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Russian Federation: Women and girls victims of human rights
abuses (selected case studies) - News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
24.Jan.02 - EUR 46/005/2002 - 13/02
I. Women and girls in the Chechen Republic
On the night of 26 March 2000, Kheda (Elza) Visaevna
Kungaeva, aged 18, from the village of Tangi-Chu was kidnapped
from her family home by Colonel Yury D. Budanov, the commander of
a tank regiment, and his soldiers. Colonel Budanov took Kheda
Kungaeva to his tent, reportedly to interrogate her, but instead
he strangled her. A Russian army medical expert later concluded
that, before she died, Kheda Kungaeva had been raped by several
men. The Office of the Procurator General initiated an
investigation into this case and on 30 March 2000 Colonel Budanov
was arrested. He claimed that during interrogation he attempted
to make Kheda Kungaeva confess to being a sniper and that he
strangled her in a state of temporary insanity. Colonel Budanov
was charged with homicide and abuse of power. He was reportedly
placed in custody and in November 2001 underwent a psychiatric
examination at the Serbsky Institute in Moscow; the Institute
supported his claim that he committed the murder in a state of
temporary insanity. At
the end of 2001 the trial against Colonel Budanov was ongoing.
"Irina"*, a 14-year-old girl, originally from
Urus-Martan, died in detention at the Chernokozovo detention
facility at the beginning of 2000, as a result of being
ill-treated and tortured, including being repeatedly raped, by
guards. She had been detained at a check-point while travelling
on a bus. According to witnesses, the girl was among 60 women
held together in cell number 25 in Chernokozovo, who were
subjected to beatings by the guards. Another of these women,
''Zuliykhan'', was seven months pregnant and, although not
beaten, was repeatedly threatened with torture. She was
subsequently released and gave birth prematurely.
Rape of pregnant women by Russian forces
On 18 October 2001 Russian federal forces came to the home of
"Zainap"* in the village of Kurcheloy intending to detain her
husband. When they did not find him in the house, the soldiers
allegedly detained "Zainap", who was eight-months pregnant. She
was taken to the Temporary Department of Internal Affairs (VOVD)
located along with the military command post in the village of
Kurcheloy.
Two women witnesses, who were detained along with
"Zainap", stated that she was repeatedly gang-raped and
ill-treated by Russian soldiers and, as a result, suffered a
miscarriage. "Zainap" was released in mid-November in exchange
for 10 machine-guns, requested by the Russian forces from her
relatives. Upon her release from detention, "Zainap" reportedly
underwent surgery. In line with the strong cultural taboo against
rape victims in Chechen society, "Zainap's" husband refused to
take her back; witnesses reportedly quoted him as saying: "After
them, I do not need her. She is dirty now..."
"Disappearance" of women and girls following detention, including
during military raids
On 4 March 2001 the blindfolded bodies of 40-year-old Nura
Lulueva, her cousins Markha and Raisa Gakaeva and Aset
Elbuzdukueva were found on a dumping site in Dachny village near
the Russian military base at Khankala. According Nura's husband,
the four women regularly travelled from Gudermes to Grozny, to
sell strawberries at the market. The four women were reportedly
arrested during a raid at a market in Grozny on 3 June 2000. From
that time until the discovery of their bodies, their whereabouts
were unknown.
II. Torture and ill-treatment of women in police custody
Alleged ill-treatment of women by police in the Republic of
Kalmykia
Nadezhda Ubushaeva told an AI representative that early on the
morning of 10 April 2001, she and her family of five, including
her pregnant daughter, were forcibly evicted from their home in
the Kalmykian capital, Elista. The family went to the main square
of Elista to peacefully protest. Nadezhda Ubushaeva alleges that
at 4pm that day five police officers dragged her, in the presence
of witnesses, to a police car, beating her with what she
describes as a hard instrument. According to a medical
certificate issued on 13 April 2001, Nadezhda Ubushaeva suffered
injuries to her hips, shoulders and face. She was taken to a
police station and held for about two hours. Continuing her
protest at the eviction of her family, on 4 July 2001 Nadezhda
Ubushaeva, along with two other women, conducted a hunger strike
in the central square, where they were reportedly ill-treated
again by a group of men. The three women claimed that the men
were law enforcement officials, acting on orders of the local
authorities. Nadezhda Ubushaeva reportedly complained about her
ill-treatment to the Office of the Procurator of the Republic of
Kalmykia. AI is not aware of any official investigation into
these allegations.
Torture and ill-treatment of Chechens outside of Chechnya
Zara Isaeva, an ethnic Chechen woman, was visiting Moscow for
medical treatment. On 14 September 1999 she was detained at the
home of her brother along with one of his friends, Musa Vagaev,
and taken to the police station at Zhulebino. Later, her brother,
Zavlady Isaev, was also brought to the police station. Zara
Isaeva stated that during interrogation, police officers
threatened to hand her over to "homeless vagrants" to be raped
and to send her to a women's prison. She stated the police
officers also ordered her to strip naked for an examination; she
was released the following day. She later learned that her
brother and his friend had been beaten and forced to sign a
confession relating to the possession of drugs. The police
threatened that if they refused to sign, the police would arrange
for Zara Isaeva to be raped by "criminals" held at the police
station.
III. Human rights defenders and independent journalists
Ill-treatment and persecution of independent journalists
On 8 June 1998, Larisa Yudina, a journalist and editor of the
opposition newspaper, Sovietskaya Kalmykia Sevodnya (Soviet
Kalmykia Today), was found dead with multiple knife wounds and a
fractured skull in the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia,
Elista. Members of the liberal Yabloko party to which she
belonged, and human rights advocates maintain that the killing
was politically motivated. Prior to her death, she had published
articles accusing the Kalmykian President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, of
corruption. Three men were convicted in connection with the
murder, but the names of those who ordered the killing remain
unknown.
* Various names and identities have been withheld to protect the
victims.
[Amnesty International]
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