Torture, ‘Disappearing,’ Extending Detentions – Moscow and Magas Get Nasty in Ingushetia

Paul Goble

            Staunton, September 3 – The last 48 hours have featured stories from Ingushetia that suggest the Russian siloviki feel their hands are free to engage in ever uglier behavior, including electro-shock torture, “disappearing” those they arrest, and further extending detentions of political detainees.

            At the same time, a Magas court has shown no willingness to pursue justice concerning female genital mutilation by combining two cases that have been brought against doctors involved so that the senior one would face what appear to be entirely justified more serious charges alongside the medical man who performed this barbaric surgery. 

            That is the kind of behavior one can expect from officials who feel that they can act without much chance that their behavior will attract the attention and denunciation it deserves and with every chance that their bosses among the powers that be will protect them against any criticism.

            The three cases of abuse are as follows: First, lawyers for Babudin Yevloyev say their client, who was detained on August 7 on suspicion of being a militant, has been beaten and subjected to electro-shock since that time in the hopes of getting him to confess to something that is now true (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/353756/).

            Second, the wife of Ruslan Gandaloyev, 45, who was arrested during a counter-terrorism action on August 23, says that the authorities have ceased providing required notification about his location to her and other relatives. She has asked Memorial to try to see what has happened to him in what appears to be the latest case of “disappearance” (kavkazr.com/a/30818655.html).

            And third, the Nalchik city court extended the detention of Zuarbek Dzaurov until September 25. He is among those charged with using force against the siloviki during the March 2019 protests (fortanga.org/2020/09/sud-prodlil-arest-uchastniku-ingushskih-protestov-zaurbeku-dzaurovu/).

            The authorities had a chance to recoup their reputations by agreeing to combine the cases of two doctors charged with involvement in the female genital mutilation case that has attracted so much attention. By putting the cases together, the two would face the same charges and potential sentence; but the court refused (kavkazr.com/a/30818901.html).