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TITLE: Memorial: Chronicle of Crime - Part 1 |
AUTHOR\ PUB: |
DATE: December 2000 |
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At night between 1st and 2nd of December 2000, a building of the Bureau of the Technical Inventory of Grozny was burnt down. The building was located at the Prospect Pobeda, just a hundred meters away from a stationary checkpoint of Russian troops, in the area of intense night patrol. According to the available information, the whole BTI archive was destroyed in the fire. Tens and hundreds of thousands of cases on purchase and sale of houses, apartments ownership documents as well as documents defining the form of ownership will have to be remade now. The locals are confident that the archive was burnt intentionally (on purpose) by those people who had interest in doing so. On the third of November at the second half of the noontime, large markets and bazaars were encircled by Russian soldiers and armored vehicles. At the central city market soldiers started shooting into the air which caused a panic among the people. Soldiers took advantage of the panic and grabbed all goods they liked from counters . "Purges" were also carried out at the Chernorechensky market and the market which is located near the "railway hospital" The same fate befell markets located in the Staropromoslovsky district and in other residential areas of Grozny (mikrarayons). The above mentioned "purges" might have been a retaliation by the Russian Military Command for the killing of a Russian soldier in the 2nd mikrarayon a day earlier. On the 4th of December at about 2 AM, Russian soldiers surrounded a house of the Agayevs' family located in the town of Urus - Martan at Chapayeva street. As it transpired later, they had left behind two APCs some several hundred yards away behind the river Martanka and approached the house on foot. Having broken into the house, they aroused Lyoma Agaev and his son Havaji from their beds. Then, they started a search of the house which was accompanied with the looting of Agaevs' belongings. The soldiers took away everything which constituted any value: Video equipment and money. Having finished the search, they took out Lyoma and Havaji Agaev without letting them put on their clothes. Najmuddin Agaev, Lyoma's uncle, who was at home at that time was shot to death by the soldiers in the street when he tried to find out a reason why his nephew and son were being taken away. Later, relatives of the Agaevs' family tried to find the father and the son. But their quest yielded no results, although both the Administration and the Procurator Office were notified about the incident. On the 4th of December at 6.30 PM Magomed Akhmedovich Gaziev's car was fired on from the direction of the Military Unit deployed opposite the movie theatre "Raduga" in the Staropromislovsky district of Grozny. Apart from him, there were three more passengers in the car. Gaziev managed to drive on forty more meters on flat tires before an APC had come out of the gates of the Unit into the road. A projector light atop the APC illuminated the car. At that, people inside the car deemed it necessary to get out of the car. M.Gaziev and his passengers managed to reach the nearest rubbles. The empty car then was shot at by a big caliber machinegun. After that, soldiers who had got out of the APC set the car afire. The car's owner then had to stay overnight in the nearest house of strangers and his passengers hiding behind the rubble ventured home. The next day, Magomed Gaziev filed a reimbursement appeal the Interim Department of Interior Affairs of the Staropromislovsky district and Grozny Municipal Procurator Office. Suffering from invalidity of the second degree, the vehicle allowed him to feed his family which is comprised of five young children. M. Gaziev's wife was killed in the first Chechen war. On the 4th of February, while trying to defuse a mine along the highway Grozny - Shali, near the outskirts of the town of Argun, two Russian sappers were injured as a result of the blast of the mine. Russian soldiers immediately opened fire from submachine guns and machineguns on passing vehicles and nearest buildings. As a result of the shooting, a resident of the village of Mesker - Yurt of Shalinsky district, a father of 5 children, Abdulbek Sinbarigov, born in 1952 was killed. According to unconfirmed information, a Russian woman and her child were also killed in that shooting. At night between 4th and 5th of December Lyoma Takhaev disappeared in the Staropromislovsky district of Grozny. Next morning his body was found in the street of Pogranichnaya slightly covered by soil, not far from his house where he lived. His relatives counted 27 bullet wounds on his body. They believe that Lecha Takhaev was probably killed by Russian soldiers responsible for maintaining a curfew in the city. Lecha Takhaev was a drug addict and was seen many times robbing belongings which were left behind by people who had left the city. His relatives were informed about his "exploits'. However, they disowned him under the pretext that they could do nothing with him On the 6th of December at 12 PM noon time a Russian military transportation truck "Ural" having approached a crossroad near "The House of Printing" at the gas station" hit a mine. According to eyewitness reports, Russian soldiers in the truck suffered injuries of different degree. Russian soldiers who came to see a dentist were killed at the hospital of Urus- Martan on the 8th of December. Three soldiers and two of the nurses from the military garrison who were accompanying the soldiers were in the dentist's room when two young Chechen guys had showed up. They had pulled on masks on their faces and having opened the door shot point blank in cold blood those soldiers, including the women. Having jumped out of the window of the second floor, they left the hospital. They left with masks on through the (adjacent, adjoining) premises of the Infection Department of the Hospital carrying in their hands weapons of the killed soldiers. The assailants were apparently armed with guns which had silencers on - neither the staff of the hospital nor its visitors heard any shots. Eyewitnesses report hearing only dumb sound. A panic rose at the hospital. An hour later, all the hospital nearby area was encircled by Russian Military personnel. They also blocked off any roads linking Urus - Martan and other nearby residential settlements. A close search was carried out at the hospital. Both visitors and ill heard orders which were given by the Military among which there was such order as: "at the slightest suspicion shoot to kill". Late at night, address "purges" and detentions started (were carried out in Urus - Martan). On the 9th of December, not far from the village of Shaami - Yurt of Achkhoi - Martan district, a local who was grazing his animals found two dead bodies with multiple traces of torture on their bodies and fractured limbs. Feet of the bodies were tied with a metal wire. They seemed to have been dragged through a field tied to a vehicle. Residents of Urus - Martan, who went to Shaami-Yurt to identify the bodies, had identified the bodies of their co-villagers, a father and a son of the Agaevs' family, who were taken away from their houses at 2 AM on the fourth of December. On the 10th of December Lyoma and Havajy Agaev were buried. Procurator Office of Urus-Martan district initiated an investigation of this murder. On the 9th of December after 10.00 AM a blast of a car "Moskvich" of 408 model took place in the village of Alkhan - Yurt at the Ruslan Vakhitov street near the mosque. Twenty one people died in the blast. The list of those killed in the blast continues to grow the as the people injured in the blast continue to die. According to the latest information, the number of wounded people amounts to forty. The circumstances which surround the blast and involve suspects as well as the reaction of the Russian Military Command have caused a diverse assessment of the blast and reasons behind it among the residents of Alkhan - Yurt. Some of them believe that the blast was not an intentional action on the part of fighters, but most likely a criminal negligence of their duties on the part of Russian soldiers. The car stuffed with the explosives remained in the sight of Russian soldiers, who were standing guard at their checkpoints, without causing their suspicion. Although, even an outer look of the car hinted that it was out of order, broken down. Besides, peoples' hassling with moving around the car from one spot to another must have drawn their attention. The situation in Alkhan - Yurt according to the residents of Alkhan - Yurt developed the following way: On December 8 some unknown persons towed a Moskvich from the village of Alkhan-Kal to the Rostov-Baku highway in the immediate vicinity of Alkhan-Yurt. This took place at 1pm. For several hours the car stood in a zone that is patrolled by Russian soldiers. At about 4pm Apti Kharayev, an official of the OMON of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Chechen Republic, together with an unknown person, drove their car, a Zhiguli 6, up to Checkpoint No. 241. After discussing something with the Russian soldiers, they towed the Moskvich to the local mosque. They passed freely through the checkpoint; Kharayev's official Russian government law agency identity document evidently playing its role in this. Something else is also perfectly possible: the soldiers knew him well. Near the mosque, Kharayev and his colleague uncoupled the tow-line and, leaving the Moskvich at the side of the road, drove away. The car stood on this spot until dinner-time the following day. On December 9 the inhabitants of Alkhan-Yurt made known their suspicions concerning the car that had been left on the road to R. Vakhitov, head of the village administration. He, in his turn, contacted the commandant's office of the Urus-Martan district, from where sappers in two vehicles, a Ural and a UAZ, were sent. They were under the command of Colonel Kuznetsov. The soldiers, having cordoned off the area, began an operation to 'demine' the car. One of the sappers, wearing protective kit, led a sniffer dog up to it. It evidently reacted to the presence of explosives. After holding a consultation, the soldiers began to fire at the Moskvich with an automatic rifle, and then discharged a grenade-launcher at it. Failing to obtain the desired result, they placed an explosive device under the trunk of the vehicle, and detonated it. When the Moskvich caught fire, Colonel Kuznetsov gave an order for the cordon to be lifted. People, supposing that there was no further danger, began to extinguish the burning vehicle, pouring water on its bonnet, saloon and wheels. A crowd of curious onlookers gathered. The soldiers hurriedly began to prepare their departure, shouts of 'Let's go, let's go!' were heard. One of the soldiers, probably an officer, as he left the people who were trying to put the fire out, shouted loudly, so that everyone could hear: 'This is what your Wahabbites do!' 2-3 minutes after the departure of the Russian soldiers, the Moskvich blew up. As a result, 20 of the people who were in the vicinity perished. Their names are: 1. Ilyas Viskhadzhievich Kunayev, b. 1951, father of 4 children; 2. Anzor Ilyasovich Kunayev, b. 1973, father of 3 children; 3. Gebayev Elsi Arbievich, b. 1960. His wife is eight months pregnant; 4. Muslim Verdyangovich Umatgeriev. b. 1977, father of 2 daughters; 5. Khuseyn Khadzhimuradovich Gebayev, b. 1962, father of 3 children; 6. Alikhan Berdyangovich Umatgeriev, b. 1985; 7. Magomed-Emin Ruslanovich Rasuyev, b. 1987 8. Ramzan Sadekhovich Rasuyev, b. 1967, father of 4 young daughters; 9. Adam Isayevich Arsamikov, b. 1985; 10. Abu-Bakar Umarkhadzhiev, b. 1976; 11. Saykhan Shaidovich Abubakarov, b. 1960, father of 2 children; 12. Yusup Saykhanovich Abubakarov, b. 1984; 13. Ayndi Akhmedovich Dutayev, b. 1976. His wife is 7 months pregnant; 14. Anzor Lemovich Dutayev, b. 1981; 15. Imran Salmanovich Susayev, b. 1974; 16. Murad Salaudinovich Yusupov, b. 1985; 17. Magomed Vakhayevich Munkayev, b. 1990; 18. Apti Tanayevich Magomadov, b. 1983; 19. Adam Nukayev; 20. Magomed Vakhayevich Matsagov, b. 1990; One other man died in hospital; his name is being ascertained. The statements made by the Russian command, in particular by Valery Baranov, that the people responsible for the explosion have been arrested, are untrue. The only arrest that has been made is of Akhmed Kharayev, whose only guilt is that he happens to be a relative of Apti Kharayev, the Russian law agency official. During the night of December 9-10 Russian artillery shelled a fruit storehouse belonging to the Michurin State Farm in the Urus-Martan district. A direct hit caused the collapse of its overhead cover, which was made of reinforced concrete slabs. This was the only structure on the farm that had not been destroyed during the two wars. Since 1996 the building had been re-equipped as a grain threshing station. Located in it when the shell struck were a winnowing machine, a loader and a small quantity of grain and its waste products. The soldiers of the 245th motorized rifle regiment, who had 'cleansed' the territory a few days earlier, had found nothing suspicious here. Information about the shelling was brought to the attention of the district administration and the public prosecutor's office. On December 10 Russian soldiers riding in a Ural and two BTRs drove up at dawn to the house of the Zubayrayev family, who live in the village of Starye Atagi at the address 103 Nagornaya Street. In the house at this time were the aged mother and her two daughters. Making them stand face to the wall, the soldiers took from the house audio and video equipment, carpets, gold ornaments and expensive crockery. The stolen property was immediately loaded into one of the vehicles, after which the soldiers left. On the night of September 17 this year 70 year-old Salavdi Zubayrayev, the father and husband of the robbed women, was murdered in his room by men wearing masks. It is possible that both these incidents are connected. On December 10 on the eastern outskirts of the town of Urus-Martan near spot where the building of the PMK is located, Russian soldiers beat the cousins Imran and Avalu Khasiev. They live in the village of Goyskoe, which is situated two kilometres from the main town of the district, and are workers in the commandant's company. That morning the cousins had gone out to work. At the exit checkpoint on the outskirts of Urus-Martan they were stopped by Russian soldiers. The cousins showed their official passes. This turned out to be insufficient, however. They were made to stand facing the vehicles and were searched. Then Imran Khasiev was told to undress. He was angered by such treatment and refused to obey the order, saying that he was a soldier of the Russian army just as they were. After he said this, some of the soldiers began to beat him with rifle-butts and boots. He was knocked to the ground. Avalu Khasiev was also beaten. No one knows how this would have ended had not the soldiers of the Urus-Martan commandant's company not appeared on the scene of the events. Local inhabitants had told them about the beating of their fellow servicemen. By this time the Khasiev cousins had been bundled into a car with their hands tied behind their backs. In the course of negotiations the Russian soldiers were persuaded to release the cousins. They were driven to the central district hospital in Urus-Martan. After receiving first aid, Avalu Khasiev returned home, while Imran must still undergo more extensive treatment. On December 10 a routine 'cleansing' operation was carried out in the village of Michurin in Urus-Martan district. Before it began, the Russian command had issued the following ultimatum to the inhabitants of this tiny settlement: 4 automatic rifles, 1 machine gun and 1 grenade launcher must be handed over. The inhabitants were told that then the village would be left in peace. In reply, the villagers suggested that the soldiers should themselves confiscate all the arms they found there. The soldiers did not find a single 'piece' in the village. They did not, however, leave the territory without some 'trophies': the houses whose owners were not present at the time of the 'cleansing' were looted by them. The soldiers even contrived to remove the table from the house of village chieftain Mada Isabayev. On December 13 an explosion took place on a bridge across the river Martanka on the south-western outskirts of the town of Urus-Martan, after a Russian BTR had crossed it. None of the soldiers was hurt, but for them this was sufficient reason to fire on the nearby residential houses. A military column that arrived at the same locality 30 minutes later also fired on the houses. As a result, two of the local inhabitants received bullet wounds. On December 13 Khuseyn Sayd-Khasanovich Visitayev, b. 1933, resident of 32 Stakhanov Street, Urus-Martan, did not come home. He had gone to graze a herd of cows in the garden of the Michurin State Farm, on the eastern outskirts of the town. In the morning of December 14 Visitayev's relatives began to look for him. In the grounds they came across a herd of cows that had been left there overnight. A short time later the herdsman's corpse was also found. He had been shot in the back of the head. Close to the body of the murdered man his relatives saw tracks made by the wheels of a BTR. They learned that on December 13 soldiers of the Russian Interior Ministry forces had been gathering firewood in two BTRs and several ZIL-131 automobiles. They had been seen there by inhabitants of the settlements of Goyskoe and Alkhazurov who had been walking along the road at the side of the garden. More substantial proof that the crime was committed by the soldiers is, however, lacking. A criminal case in connection with the murder has been opened by the Urus- Martan district public prosecutor's office. 13 December. Yunadi Abuyazidovich Bagaev, born in 1968, inhabitant of Urus-Martan, was killed around 5 PM. He was returning home, when not far from school #2 unknown persons shot at him from a passing car using automatic weapon(s). Y. Bagaev was a close relative of Lema, Havazhi and Nazhmudin Agaev, who were killed on 4th of December. He also made a videotape of the corpses of father and son Agaev, showing marks of extensive torture, after they were found not far from the village Shaami-Yurt. The day before his murder, Yunadi Bagaev said that he was conducting his own investigation of above crimes. According to people who knew him, he planned to name Chechens who along with the Russians appeared during the night at Agaev's home. END |