Report on abductions and other human rights violations in the North Caucasus and Ukraine sent to the UN
Forced abductions and arrests with other violations of human rights are actively practiced in the North Caucasus. This is stated in the joint report of "Memorial" and "Justice Initiative", sent to the UN.
The document states that the Russian security forces kidnap victims to intimidate them, obtain the necessary testimony or take revenge. Those arrested are tortured. Abductions can be accompanied by trumped-up charges.
The risk group includes those suspected of links with terrorism and participation in illegal armed groups, as well as persons who criticize the authorities, or their relatives. For example, on October 31, 2019, Islam Nukhanov published a video on YouTube showing a luxurious district of Grozny, where high-ranking officials and relatives of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, lived. The next day, the police abducted him and placed him in the basement of the Grozny District Department of Internal Affairs. He was tortured and interrogated and then sentenced to four years in prison.
The report also provides information about illegal detentions of civilians by Russian security forces in eastern Ukraine.
