18:49, 12 April 2021

Human rights defenders appeal against refusal to investigate extrajudicial executions in Chechnya

The details of the extrajudicial killings in Chechnya made public by Suleiman Gezmakhmaev give grounds to cancel the decision to refuse to institute a criminal case on the killings of 27 people, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* announces today. The human rights defenders request the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to study the testimony of the former Chechen law enforcer and question his colleagues.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in March 2018, the ICRF issued a resolution refusing to institute a criminal case on the extrajudicial executions of 27 people in Chechnya, reported by the newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” in July 2017. Investigators explained the refusal by the fact that most of the persons from the “execution list” allegedly left to fight in Syria.

On March 15, 2021, the "Novaya Gazeta" newspaper published a part of the investigation into extrajudicial executions in Chechnya from the words of Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, a former law enforcer.

Lawyer Alexander Nemov, working under an agreement with the HRC “Memorial”*, sent a complaint to the head of the ICRF’s Chief Investigating Department for the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD). The complaint appeals against the ICRF’s decision of February 9, 2018, refusing to institute a criminal case in connection with the kidnappings and killings of 27 people in Chechnya, the press service for the HRC “Memorial”* reports today.

"The lawyer draws attention to the important newly discovered circumstances. We are talking about the publication in the ‘Novaya Gazeta’ of the testimony given by former policeman Suleiman Gezmakhmaev, former Senior Sergeant of the patrol-and-post service of the police No. 2 named after A. Kadyrov (PPSP-2). According to the complaint, the Suleiman Gezmakhmaev’s testimony directly proves the commission of crimes by law enforcers and the direct participation in them of a number of top-ranking officials and employees of the law enforcement bodies of the Chechen Republic,” reads the message posted on the website of the HRC “Memorial”*.

"Now, based on the newly discovered facts, we again request the institution of a criminal case. And if we get a refusal, we will go to courts again and again. We have already filed a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR),” said Oleg Orlov, a member of the Council of the HRC “Memorial”*, as quoted in the message posted on the human rights defenders’ website.

* The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the “Register of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent”.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 12, 2021 at 02:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.