Reported abductions of people going on in Chechnya

Caucasian Knot has received an open letter from Dr. Aaron Roads, executive director of International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. The letter is addressed to the law enforcement authorities in Chechnya; a copy was sent to Vladimir Ustinov, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, and to Vladimir Lukin, Ombudsman of the Russian Federation. According to the letter, Chilaev Bulat, the driver of the Sernovodsk office of Civil Assistance Committee was abducted on April 9, 2006 together with Aslan Israilov, a resident of Grozny.

"The international Helsinki Federation for human rights is deeply concerned by the recent abduction of Chilaev Bulat and Israilov Aslan that took place near Sernovodsk (Sunzhensk region of the Chechen republic)," the letter states.

Chilaev and Israilov were detained on April 9, 2006 by armed, uniformed masked men. According to the testimony of witnesses, apparent members of some law enforcement agency (there were both Russians and Chechens among them), had seized Chilaev and Israilov and pushed them into a VAZ 2112 vehicle. They were reported to be beaten, their hands had been tied. Their whereabouts remain unknown despite all the efforts of their relatives and human rights experts.

"The International Helsinki Federation for human rights addresses to all Federal and local authorities an urgent request to conduct effective investigation into the abduction of Chilaev Bulat and Israilov Aslan, identify their abductors, the legitimacy of those actions and either release them immediately, or issue an official arrest warrant," the letter emphasizes.

Civil Assistance Committee is a well-known Russian humanitarian and human rights organization headed by Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the Presidential Council for assisting the development of civil society and human rights institutions in Russia.

The Association of non-governmental organizations (Chechnya) also reports about abductions of other local residents. According to the information of this association four young men were seized and taken away by armed men in uniform in the Duba-Jurt village around 10 days ago. Their whereabouts are still unknown. On April 13, 2006, 38 y/o Beslan Turpulkhanov, a resident of Grozny, was reported missing under unclear circumstances. All the attempts of his relatives to determine where he is and what has happened to him have been unsuccessful.