Rights defenders point to role of Chechen media in human rights violation cases

In Chechnya, there is a trend towards using media to suppress the resonance around high-profile cases of human rights violations, human rights defenders have stated in their comments on the story with Khalimat Taramova, who was abducted from the shelter in Dagestan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 14, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) requested information from Russia on Taramova's case. The press secretary of the Russian President said that the Kremlin had seen publications about Taramova, but did not refer such cases to their competence.

The "Grozny" TV Channel has posted a report with Taramova, in which she assured that she was "absolutely not infringed upon" and "fed deliciously."

Saida Sirazhudinova, a resident of the Centre for Studying Global Modernity Issues and Regional Problems "Caucasus. World. Development", has recalled the cases of Akraman Tataev and Magomed Gadaev. She believes that the plot with Taramova could have been staged.

Tataev's mother stated that he was kidnapped by law enforcers on April 23; he is ill-treated and on the verge of suicide. In June, Tataev's video clips were posted in which he claimed that law enforcers had done no harm to him.

In April, Magomed Gadaev, deported from France, asked for state protection because of the threat to his life. Later, a video appeared on the Instagram where he asserted that he was not tortured.

The case has no prospects, Magomed Alamov, a lawyer of the Committee against Torture (CaT), is sure. "Taramova has publicly stated that everything is fine with her; thus, the abduction case has no prospects," he has explained.

According to his story, there are precedents of refusing to the ECtHR in similar kidnapping cases of Movsar Umarov and Salman Tepsurkaev, whose is still unknown.