Russia
04.09.08
Urgent Interventions

Owner of the Ingush independent opposition website killed

Case RUS 040908
Killing/ Risk of impunity

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and by Antenna International, a member of OMCT SOS-Torture network, about the killing under unclear circumstances of Mr. Magomed Yevloev (born in 1971), owner of the Ingush independent opposition website, Ingushetiya.ru, which featured articles highly critical of the authorities and which the authorities were attempting to close down, on 31 August 2008.

According to the information received, Mr. Magomed Yevloev was arrested by police at Nazran (Magas) airport, where he had arrived on a morning flight from Moscow. According to the information, Ingush law enforcement officials detained him at the airport, put him into a car and drove him away. At around 2.10pm, he was admitted to the Central Republican hospital in Nazran, Ingushetia, with a gunshot wound to his head. He later died without regaining consciousness.

Mr. Magomed Yevloev was reportedly on the same flight as Ingushetia’s president, Mr. Murat Zyazikov, with whom he allegedly had a verbal argument during the flight.

According to the same information, officials have stated that Mr. Magomed Yevloev was detained in order to be questioned as a witness in connection with a criminal investigation. It is not clear what exactly happened between the time he was put into the car and of arrival at the hospital. The prosecutor of Ingushetia has reportedly stated that he was killed by an accidental shot following a struggle. However, other reports question this version. An investigation has been reportedly opened by the Investigative Committee at the Prosecutor’s office of Ingushetia into the incident.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the death of Mr. Magomed Yevloev and calls on the authorities to order a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation at the federal level into the circumstances of his death, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Russia urging them to:

  1. Order a thorough, independent and impartial investigation at the federal level into the circumstances of the death of Mr. Magomed Evloev, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
  2. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to the victim’s family;
  3. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

  • Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 7 095 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru;
  • Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, 103793 g. Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 095 292 88 48;
  • Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, 103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3, Russian Federation, Fax:+70952064855;
  • Vladimir Lukin, Russian Federal Ombudsman for Human Rights, Fax: +7 495 207-53-37;
  • Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Fax: + 7 095 237 49 25;
  • Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Fax:+ 7 095 244 2203;
  • Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44;
  • Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brussels, 31-33 boulevard du Régent, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 513 76 49.

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Russia in your respective countries.

Geneva, 4 September 2008

Kindly inform OMCT of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply.