in Chechnya to lay down their arms within two weeks. An official text spelling out the conditions for the amnesty, and marking the 15 January 2007 as the final deadline, was adopted only in late September, when the Russian State Duma quickly passed a draft law put forward by President Putin. (...)

Unfortunately, according to numerous testimonies civilians most at risk of persecutions are amnestied militants and their relatives. They are abducted and tortured, frequently with the purpose of fabricating criminal cases against them. Some are extra-judicially executed.

Many individuals were forced into an “amnesty” as a result of torture, threats or coercion. Others were persuaded to do that by the law-enforcement agencies and the local administrations, which were interested in showing impressive numbers of the surrendered fighters to raise their status in the eyes of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and his team. Yet, again others were supporters of the separatist movement, but never took part in the actual fighting and either have did services or none at all to the armed rebels, but who thought going through the amnesty process would improve their security situation and that of their families. Notably, many of those individuals were persecuted (including abducted, tortured and killed) after their "amnesty". In one more case a person, according to his own words, was simply tired of hiding and wanted to live a normal life. However, that individual admitted that he made a decision to surrender after his brother had been arrested."

Document(s): Press Release
Report

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Continued reports during 2006 that government forces took relatives of Chechen rebels as hostages to force them to surrender ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19305]

For more detailed information please see the report

"There were continued reports during the year that government forces took relatives of Chechen rebels as hostages to force them to surrender. According to Memorial, on January 16, officers of the Republic of Chechnya's Anti-Terrorism Center abducted five relatives of Khozh-Akhmed Dushayev in the village of Kurchaloy. Dushayev was wanted on suspicion of being a Chechen rebel. All five were later released. On April 15, officers from the Anti-Terrorism Center detained relatives of Bislan Ilmiyev, an ATC officer under suspicion of aiding anti-government fighters. Ilmiyev's wife, mother, one-year-old child, his brothers, their wives, and their children were all detained. Ilmiyev's brother Ruslan was later released and ordered to find his brother, according to Memorial. Chechen security forces seized relatives of Chechen commander Doku Umarov in May 2005, including his 70 year old father, wife, and six month old son. They later released the wife and child, but the father's location remained unknown. In August 2005 security forces also detained Doku Umarov's sister, Natasha Khumadova. (...) Chechen Republic forces commanded by Ramzan Kadyrov and federal troops continued to arrest relatives of Chechen separatist leaders and fighters in an effort to force them to surrender, according to human rights groups. They noted that this practice may be linked to an October 2004 speech by Prosecutor General Ustinov suggesting that authorities detain relatives of alleged members of armed opposition groups in response to their hostage taking."

Document(s): Open document

01.2007 - Source: Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe

Relatives of rebels and persons who are suspected of supporting rebels often become victims of systematic torture; they are often forced to give information or confess to fabricated charges; perpetrators are mostly forces of the Chechen Ministry of Interior ("Nordkaukasus; Entwicklungen in Tschetschenien sowie in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkarien, Inguschetien und Nordossetien") [ID 18684]

"In ihrem jüngsten Briefing-Paper zu Tschetschenien macht die US-amerikanische Organisation Human Rights Watch zudem auf die systematischen Folterungen in den Gefängnissen in Tschetschenien aufmerksam. Opfer sind häufig Angehörige von Aufständischen und Personen, die verdächtigt werden, die Rebellen zu unterstützen. Dabei bleiben auch Frauen und Minderjährige nicht verschont. Sie werden mit Stiefeln, Stöcken, Plastikflaschen (mit Wasser oder Sand gefüllt) oder mit schweren Kabeln geschlagen. Es werden ihnen mit offenem Feuer, mit glühenden Metallstäben und Drähten Brandwunden zugefügt und sie werden mit Elektroschocks gequält. Ausserdem wenden die Folterer psychologischen Druck an, indem sie eine Exekution oder eine Vergewaltigung vortäuschen und mit Gewalt an Angehörigen drohen. Meist geht es den Tätern darum, ihren Opfern Informationen zu entlocken und/oder sie zu fabrizierten Geständnissen zu zwingen. In den meisten Fällen sind die Truppen des tschetschenischen Innenministeriums die Urheber."

Document(s): Open document

16.11.2006 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Authorities target relatives of rebels; report on story of one family illustrates brutal tactics still being used; despite brutal methods, rebel movement continues to exist in the mountains ("Families of Chechen Rebels Still Targeted") [ID 17713]

"For the past two years, the authorities have waged war by targeting the relatives of the rebels. In 2004, they detained several relatives of former pro-independence president Aslan Maskhadov. They were released only several months after Maskhadov’s death. More recently, they abducted the wife, baby son and father of the current rebel leader Doku Umarov. The wife and son were released but the fate of Umarov's father is still unknown.
Yet despite these methods, the rebel movement continues to exist in the mountains. On November 3, General Yevgeny Baryayev, deputy commander-in-chief of the Russian armed forces in Chechnya, made a statement that startled many people, when he told journalists in Grozny that around 700 militants were still hiding in Chechnya’s mountains. The general said that a number of young men had recently joined the fighters and they had received a large sum of money. “Military methods alone are not sufficient to defeat the armed gangs,” he said. This view contradicts that of Kadyrov, who said in August that there were no more than 50 or 60 fighters active in Chechnya and 150 to 200 mercenaries. A Chechen political analyst said young people were continuing to flee to the mountains to escape the attention of the Kadyrovtsy."

Document(s): Open document

22.09.2006 - Source: Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker

Since Ramsan Kadyrow’s assumption of office in 2004, persecution of presumed Chechen fighters’ relatives has strongly increased ("Give priority to the civilians' situation in Chechnya!") [ID 17717]

"Since Ramsan Kadyrow’s assumption of office in 2004, the persecution of the presumed Chechen fighters’ relatives has strongly increased. Often relatives are also taken in kinship detention “serving” as hostages. Families that own some fortunes, are prosecuted by members of the local militias and authorities, and relatives are kidnapped in order to extort money. Former members of the militias or the army are also in danger. Being under constant observation they themselves or their relatives are often kidnapped. The perpetrators almost always remain unpunished. According to data of the Chechen public prosecutor's office, 1,949 criminal procedures were initiated in response to kidnappings between 1999 and 1 April 2006. 1.697 cases were suspended, allegedly because the kidnappers’ identities could not be determined."

Document(s): Open document

09.2006 - Source: Freedom House

Members from pro-rebel families are increasingly targeted ("Freedom in the World 2006") [ID 17718]

"Rights groups estimate that more than 1,000 people are believed to have been kidnapped in Chechnya in 2004. Increasingly women, children, and adolescents from pro-rebel families are targeted. Russian security forces stated in 2005 that family members of the separatist leader Maskhadov had been taken hostage by the Kadyrov's militia."

Document(s): Open document

03.08.2006 - Source: Memorial Human Rights Center

Everyone whose relative has been or is a member of an illegal armed group is living under the threat of abduction and extrajudicial killing ("On the Situation of Residents of Chechnya in the Russian Federation (July 2005-July 2006)") [ID 17721]

"After the speech made by the Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov in the State Duma on October 20, 2004, in which he suggested that “counter-hostage taking” and “summary justice” be applied to terrorists, security agencies officers went to even greater extremes Everyone whose relative, even a distant one, has been or is a member of an illegal armed group is living under the threat of abduction and extrajudicial killing.
There are instances of physical elimination of entire families. Local residents believe that a secret directive exists to eliminate relatives of IAG fighters. [...]Capture of family members as hostages is also applied against officers from security agencies who fall under suspicion."

Document(s): Russian-language report
English-language report

01.05.2006 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Abduction and illegal detention of the relatives of armed insurgents had developed into a practice ("Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2006 (Events of 2005)") [ID 17722]

"Abduction and illegal detention of the relatives of armed insurgents had developed into a practice. “Memorial” received numerous reports about cases in which relatives of rebel fighters had been abducted and held hostage for periods ranging between several weeks to ten months. The most notorious hostage-taking case was that of relatives of former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, who was killed in March. In December 2004, seven relatives of Maskhadov, including his sister and two of his brothers, were forcefully abducted from their homes and taken to an unknown location. The circumstances of the kidnapping, and reports by eye witnesses, suggested that the abductions were committed by “Kadyrovtsy.” On 31 May 2005, almost three months after Maskhadov was killed, all the kidnapped relatives were released. They reported that they had been held in a small concrete chamber (three by three meters in size) that lacked furniture and had only one small, barred window in the ceiling. They had only been able to leave the chamber in order to go to the toilet. An investigation was initiated into the case but was suspended allegedly due to the impossibility of identifying those behind it. In July, however, the deputy prosecutor general of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Shepel, claimed at a conference in Kislovodsk that Maskhadov’s relatives were released as a result of a special operation by government forces.” (IHF, 1. Mai 2006, S. 23f.) “Authorities not only failed to take effective measure to respond to this lawlessness, but even attempted to make it appear normal. On 29 October 2004, in his address to the Russian State Duma, Russian Prosecutor General V.F. Ustinov officially suggested to legalize the “counter-taking of hostages” as a method in the fight against terrorism. While no concrete action was taken to follow up on this suggestion, it appeared that Ustinov’s speech, broadcast on TV, was interpreted by security and law enforcement agencies in Chechnya as a further guide to action."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

In several cases relatives of chechen rebel leaders were abducted by Russian or pro-Russian forces ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46144],  [ID 16182]

"On two occasions the authorities held relatives of a wanted Chechen rebel leader, apparently attempting to force his surrender. Eight relatives of Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov were abducted in December 2004. On May 31, seven of them were released, several weeks after Maskhadov was killed on March 8. The human rights NGO, Memorial, reported that the detainees were held in an unfurnished concrete cell with a single window. They were allowed to exit the cell only to go to the toilet. They were never interrogated nor charged with any crime. An eighth relative, Movladi Aguyev, was reportedly charged with being a member of an illegal armed group. Witnesses to the initial detention believed the abductors were members of the forces under command of the Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov (see section 1.g.). In May, according to Memorial, Chechen security forces seized relatives of Chechen commander Doku Umarov, including his 70-year-old father, his wife, and his 6-month-old son. They later released the wife and child, but the father's location remained unknown. According to the Chechen Ministry of Interior, unknown gunmen abducted Umarov's sister, Natasha Khumadova, in August. At year's end there was no further information on the whereabouts of Umarov's relatives. In September 2004 several of Maskhadov's and Chechen terrorist Shamil Basayev's relatives were taken into what authorities claimed to be protective custody during the Beslan school seizure, although human rights groups said this action was intended as retaliation for the seizure of the school; they were released shortly after the end of the school seizure. Domestic and foreign human rights observers criticized an October 2004 suggestion by the prosecutor general that a policy of seizing the relatives of hostage-takers would reduce the incidence of hostage taking. Beginning in September 2004, authorities refused to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access, under ICRC's standard criteria, to those detained as part of the conflict in Chechnya, and the ICRC subsequently suspended its detention visits. An international NGO delegation that visited two psychiatric hospitals in 2004 noted that there was no judicial process for commitment that provided individuals subject to commitment with the right to appear before a court for a determination of the legality of their commitment."

Document(s): Open document

01.2006 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Kadyrov's troops are responsible for the practice of taking hostages among relatives of rebel leaders as a way of forcing the latter to surrender ("World Report 2006") [#42318],  [ID 17719]

"As part of Russia’s policy of “Chechenization” of the conflict, pro-Moscow Chechen forces under the command of Ramzan Kadyrov have played an increasingly active role in the conflict. In 2004 and 2005, they gradually replaced federal troops as the main perpetrators of “disappearances.” They run their own prisons—entirely outside any official penitentiary structure—where they detain, and often ill-treat, hundreds of people. These troops are also responsible for the reprehensible practice of taking hostages among relatives of rebel leaders as a way of forcing the latter to surrender. The Kremlin not only tolerates these practices but has effectively endorsed them by naming Ramzan Kadyrov deputy prime minister of Chechnya and bestowing a Hero of Russia award on him."

Document(s): Open document

14.08.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

Urus-Martan: Sister of top Chechen guerrilla commander kidnapped from her house ("Chechnya: The week in brief: 8 - 14 Aug 2005 (PW)") [#35471],  [ID 16183]

Document(s): Open document

05.06.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

Chechnya: 7 relatives of Chechen resistance leader Maskhadov, who were kidnapped in December 2004, released ("Chechnya: The week in brief: 30 May - 5 Jun 2005 (PW)") [#32645],  [ID 16184]

Document(s): Open document

03.06.2005 - Source: Council of Europe - Parliamentary Assembly

Frightening trend of hostage taking of relatives of suspected terrorists ("Honouring of obligations and commitments by the Russian Federation [Doc. 10568]") [#32710],  [ID 16185]

"266. A new frightening trend is also that of hostage taking of relatives of suspected terrorists in order to force them to give themselves up by threatening their relatives with torture and murder. Such methods are totally unacceptable criminal acts that must be stamped out by the Federal and Chechen authorities. In this regard we were astounded to learn about the statement of the Russian Federation Prosecutor General Mr Ustinov made during a State Duma's hearing in November 2004 where he suggested taking hostages as a possible measure to fight terrorism152. Russian human rights NGOs demanded from the President to dismiss the Prosecutor General for this proposal which violates a number of international human rights documents. 267. We hope that this statement by the Prosecutor General bears no relation to the abduction in December 2004, allegedly carried out by employees of the power structures under control of the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Chechen government Ramzan Kadyrov (the so-called "kadyrovtsi"), of eight relatives of Aslan Maskhadov."

Document(s): Open document

19.05.2005 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Chechnya: Relatives of armed insurgents illegally detained and abducted; relatives of Khambiev and Maskhadov kidnapped ("Human Rights in the OSCE Region: Europe, Central Asia and North America, Report 2005 (Events 2004)") [#32117],  [ID 16186]

"In a re-occurring pattern, Russian and pro-Moscow forces illegally detained and abducted relatives of armed insurgents, who increasingly often were women. In March, Memorial reported that the field commander Magomed Khambiev had “voluntarily” surrendered after approximately 40 of his relatives, including women, were taken hostage by Chechen law enforcement officials. In December 2004, Chechen law enforcement officials kidnapped eight relatives of Aslan Maskhadov. As of January 2005, ten of them remained “disappeared.”"

Document(s): Open document

21.03.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Prosecutor general suggested to allow detaining rebel fighters’ relatives in order to force them to surrender; members of Kadyrov’s forces abducted and “disappeared” eight of Aslan Maskhadov’s relatives ("Worse Than a War: “Disappearances” in Chechnya—a Crime Against Humanity") [#30410],  [ID 17720]

"Finally, at least twelve people who “disappeared” over the last six months were relatives of rebel fighters. In October 2004, Russia’s prosecutor general suggested the adoption of a new antiterrorist law that would allow “counter-hostage-taking”—detaining rebel fighters’ relatives in order to force them to surrender.37 The initiative was supported by Chechen President Alu Alkhanov, who promised the implementation of such a law, should it be adopted.38 While the prosecutor general subsequently retracted his proposal, made at the State Duma in the aftermath of the Beslan atrocity, he sent a strong signal of approval for such a policy. Several cases documented by Human Rights Watch during the 2005 research trip to Chechnya provide evidence that security forces have adopted a policy of “counter-hostage-taking. The most renown “counter-hostage” operation occurred in December 2004, when members of Kadyrov’s forces abducted and “disappeared” eight of Aslan Maskhadov’s relatives.39 One of the eight, Maskhadov’s nephew Movlid Aguev, “reappeared” in January 2005 in the Nozhai-Yurt District Department of Internal Affairs (ROVD), being charged with participation in an “illegal armed formation,” but to date the whereabouts of the other seven remain unknown.40 While initially the authorities denied reports of the “disappearance” of Maskhadov’s relatives, and would not even acknowledge that they were missing, on February 18, 2005, Chechen President Alu Alkhanov confirmed the fact of the abductions. He announced that the prosecutor’s office had launched a criminal investigation, but has not thus far publicized any findings.41 In another illustrative case, on February 25, 2004, a group of armed men, some of whom spoke Russian and some Chechen, took fifty-two-year-old Aset Dombaeva and her fiftyeight- year-old husband from their house in Urus-Martan, in central Chechnya. Before they reached their destination, however, the men pushed Dombaeva’s husband out of the car and drove away. He returned home, but Dombaeva herself has been neither heard from nor seen since then. Several months earlier, in October 2003, Dombaeva’s son, who was, according to the relatives, a rebel fighter, also “disappeared” after he had been detained by federal forces. Dombaeva’s relatives believed that the elderly woman’s “disappearance” was linked to the “disappearance” of her son.42"

Document(s): Open document

04.03.2005 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

At least 8 relatives of Aslan Maskhadov in December 2004 abducted by th Kadyrovsty and allegedly brought them to their illegal “prison” in Tsenteroi, Gudermes district ("Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world E/CN.4/2005/NGO/163") [#30348],  [ID 16187]

"FIDH was informed by Memorial that members of the kadyrovtsi, the presidential security service under the command and order of Ramzan Kadyrov, abducted at least eight relatives of Aslan Maskhadov in December 2004, and allegedly brought them to their illegal “prison” in Tsenteroi, Gudermes district of Chechnya, in order to force Maskhadov to give up armed resistance against the Federal Government. End of January 2004, they are still detained."

Document(s): Open document

26.01.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Chechnya: 8 relatives of Maskhdadov arbitrarily detained by so-called Kadyrovtsy armed forces in December 2004, and have not been seen since; according to reports, they are being held at an illegal detention facility in Tsenteroi ("Concerns over reports of "disappearances" of relatives of Aslan Maskhadov") [#28510],  [ID 16188]

Document(s): Open document

08.09.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

North Ossetia: 40 family members of Chechen rebel leaders arrested and forced to denounce their relatives during the Beslan siege ("Chechen Leaders’ Relatives Seized") [#25436],  [ID 16189]

Document(s): Open document

04.05.2004 - Source: Amnesty International

Former Chechen Minister of Health is a high-profile critic of the impunity enjoyed by Russian federal forces responsible for massive human rights violations against civilians in Chechnya/ he now lives in Europe, but his family and relatives who remain in Chechnya are in grave danger ("Russian Federation - UA 165/04") [#21998],  [ID 16190]

"Former Chechen Minister of Health Dr Omar Khambiev is a high-profile critic of the impunity enjoyed by Russian federal forces responsible for massive human rights violations against civilians in Chechnya. He is now living in western Europe, but his family remains in Chechnya and many of them are in grave danger: more than 80 of his relatives were recently arbitrarily detained for several days and allegedly tortured, in an apparent attempt to force him to stop criticizing the authorities and return to Chechnya. Further threats have since been reported against them."

Document(s): Open document
Open document