In Ingushetia, local residents report torture and extrajudicial execution of Khautiev brothers

Relatives of Mussa and Adam Khautiev, who, according to the official statement of the Department of the Federal Security Bureau (DFSB) of Russia for Ingushetia, were killed on August 6 as a result of a special operation in Kantyshevo village, Nazran District, and residents of this village told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that in fact employees of power agencies had committed an extrajudicial execution.

As reported by the DFSB, on August 6, in a house in the Archakova Street militants were detected, who had, by taking advantage of the dark hours of the day, disappeared on July 1 from the large forest near Plievo village blocked by MIA and FSB fighters.

When the house was blocked by the forces of the Department of the FSB of the Russian Federation for Ingushetia, MIA of Ingushetia, Internal Troops of the MIA and the Temporary Operative Grouping of the MIA, the offer to surrender was responded by fire opened on law enforcers and soldiers from firearms. In the skirmish, Khautiev, Mussa Salambekovich, born in 1982, and Khautiev, Adam Salambekovich, born in 1986, were mortally wounded. The third militant, whose person was not identified, triggered a self-made bomb and blew himself up.

As reported by the wife of assassinated Mussa Khautiev, power agents had committed not a special operation but an extrajudicial execution in their house.

In doing so, as stated by the women who were in the house, the power agents failed to present any IDs, name themselves or explain the aims of their visit. Most of them were in masks. In total, about 500 of them arrived to the Khautievs' house in several ATCs (armoured troop carriers), militarized "Ural" trucks and UAZ minibuses. Many of them were intoxicated, as Khautievs report.

According to the family of the casualties, the power agents made a non-sanctioned search of the house, keeping all the time Mussa Khautiev and his mother in front of them. "When I opened the door of the house cellar, one of the agents threw me aside, tearing a collar off my dress, and dropped a grenade into the cellar, which blew up there," said the Khautievs' mother.

After departure of power agents, Khautievs failed to find Mussa in the house. According to the relatives, in one of the rooms located above the cellar they cut away a part of the flooring and made a hole into the cellar. "Probably, they did it with a crowbar that they had brought with them and later left behind the sofa; and made some shots at the ceiling. It was a very unskilled attempt to stage a sort of a skirmish," said Mussa's wife.

"We were sure that they had taken him away for some interrogation, although he'd never been registered by the militia. Only later we learnt that the power agents killed Mussa in our house and took the body away with them. His brothers recognized it in the morgue. But a real shock was to see there also the body of Adam, Mussa's younger brother, and another body," Mussa's wife continued.

Adam Khautiev, as his relatives reported, left Egypt for Ingushetia a month ago. But during this month he has never contacted his wife who remained in Egypt or his relatives in Ingushetia. All this time his telephone was switched off. Adam never reached his home; his relatives could only see his body in the morgue in Ingushetia.

Mussa Khautiev's wife remarks that on August 6, on the day of the special operation, when they took away Mussa's and Adam's bodies from the morgue, the latter was already decayed and emitted stench.

"It was clear from Adam's body that he had been killed some days before and that he had been tortured; his heart area was cut away," his sister said.

"Statements made by power agents are interesting. How could Adam be killed in a skirmish, when his body emits stench and has no gunshot wounds? He was not at home at that moment at all," said one of the relatives.

The neighbours and local residents have confirmed to the correspondent that there was no skirmish in Khautievs' house; the power agents just committed an extrajudicial execution over the members of the Khautiev family.

Mussa Khautiev's wife has added that the power agents had stolen all the domestic and digital equipment that was in the house (a notebook computer, a digital photo camera, two TV-sets, a DVD player, etc.), bench work tools, as well as electric extenders, kitchen knifes, foodstuffs and two household sheep. They also took away the documents on two automobiles belonging to the Khautievs - "KamAZ" truck and "GAZ-3110".

During all the time that the power agents were in Khautievs' house, neither local law enforcers, nor the district militiaman were admitted into the house.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who has visited the venue, confirms that the Khautievs' house had no traces of a skirmish or combat damages and bullet-made holes, except for the room above the cellar.