Rights defenders are disappointed with Abdulatipov's activities as head of Dagestan

Human rights violations, increased pressure on the Salafi community and formation of people's militia – these are the unsatisfactory results of Ramazan Abdulatipov, who is heading the Republic of Dagestan exactly for one year. This is a joint opinion of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International Crisis Group (ICG) and the human rights organization "Mothers of Dagestan".

Elena Denisenko, the representative of the HRC "Memorial" in Dagestan, believes that in 2013 the human rights situation in the republic became worse. According to her story, law enforcement officials are increasingly violating the law in the republic.

Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, the head of the Russian office of the ICG, believes that fighting with cronyism and corruption in Dagestan can be regarded among positive results of Abdulatipov's first year in power.

She has drawn attention to mass arrests in mosques, halal cafes and in urban residential areas. In her opinion, another worrying trend is that Ramazan Abdulatipov "actively encourages people's militia units."

Ramazan Abdulatipov, being a classic official, appointed by the federal centre, is solving the problems of the region assigned to him by the Kremlin, says Tatiana Lokshina, the HRW programme director for Russia.

"Apparently, the problem was in the fact that the softer approach brought positive results rather slowly; while on the eve of the Olympics the authorities were extremely concerned about what is happening in the region and the intensity of the activities of the armed underground – they just decided to change the way of achieving the wanted result," she said.