Chechen separatism turns into a regional Islamist revolt

According to the Washington Post, heavy-handed tactics by the Russian security forces have helped transform the long-running separatist rebellion in Chechnya, east of Ingushetia, into something potentially worse: a radical Muslim insurgency that has spread across the region, draws support from various ethnic groups and appears to be gaining strength. The insurgency is a key [...]

Human Rights Committee voices concern on Russian Terrorism law.

The Committee was concerned about several aspects of the 2006 Federal Law “on Counteracting Terrorism”, which imposed a wide range of restrictions on Covenant rights; had broad definitions of terrorism and terrorist activity; and lacked procedural safeguards or judicial or parliamentary oversight. In that connection, the Committee was concerned about the large number of convictions [...]

Russia to increase financial compensation for terrorist victims

On the seventh anniversary of the Dubrovka theater siege, Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov said Monday that his ministry was working on legislation to increase compensation for those injured or killed in terrorist attacks “in accordance with the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.”
The law currently obliges regional authorities to provide compensation to victims [...]

Ingushetia Opposition Figure Is Shot Dead in Car

Maksharip Aushev, a longtime opposition figure in the republic of Ingushetia was killed Sunday morning when his car was strafed with gunfire as he drove along a federal highway, adding another name to the list of activists who have been killed recently in the Northern Caucasus. Mr. Aushev is the third human rights figure killed [...]

Human Rights Committee considers state report of Russian Federation

The Human Rights Committee has considered the sixth periodic report of the Russian Federation on measures undertaken to implement the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Relevant documents:

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Thursday 15 October pm and Friday 16 October am

PALAIS DES NATIONS, ROOM XXIII

SR.2563SR.2564

CCPR/C/RUS/6

E
 
| F
 
| R
 
| S
 

CCPR/C/RUS/Q/6

E
 
| F
 
[...]

Russia accuses Georgia of supporting terrorism in N.Caucasus

FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov told a meeting of the national counterterrorism committee that audio recordings found on militants “show that they had worked with Al-Qaeda emissaries in establishing contacts with representatives of Georgia’s special services, who participated in organizing training of terrorists and sending them to Chechnya.”Georgian special services also helped supply arms and funds [...]

Documents on the North Caucasus

English Bulletin by Memorial (30 september 2009) containing a brief description of the key events featured in their news section over the three spring months of 2009 and a few examples of our analysis of the trends in development of the situation in the region. (41 pages)
Council of Europe information report (29 September 2009) on [...]

ICJ Submission for Egypt’s UPR and Russia’s HRC report

Read the Egypt document here and the Russia document here.

Chechnya and Its Neighbors Suffer a Relapse

Explosions and shootings have been a daily occurrence in the region all summer, the NYT reports. Between June and August, 436 people have been killed, compared with 150 during the same months in 2008. And the number of attacks jumped to 452 from 265, according to statistics compiled by the Center for Strategic and International [...]

Russian FSB and Colombian DAS accused of breaching civil rights in huge snooping campaign

According to information from Russia’s supreme court, the country’s security services are engaged in a large scale surveillance operation, which includes bugging telephone calls, steaming open letters and breaking into private apartments.The scale of the operation is breathtaking. In the first six months of 2009, shadowy intelligence officials opened 115,000 letters, and listened in on [...]