CCPR/C/125/D/2524/2015
The facts as submitted by the author
2.1
On 9 January 1995, the author’s brother was arrested in the city of Grozny, Chechen
Republic, by Russian military officers. From 1995 to 2004, the author and her mother
requested information from various law enforcement authorities and public bodies in order
to establish Mr. Magomadov’s whereabouts, all without success.
2.2
The author learned at some point in 1995 that her brother was imprisoned in jail
No. 5 in Stavropol, Russian Federation.1 The Commission for Search and Exchange at the
headquarters of the federal military forces in Grozny informed the author that her brother
had been sentenced to 14 years in prison but never arrived at the location where he was
supposed to serve his sentence. On 13 January 1997, the author received a letter from the
interregional prosecutor’s office for the Caucasus informing her that a criminal case had
been opened concerning the unlawful arrest and detention of Chechen nationals. 2 On 10
March 1997, the interregional prosecutor’s office for the Caucasus informed the author that
her brother had been arrested in Grozny on 9 January 1995 by federal military forces and
detained in jail in Mozdok city, North Ossetia-Alania, until 3 February 1995, when he was
released.
2.3
On 4 July 2000, the author received a response from the criminal investigations unit
of the Chelyabinsk regional police that her brother was not being held in any of the prisons
in that region of the Russian Federation. On 12 October 2004, the author received a letter
from the State Duma (parliament) of the Russian Federation stating that her request for
information had been sent to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. 3
2.4
On 2 July 2010, the author applied to the prosecutor’s office in Grozny with a
request to reopen the criminal investigation for the alleged murder of her brother. On 15
May 2011, the prosecutor’s office rejected the request, as the time limit for a murder
investigation had expired in January 2010.
2.5
The author appealed the decision of the Grozny prosecutor’s office to the courts. On
9 September 2011 the Staropromyslovsky district court in Grozny upheld the decision of
the prosecutor’s office. The author argued that she believed that the criminal investigation
had been opened in 1995 when she first applied to the prosecutor’s office about the
disappearance of her brother. 4 The author appealed the court’s decision to the Supreme
Court of the Chechen Republic. On 19 October 2011 her appeal was rejected.
The complaint
3.1
The author claims that the circumstances of the detention and disappearance of her
brother provide reasonable grounds to believe that he was intentionally and unlawfully
killed by Russian military forces in violation of article 6 (1) of the Covenant.
3.2
The author states that her brother was detained and abducted in territory under the
effective control of the State party and that his fate remains unknown. She claims violations
of article 9 (1) and 9 (5) of the Covenant in that regard.
3.3
The indifference demonstrated by the authorities of the State party to the
disappearance of the author’s brother caused her pain and moral suffering, which can be
qualified as a treatment contrary to article 7 of the Covenant.
1
2
3
4
2
It is unclear whether this information was received orally or in writing. If it was in writing, the
document is not among the materials of the communication.
The complaint itself is not among the materials of the communication and it is not clear whether the
author requested the opening of a criminal case on the grounds of the unlawful arrest and detention of
her brother or whether it was a general request for investigation concerning all Chechen nationals.
The letter of the prosecutor is addressed to the author as head of the “Mothers of Chechnya”
organization.
The author does not provide further details regarding this request.
There is no document among the materials submitted with the communication indicating that a
criminal investigation was initiated in 1995.