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URGENT ACTION
APPEAL
- From Amnesty
International USA
19 July 2010
UA 162/10 - Fear for safety
RUSSIAN FEDERATION `Magomed Hanmagomedov (m)
The safety of Magomed Hanmagomedov, an investigative journalist
working for an independent newspaper in Dagestan, Russian
Federation, may be at risk after he reported on the
extrajudicial execution of four suspected armed fighters.
Magomed Hanmagomedov is a journalist working for the independent
weekly newspaper Chernovik in Dagestan, a republic of the
Russian Federation. On 9 July 2010, he published an article
about an operation by Dagestani law enforcement officials which
took place in the town of Derbent on 16 June 2010, in which four
suspected armed fighters were killed. In his article, Magomed
Hanmagomedov noted that two of the names of those killed were
initially reported wrongly by the police. He questioned the
official version of the event: that four men in a car refused to
stop and opened fire at the police. He suggested instead that
the driver and his three passengers may have been led into an
ambush and gunned down. He also suggested that people other than
the suspected fighters may have been present in the car.
Magomed Hanmagomedov has posted a video clip, apparently taken
by one of the policemen who participated in this operation, on
the newspaper's website alongside his article. The clip features
the dead body of a young man lying on the ground and covered in
blood, and two other bodies inside a car. A voice apparently
pleading not to shoot can be heard at the beginning of the video
clip followed by a number of shots fired, and the voice of a man
condemning the "borodachi" ("bearded men" – a reference to
Islamic groups, although none of the three corpses appear to
have a beard).
Following the publication of his article, Magomed Hanmagomedov
received phone calls from law enforcement officials expressing
indignation at his article, and a number of mobile phone text
messages from unknown numbers alleging that he was paid from
abroad and working for militants.
Magomed Hanmagomedov has been informed
by a confidential source that the local prosecutor's office
might be preparing a criminal case against him. The Russian
human rights group Memorial has expressed concern about the
safety of Magomed Hanmagomedov.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The security situation in Dagestan has deteriorated
significantly over recent years. Amidst a high level of violence
and lawlessness, human rights defenders and journalists have
been threatened or killed, and disappearances and torture
continue to be reported. Amnesty International has also received
reports of police brutality. In a letter to the Prosecutor
General of Russia on 25 June 2010, the organization expressed
concern about severe beating of a young female lawyer by police
at the police station in Khasavyurt on 17 June 2010, where she
had come to see her detained client.
There are regular reports of ambushes by militants against
police and other officials, as well as of operations against
alleged militants by members of law enforcement agencies,
sometimes in violation of human rights safeguards. Questions
have been raised repeatedly about the credibility of official
reports, particularly those resulting in killings of suspected
militants.
In 2008, a criminal case was opened against Magomed Hanmagomedov,
alleging that his publication had expressed extremist views and
incited inter-ethnic hatred. Although the investigation failed
to prove this allegation and the case was dropped, Magomed
Hanmagomedov’s newspaper was forced to close.
The newspaper Chernovik he currently
works for has also been subjected to pressure and similar
allegations have been made by the authorities against several
members of its staff.
The report Legal remedies for human rights violations in the
North Caucasus Region, prepared by Dick Marty, Special
Rapporteur of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
(PACE) on the human rights situation in the North Caucasus and
published in May 2010, notes that Dagestan has undergone "a
fresh outbreak of terrorist acts which have unfortunately
prompted responses of the security forces which are not always
lawful and productive." The report specifically mentioned the
town of Derbent as an example of "admirable age-old tradition of
peaceable cohabitation of the Muslim, Christian and Jewish
communities based on mutual tolerance" which, however, "is
likely to be imperiled by the rise of extremism and the
inappropriate official reactions."
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as
possible:
- Urging the Russian authorities to
ensure Magomed Hanmagomedov's safety;
- Calling on them to ensure that journalists are able to do
their work, including journalist inquiries and publication of
their findings, without intimidation, hindrance, harassment and
interference;
- Urging them to conduct a prompt, independent and impartial
investigation into the alleged extrajudicial execution in
Derbent on 16 June 2010.
APPEALS TO:
Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan Ali A. Magomedov
Prospekt R. Gamzatova, 7 367000 Makhachkala Republic of Dagestan
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 8722 994439
Salutation: Dear Minister
Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation Rashid
Gumarovich Nurgaliev Ministry of Internal Affairs ul. Zhitnaia,
16
119049 Moscow
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 237 49 25
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Ombudsman of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Petrovich Lukin
ul. Miasnitskaia, 47
107084, Moscow
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Fax: 011 7 495 607 74-70;
011 7 495 607 39 77
Ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak
Embassy of the Russian Federation
2650 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Washington DC 20007
Phone: 1 202 298 5700
Fax: 1 202 298 5735
Email:
russianembassy@mindspring.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals
after 30 August 2010.
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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