10:40, 29 August 2018

Rights defenders condemn Kadyrov for threats

Putin must condemn the statements of Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, with threats against human rights defenders and promises to collectively punish families of alleged members of the armed underground, the human rights organizations Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Amnesty International (AI) and the Front Line Defenders (FLD) have stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 22, Ramzan Kadyrov described as enemies of Chechen people the rights defenders who criticized the activities of the law enforcement bodies after a series of attacks on policemen committed in the Chechen Republic. In his speech at a meeting with law enforcers, Ramzan Kadyrov put the rights defenders on a par with militants and announced that he forbade them to visit Chechnya, the newspaper "Novaya Gazeta" translated from the Chechen language and quoted Ramzan Kadyrov as saying.

"For the past ten years, the leadership of the republic and Ramzan Kadyrov personally have been suppressing the slightest manifestations of dissent, by especially persecuting rights defenders directly or through third persons; the authorities act with total impunity, practicing threats, attacks and murders; and offices of human rights organizations were set on fire," says the open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, posted on the websites of the HRW, AI and FLD on August 28.

As an example, rights defenders cited the case of Oyub Titiev, the head of Grozny office of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial".

Oyub Titiev is under arrest since January 11 on charges of possessing marijuana. He insists that the drug had been planted on him by a law enforcer.

The letter also says that the head of the republic has unambiguously stressed that he considers himself entitled to restrict the freedom of travel of rights defenders. The authors of the appeal treat Kadyrov's intention to close Chechnya for rights defenders as unlawful and unacceptable.

As for Kadyrov's threats to collectively punish parents of alleged militants, rights defenders have reminded Putin that he had claimed that "nobody, including the Chechen leader, has the right to use pre-trial repressions."

The authors of the appeal call on Vladimir Putin to condemn Kadyrov's statement, not to let him realize his threats against both rights defenders and relatives of "any suspects." Besides, rights defenders have "persistently urged" him to release Oyub Titiev.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 29, 2018 at 02:07 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.