Rights defenders criticize investigators for refusing to familiarize Grozny woman with her son’s case

Contrary to a court ruling, investigators in Chechnya wouldn’t allow Eset Umarova to study the case materials on the disappearance of her son, Movsar. Human rights defenders have assessed the investigators’ position as “a mockery of the mother and the law.”

The Visaitovsky District Court of Grozny gas refused to satisfy Eset Umarova’s complaint; she demanded from the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to show her all the materials of the criminal case on the disappearance of her son, Movsar Umarov.

Neither lawyers nor Eset know whether the perpetrators of the disappearance are being sought.

"For three years, neither the lawyers nor Eset know what measures have been taken, and whether the perpetrators of Movsar's disappearance are being sought," the "Team against Torture" (TaT)* reports in its website.

Investigators justify their refusal to allow the mother to study the case materials in full by the fact that the materials contain some "service information." The investigators’ decision was supported by the Visaitovsky District Court and the Supreme Court of Chechnya.

However, the Fifth Cassation Court has overturned this decision and demanded that Eset Umarova's complaint be reviewed again. In April 2024, the Visaitovsky District Court ordered the ICRF to familiarize Umarova with all the case materials, but the investigators "sabotaged this court ruling." The lawyers filed a complaint about non-enforcement of the court ruling, but on June 11, the court dismissed it, the report says.

This only happens in Chechnya.

“According to Article 392 of the Criminal Procedure Code (“Binding nature of the court verdict, ruling and order”, – note of the “Caucasian Knot”), court rulings are binding in the entire territory of the Russian Federation. There is a ruling, it entered into legal force in June 2024, but the investigator wouldn’t enforce it. This only happens in Chechnya, and this is not justice, but mockery of the mother and the law,” the TaT*’s position is quoted in the report.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 18, 2025 at 12:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here. 

*The "Team against Torture" (TaT, formerly the "Committee against Torture" – CaT) was created by the lawyers who had earlier worked for the CaT, which was included into the register of the NCOs performing the functions of foreign agents.