Relatives of three men killed during the Russian-Chechen war awarded 200,000 rubles in compensation
The Supreme Court of Chechnya awarded six applicants 200,000 rubles in compensation. In 2000, during the second Russian-Chechen war, federal troops allegedly killed three of their relatives.
According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, in September 2000, residents of the village of Dzhalka in the Gudermes district found Adam Vagapov, Magomed Taymaskhanov, and Sharpudi Usuyev dead. Their bodies bore signs of torture, and they disappeared after being detained by Russian soldiers, the human rights activists noted.
The background is as follows: on September 15, 2000, Adam Vagapov and a friend were returning home from a funeral for an acquaintance and met three soldiers. The latter ordered them to show their documents. The friend had a passport - he was released, but Vagapov left his documents at home and was taken away. Magomed Taymaskhanov was detained on the same grounds when he left his house to buy spare parts for a TV. Several fellow villagers told his parents that they saw him stopped by soldiers. The circumstances of Sharpudi Usuyev's detention are not fully known. On the same day, he was allegedly in the mosque and was detained on his way home.
On September 17, residents of the village of Dzhalka were informed about some burials in the forest belt. They, together with a group of soldiers and the district commandant, came to the site. Eyewitnesses reported that Taymaskhanov and Vagapov were buried in the same hole. It was leveled, and a dead dog was placed on top to kill the smell. Another hole was about twenty meters away - Usuyev was in it, and on top was a cow's head. All three were shot, there were clear signs of torture on their bodies.
The prosecutor's office opened a criminal case, but it was repeatedly suspended. The culprits were never officially found. The Third Appellate Court in Sochi upheld the decision of the Chechen court that the ineffective investigation of the murder was due to the inaction of the investigators.
In addition, on September 8, two more bodies of residents of Dzhalka were found - cousins Kalbek Pashayev and Vakha Kamilov. They went to Grozny to look for work and were detained by contract soldiers. Then they were taken to the Oktyabrsky VOVD. Relatives were told that the brothers would soon be released, but they never returned home.
On September 16, residents of the village of Berdakel found an unmarked grave with two mutilated corpses of men near the road near Khankala. The next day, relatives of the missing brothers went there and identified the bodies of Pashayev and Kamilov. An eyewitness said that the soldiers beat them, threw a grenade at them, and then set the bodies on fire.
