Dagestani human rights defender Uma Askerkhanova claims being under pressure

Uma Askerkhanova, the deputy chair of the Public Oversight Commission of Dagestan, appealed to the police after unidentified persons tried to break into her apartment. The activist recognized a law enforcer in one of the attackers and associated the pressure with her activities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in October 2019, Uma Askerkhanova was included in the Public Oversight Commission (POC) for the protection of human rights in places of detention in Dagestan.

At night on August 30, four persons tried to break into the Uma Askerkhanova's apartment, the human rights defender has informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today. "They were almost breaking down the door. But, fortunately, friends of my son arrived in time, and those attackers who were trying to break into the apartment ran away," Uma Askerkhanova said.

On the other day, Uma Askerkhanova noticed that she was being watched: three or four cars followed her everywhere.

The human rights defender herself regards the incident as an attempt to frighten her and exert pressure on her for the active public position. "Due to the nature of my social activities, I visit places of detention and point out violations of the rights of defendants placed to isolation wards," Uma Askerkhanova noted.

Meanwhile, the human rights defender noted that two months ago she had already faced threats.

According to Denga Khalidov, the chairman of the Dagestani public committee "Solidarity and Freedom", the incident which happened to Uma Askerkhanova is a consequence of her "more than active social activities" aimed at protecting the rights of prisoners and convicts.

"Due to her activities, Uma Askerkhanova often had to deal with the 'law enforcement' bodies, which had long turned into offenders. She recognized a field investigator from the law enforcement bodies of Dagestan in one of the attackers who tried to frighten her," Denga Khalidov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 2, 2020 at 06:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.