Chechen SC refuses to re-open investigation into disappearance of Movsar Umarov

A mother of Movsar Umarov requested the law enforcement bodies to resume the investigation into the case on her son’s disappearance in the summer of 2020, but the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya rejected the request, a lawyer of the “Team Against Torture”* reported.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that relatives of Movsar Umarov succeeded in seeking the institution of a criminal case in connection with his disappearance. Movsar Umarov’s mother stated that her son was detained on July 18, 2020, for viewing the blog of Tumso Abdurakhmanov, well-known for his criticism of the Chechen authorities. The mother suggested that he fell victim to an extrajudicial killing. The man’s relatives doubt that he is alive, because they do not receive any news from him.

The mother of Movsar Umarov claims that law enforcers requested her son to help catch the alleged militants and threatened him with a long prison term otherwise. After the special operation involving Movsar Umarov, he did not get in touch with his relatives.

The lawyers of the “Team Against Torture”* once again tried to challenge in the Supreme Court of Chechnya the suspension of the criminal case on the disappearance of Movsar Umarov. “Law enforcers demanded from Movsar Umarov to testify against other people whom he did not know,” Irina Zhizhenkova, a lawyer of the “Team Against Torture”*, wrote on Facebook**.

According to Irina Zhizhenkova, the investigation into the case was suspended a year ago.

The disappearance of Movsar Umarov provoked a public outcry, but Ramzan Kadyrov did not even give formal promises to conduct an investigation into the man’s disappearance, human rights defender Oleg Orlov emphasizes. Moreover, according to a brother of disappeared Musa Umarov, Chechen law enforcers demanded from the disappeared man’s relatives stop complaining about the disappearance of Movsar Umarov after his detention.

*The “Team Against Torture” (formerly the “Committee Against Torture”) was created by lawyers who previously worked for the “Committee Against Torture” (CaT), which was included in the register of NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.

**On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoi Court of Moscow banned the activities in Russia of the Meta Company, owning Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, in connection with extremist activities.