PUBLIC AI Index: EUR 46/039/2004

UA 210/04 Fear for Safety/ Torture and Ill-treatment/ Possible "Disappearances"/ 24 June 2004

Incommunicado detention

RUSSIAN At least 34 men from an unofficial settlement for internally displaced

FEDERATION persons (IDPs) in Altievo, Nazran region, Ingushetia

Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety
of at least 34 men from Chechnya who were arrested at an unofficial settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Altievo, Nazran district, Ingushetia. They are being held incommunicado detention, at an unknown location and are at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

At around 6.30pm on 23 June, Ingush police accompanied by federal force personnel reportedly entered an unofficial settlement, which consists of poorly renovated cowsheds and subsidiary buildings at a former dairy farm. They reportedly ordered more than 1000 IDPs, including women and children, to vacate their living quarters whilst they carried out an inspection. Excessive force was reportedly used during the inspection, as shots were repeatedly fired in the air and into the walls of the former dairy farm. Some of the women were also reportedly made to partially undress in front of men.

Ingush police from the Nazran district police department (ROVD) -- who significantly had suffered heavy losses during coordinated attacks by Chechen fighters on 21 June -- were reportedly amongst those present during the operation. They claimed to have found grenades and/or camouflage uniforms during their inspection and reportedly told the IDPs that the settlement would be burnt down if they did not leave within two days.

Representatives from the non-governmental human rights organizations, Memorial and the Russian Chechen Friendship Society, called to the scene were present during some of the operation. They were, however, forced out of the settlement by police; and an NGO representative who tried to take photographs was reportedly beaten and had his camera smashed.

On 24 June, representatives from gas and electricity suppliers are reported to have disconnected the supplies to the settlement. Families of the detained men also reportedly descended upon the main internal affairs department in Nazran on the same day, demanding information on the whereabouts of their loved ones. However, no information was provided to them, or NGO representatives who accompanied them, about the whereabouts of those detained.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Over the last few years, Amnesty International has received regular reports about arbitrary arrests and “disappearances” during the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. People who “disappear” are often tortured and ill-treated. In the past year, military raids by Chechen and Russian security forces have begun to spread across the border from Chechnya to Ingushetia, where IDP camps, Chechen settlements as well as Ingush villages have been targeted. These raids have resulted in a number of “disappearances” and killings – at least 34 people have been “disappeared” in Ingushetia between September 2003 and the end of March 2004.

In early June 2004, the last tented camp in Ingushetia for IDPs from Chechnya was closed down, whilst four others had been shut down in the previous six months. Prior to the closures, IDPs had been subjected to sustained pressure from local and federal authorities by for example having their gas and electricity supplies cut, to return to the Chechen Republic without adequate guarantees for their safety and well-being. The fate of the remaining IDPs living in unofficial settlements or private accommodation remains uncertain.

According to the Ingush Interior Ministry around 1,000 Chechen fighters are now thought to have taken part in coordinated night time attacks on police and government targets in Ingushetia on 21 and 22 June 2004. Ninety-two people were reportedly killed, including 67 law enforcement officials, and 125 people injured. The main Ministry of Interior building in Nazran, police stations in Nazran and Karabulak, an OMON unit (riot police) and various checkpoints in Karabulak and the village of Sleptsovskaia were reportedly amongst the targets. The acting Interior Minister of Ingushetia, Abukar Kostoiev was killed, along with the Procurator of Nazran, Mukharbek Buzurtanov and several other senior procuracy and police officials.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Russian or English or your own language:

- urging the authorities to immediately make public the whereabouts of the men detained on 23 June 2004 from the Chechen IDP settlement on the former dairy farm in Altievo, Nazran district of Ingushetia and explain the legal basis for their arrest and detention;

- calling upon the authorities to release the men immediately unless they are to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence in a court of law, in line with Russia’s obligations under international human rights law;

- urging the authorities to grant the detainees immediate access to their families, lawyers of their choice and any medical care that they may need;

- expressing concern about the conduct of the operation, allegations of ill-treatment and harassment of IDPs and NGO representatives and calling for those responsible to be brought to justice.

APPEALS TO:

Russian Federation Minister of Internal Affairs

Rossiskaia Federatsia

117049 Moskva

Ul. Zhitnaia 16

Ministerstvo Vnutrennikh Del Rossiskoi Federatsii

Ministru Rashidu NURGALIEVU

Russian Federation

Fax: +7 095 237 49 25

Salutation: Dear Minister

Procurator General of the Russian Federation

Rossiskaia Federatsia

103793 Moskva K 31

Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d15a,

Generalnaia Prokuratura Rossiskoi Federatsii

Prokuroru Vladimiru USTINOVU

Russian Federation

Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48

Salutation: Dear Procurator General

Procurator of the Republic of Ingushetia

Rossiskaia Federatsia

Nazran

Ul. Fabrichnaia 3

Prokuratura Respubliki Ingushetii

Prokuroru M.V. Belkhoroevu

Russian Federation

Fax: + 7 873 222 1724 (if someone answers say “fax please”)

Salutation: Dear Procurator

COPIES TO:

President of the Republic of Ingushetia

Rossiskaia Federatsia

366 720 Magas

Administratsia Presidenta Respubliki Ingushetii

Prezidentu Muratu ZIAZIKOVU

Russian Federation

Fax: +7 8734 55 11 55/ +7 8732 22 55 11

Salutation: Dear President

and to diplomatic representatives of Russian Federation accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 5 August 2004.