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24 MAY 2024
A Wave of Mass Abductions by Security Forces in Chechnya
24 MAY 2024
Our sources confirmed that between May 6 and 14 , 2024, 80 to 90 people were abducted
Protest in Oslo demanding an end to abductions in Chechnya, photo: "Kavkaz.Realii"
Chechen Telegram channels report a wave of mass abductions of residents by security forces. With the help of volunteers, we gathered information about the reasons and circumstances of the events, as well as the identities of the abducted individuals.
What happend
Since May 6, information about mass abductions in the republic has been circulating on the Chechen internet. For instance, the Telegram channel "Adat," recognized as extremist in Russia, reported at least 41 abductions in various districts of Chechnya — 37 people in Shali, two in Grozny, and one each in Urus-Martan and Achkhoy-Martan districts.
Bloggers link these abductions to a video published on May 6 by several Chechen Telegram channels. The video shows an unidentified man, whose face is blurred, setting fire to a "Lada-Niva" car with the name "Dustum"* on its license plates. This was a callsign used in his youth by Ramzan Kadyrov, and recently, his son Adam has also been called "Dustum."
It can be assumed that the owner of the car with such plates wanted to demonstrate loyalty to the authorities, while the arsonist, on the contrary, expressed his protest. The incident allegedly occurred in one of the districts of Grozny.
Identities of the abducted
Volunteers from the Human Rights Defence Center "Memorial" interviewed local residents. Our sources confirmed that from May 6 to May 14, 2024, Chechen security forces (the specific departments are unknown) indeed abducted 80 to 90 people. We were able to identify only some of them.
In the village of Goyskoye, Urus-Martan district, at least six people were abducted. One of them is Arbi Borchashvili. Previously, he was forcibly sent to the war in Ukraine, where he was wounded and returned home last year, and is allegedly at the front again now.
In Gudermes, security forces abducted Abubakar Tsakayev, and in the Grozny district Ippodromny, they abducted Jabrail Dautkhadzhiev. "Adat" reports that the latter wore the same jacket as the car arsonist.
In the village of Starye Atagi, Urus-Martan district, on May 9, security forces abducted about fifty members of the Elmurzaev family. Among the abducted are elderly people and women, including the pregnant sister of Saif-Islam Elmurzaev, who is reportedly considered the main suspect in the arson. It is reported that initially, Saif-Islam's relatives were taken as hostages, but the abductions continued even after his "detention." Elmurzaev's mother was in Ukraine on a civilian work contract. She was also brought home and detained. The current whereabouts of the Elmurzaevs are unknown.
According to information obtained by "Memorial" volunteers, security forces abducted more than thirty people in the town of Shali. "Adat" reported 37 abducted in Shali. All abducted individuals, according to our data, were taken to Grozny, where they were held at the base of a transportation special task police force (OMON) of the Rosgvardiya.
On May 13, we received information that the abducted from Shali, except for four, were transferred to the police department for the Shali district. Yusuf Akhmatov, Umar Aliyev, Ruslan Ebishov, and Abdusalam (last name unknown) were left in Grozny. It is also reported that from the house of one of them, the abductors took a hunting smoothbore rifle. The security forces sawed off the barrel and stock of this rifle and charged the abducted person with possession and manufacture of firearms.
It is also reported that on May 11, another resident of Shali, Jabrail Javatkhanov, was abducted. Relatives are demanded to bring back Jabrail's brother, who is in one of the European countries.
On May 7, a video recording was circulated in the Chechen segment of the internet, showing a young man found hanged under a bridge. Our sources confirmed that this is a resident of Shali, Deni Muslimovich Zarmaev, born in 2003. Two days earlier, he left home for school but did not return. The bridge where the body was found is two kilometers from Zarmaev's home. It is not yet known whether this was a murder or suicide and if it is related to the car arson. We also do not know if all or only some of the abductions are connected to the arson.
Sources from the Human Rights Defence Center "Memorial" also reported that on May 5, security forces abducted two more young men in Grozny — natives of Shali and the village of Agishty in the Vedensky district. It is likely that these two abductions are not related to the car arson as they occurred before the publication of the video.
List of abducted individuals**
Shali district:
- Abdul-Kerim Mutsuraev
- Adam Tatahadzhiev
- Im-Ali Kaimov
- Mansur Dadalov
- Mansur Dashaev
- Mehdi Amirov
- Muslim Khusainov
- Ruslan Ebishov
- Salah Khashkhanov
- Sheikh-Mansur Akhmatkhanov
- Yusuf Akhmatov
- Yaragi Adamov
- Adlan Deliev
- Magomed Tuzhaev
- Umar Aliyev
- Bisolta Turaev
- Magomed-Salah Barzukaev
- Iskhak Tsitskulaev
- Khasambek Taisuiev and his brother Abdusalam
- Jabrail Javatkhanov
Ippodromny settlement:
- Jabrail Dautkhadzhiev
Goyskoye village:
- Arbi Borchashvili
- Adam Bazaev
Starye Atagi:
- Mokhmad Elmurzaev
- Mamed Elmurzaev
- Said-Ali Elmurzaev
- Zaynabdi Elmurzaev
- Saidash Elmurzaev
- Sulambek Elmurzaev
- Ayndy Elmurzaev
Gudermes:
- Abubakar Tsakayev
Valerik:
- Ayub Murtazaliev
*In honor of Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Afghan military-political figure of Uzbek origin.
**The list was compiled by Chechen bloggers; we could not verify or confirm the identities of all the purported abducted individuals.
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