Online conference discusses kidnapping practices in Northern Caucasus

The practices of kidnapping and enforced disappearances in the regions of Northern Caucasus, primarily in Chechnya, are a legacy of two Chechen campaigns. This issue is very acute due to authorities' repressions, but the fight against these practices must be continued. This was stated by the participants of the online conference of human rights defenders, organized by the "Memory Project" team jointly with the "Vyorstka" (Layout)* outlet.

On August 30, the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the "Memory Project" team and the "Vyorstka"* outlet organized an online conference with human rights defenders, lawyers and victims' relatives to discuss the problems of kidnapping and enforced disappearances in Northern Caucasus.

Alexander Cherkasov from the CHRD** has noted that this practices were brought to Chechnya by militaries during the two Chechen campaigns (wars). A new phase was launched in the mid-2000s, when the state delegated its torture powers to local structures.

Mr Cherkasov has also touched on the history of human rights defenders' attempts to combat abductions, singling out Natalia Estemirova, who was also abducted and killed. He has noted that in 2010, human rights defenders were "squeezed out" of Chechnya and could only work based in other regions.

Grigor Avetisyan, a lawyer and an international law expert, has stated that enforced disappearances are experiencing a sort of "renaissance." "This is an absolutely efficient method of political terror," he has added.

Sergey Babinets, the head of the "Team against Torture" (TaT)***, said that the problem of disappearances, kidnappings and torture is "very acute in Chechnya, especially in recent years." There is no positive trend; it has only gotten worse, he has noted.

Among the difficulties of working in Chechnya, Mr Babinets has singled out the investigators' fear to investigate kidnappings involving state servants or law enforcers. In Chechnya, investigators are afraid to investigate cases if "Kadyrov people" are involved.

Besides, according to his story, local residents fear that law enforcers will force them to publicly apologize in front of the video camera.

Liza, whose two sons were kidnapped in 2002 (the younger one was later released, but the older one disappeared), still cannot understand what had caused the kidnappings. "We did nothing. There were no claims against us," she has stated, adding that all these years, law enforcement bodies have reacted with formal replies to all her requests.

In 2000, Seyfulla's father and two uncles were kidnapped by militaries and taken to Alkhan-Kala, where their tracks were lost. "We contacted all the instances, but there was no answer," he said.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.

**As reported on the website of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), the reason for including on March 1, 2024, the unregistered "Memorial" Centre for Human Rights Defence (CHRD) into the roster of foreign agents was the spread of "inaccurate information aimed at creating a negative image of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian Armed Forces."

***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.