In Chechnya, relatives of 11 persons, missing since 2000, ask to reopen investigation

On June 9, activists of the human rights organization "Mothers of Chechnya for Peace" appealed to the Investigatory Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in Chechnya, asking to reopen investigation into the case on disappearance in 2000 of 11 residents of the village of Ulus-Kert of the Shatoi District of the republic due to on newly discovered facts.

According to the activists, that facts include discovery of video record depicting bodies of 11 civilians and one soldier, among them relatives identified their family members.

"The NGO 'Mothers of Chechnya for Peace' appealed to Nurdi Nukhazhiev, Ombudsman in the Chechen Republic, asking for assistance in reopening the investigation," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a female relative of the disappeared persons, who preferred to remain anonymous.

"On March 6, 2000, officers of the stationary checkpoint, located between the dwelling settlements of Duba-Yurt and Chiri-Yurt of the Shali District of Chechnya, detained a group of refugees consisting of 11 men: A. A. Abubakarov, B. Kh. Imakaev, S. M. Akhmadov, A. G. Imakaev, R. B. Malikov, A. R. Malikov, Z. B. Malikov, S.-S. Sh. Yasuev, S. D. Rasaev, M. M. Astamirov, and A. M. Astamirov, and women and children, who followed them from the village of Ulus-Kert of the Shatoi District to the village of Chiri-Yurt of the Shali district of the Chechen Republic, accompanied by a federal soldier from the landing troops named Dima from the Sverdlovsk Region (as he introduced himself to the refugees)," says the statement of Madina Magomadova, Chair of the NGO "Mothers of Chechnya for Peace" addressed to Nurdi Nukhazhiev.

The document states that, according to the victims, soldiers of the checkpoint invited Dmitry into a trailer. "After some time, a muffled shot was heard from the trailer there, then, Dima never came out from the trailer," Madina Magomadova emphasizes.

After that, another officer, introduced himself as Alexander Sidorenko, "loaded women with children into an Ural high sided vehicle, brought them to the checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Chiri-Yurt, and said that the men would be released after search."

According to the Chair of the NGO "Mothers of Chechnya for Peace", women and children waited for men till night; however, instead of the men, soldiers arrived and stated that the men were sent back to the village for "correcting documents." "However, they never returned to the village, and since that time, their fate is unknown to their relatives," the author of the appeal has stressed.

According to Madina Magomadova, on October 16, 2000, on the fact of disappearance of people, the Prosecutor's Office of the Chechen Republic instituted a criminal case No. 72047, "which is at present at the Shali Inter-District Investigatory Department of the Investigatory Department of the ICRF in Chechnya."

"However, within 12 years, the whereabouts of the men were not revealed, and no criminal proceedings were instituted against the soldiers guilty of kidnapping and extrajudicial execution of the people," Madina Magomadova stated.

According to her, on April 9, 2012, one of the female relatives of the disappeared men found video record depicting bodies of 11 men and one young soldier, "among them, their relatives identified bodies of S.-S. Yasuev, S. Akhmadov, B. Imakaeva, and M. Astamirov." "They also identified the young soldier named Dima, who on March 6, 2000, accompanied them from the village of Ulus-Kert to the village of Duba-Yurt," Madina Magomadova has added.

The leader of the NGO "Mothers of Chechnya for Peace" emphasizes that all those people, according to their relatives, were shot dead by the soldiers of the federal forces led by Alexander Sidorenko.

Rashid Aliev, a Dagestani lawyer, has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in accordance with the general rule, a person shall be exempted from criminal liability if the following terms have passed from the date of a crime: two years after committing a minor crime, six years a moderate crime, ten years a serious crime, and fifteen years a very serious crime.

Meanwhile, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by a staff member of the Ombudsman in Chechnya, on May 31, Nurdi Nukhazhiev sent a letter addressed to Viktor Ledenev, Chief of the Investigatory Department of the ICRF in the Chechen Republic.

He requests "to reopen investigation into the criminal case No. 72047, reveal the place of burial of bodies, to carry out exhumation and forensic examination of the remains, to conduct identification of human remains and the video record on DVD and to bring the case to the Military Investigatory Department of the ICRF in the Southern Military District for further investigation and instituting the criminal proceedings against soldiers guilty of murders."

Officers from the ICRF in Chechnya refused to comment on the course of the investigation into the case No. 72047.