Arson of the office of the Human Rights Center (HRC) Memorial in Nazran, Ingushetia, Chechenya

Arson of theoffice

Policesurveillance

Russian Federation

January 19, 2018

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of theFIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in the Chechen Republic, Russian Federation.

Newinformation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sourcesabout the arson of the office of the Human Rights Center (HRC) Memorial inNazran, Ingushetia, resulting in serious damage to three of the office’s sixrooms.

According to the information received, on January 17,2018, at 3.35 am, the CCTV camera of the HRC Memorial office recorded two youngmen, wearing masks and gloves, one of whom was carrying a canister. Thearsonists put a ladder to the roof of the building and climbed to the secondfloor of the office. The attackers also attempted to break one of the CCTVvideo cameras installed on the building on their way to the window of HRCMemorial’s office. The camera also recorded the rapid departure of the twoarsonists. Fortunately, the two attackers could only access three of the sixrooms. The fire brigade arrived quickly at the scene and extinguished the firebut not before three of the office’s six rooms were burnt, destroyingelectronic equipment and documents. The remains of a melted plastic bottle withthe smell of kerosene were found in the office of HRC Memorial Ingushetiaoffice’s Head Mr. Timur Akiev.

Furthermore, it has been reported that on January 15and 16, 2018, Mr. Oleg Orlov, Chairman of HRC Memorial Council, lawyerPyotr Zaikin, who defends the Head of HRC Memorial in Chechnya, Mr. Oyub Titiev who is currently detained,and journalists who have arrived to Chechnya to investigate the case broughtagainst Mr. Titiev are under constant surveillance of the local law-enforcementbodies. For two days, the group was detained five times allegedly forverification of their involvement with illegal armed groups.

The Observatory believes that the arson attack on theoffice of HRC Memorial in Ingushetia is part of a larger campaign against theorganisation in the North Caucasus, aimed at pushing the human rights defendersout of the region. Indeed, these events come at a time when the Head of HRCMemorial in Chechnya, Oyub Titiev, has been detained, put in pre-trialdetention and falsely charged with the possession of drugs on January 9, 2018.The defender and his family were threatened by law enforcement authorities inan attempt to extract a confession. The arson attack indicates an escalation ofthreats against HRC Memorial in the North Caucasus.

According to reliable sources, Mr. Oyub Titiev is nolonger detained at the police station but at the temporary detention center(IVS). He has been able to meet with his lawyers several times. The nexthearing will be held before the Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic whichwill decide upon the appeal against the order for pre-trial detention issued bythe Municipal Court of Chali. The date has not yet been set but the hearingwill take place before February 16, 2018.

The Observatory condemns the arson attack against theoffice of HRC Memorial in Ingushetia as well as the fabricated case against Mr.Oyub Titiev as it believes they are directly linked to the legitimate humanrights work of HRC Memorial in the North Caucasus.

Backgroundinformation:

Inthe morning of January 9, 2018, Mr. OyubTitiev left his home in thevillage of Kurchaloi, in the Chechen Republic, to head to a meeting witha friend scheduled at 9am and subsequently to the office of HRC"Memorial" in Grozny. Mr. Titiev being more than hour late for themeeting with a friend whose identity is not being revealed on purpose, the latterspotted Mr. Titiev on a road between the villages Kurchaloi and Mairtup, nextto the bridge on the river Khumyk. Next to Mr. Titiev were 5-6 traffic policeofficers inspecting his car. Mr. Titiev gave his friend a sign not to approachhim, and after the both cars left - that of Titiev and the second belonging tothe traffic police - he headed to the Kurchaloi District Department of InternalAffairs supposing Mr. Titiev would be taken there. Although he was not allowedto enter the District Department of Internal Affairs, Mr. Titiev's car presentoutside and unofficial sources allowed him to assume Mr. Titiev's detention.

Despite repeated calls, the DistrictDepartment officially kept denying Mr. Titiev's presence. Several hours later,Mr. Titiev's lawyer confirmed that his client was charged under Art. 228 of theCriminal Code of the Russian Federation possessing drugs in large amounts. Ifconvicted, he risks up to ten years of imprisonment. Up to date, Mr. Titiev wasdenied access to his lawyer while his detention had not been officiallyconfirmed by the authorities until 7 hours after his detention whenVice-Minister of the Ministry of Interior of the Chechen Republic AptiAlaudinov confirmed to the Russian Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova that Mr. Titievwas being kept in Kurchaloi police station. Alaudinov promised to Moskalkovathat his lawyer would be able to meet him "soon".

In the context of appalling human rightsviolations in Chechnya, such as the right to access to a lawyer, widespread useof torture and ill-treatment, regular enforced disappearances and summaryexecutions, murders of human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers andlife-threatening risks they take by continuing their work, the Observatoryfears that the abduction of Mr. Titiev and charges against him are aretaliation for his work.

Thisis the third time Chechen law enforcement use trumped up charges of drugpossession to silence critical voices.

In2014, the Urus-Martan Town Court of the Chechen Republic found the historianand head of an independent Chechen group Mr. Ruslan Kutaev guilty on dubious drug possession charges andsentenced him to four years in prison. In 2016, Chechnya-based Caucasian Knotjournalist Mr. Zhalaudi Geriev was sentenced to three years inprison on trumped up of drug possession.

Actions requested:

Please write to theauthorities of Russia, urging them to:

i. Carry out animmediate, thorough and impartial investigation into the arson attack onthe office of HRC Memorial in Ingushetia with a view to publishing theresults and bringing those responsible to justice in accordance withinternational standards;

ii. Take allnecessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity andsecurity of Oyub Titiev, the staff of HRC Memorial in Ingushetia and alljournalists legitimately carrying out investigative work in Chechnya, includingby putting an end to all forms of surveillance of their activities by localenforcement officials;

iii. Release Mr. Oyub Titiev immediately andunconditionally, and put an end to all forms of harassment, including at thejudicial level, against him that seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rightsactivities;

iv. Publiclyrecognise at the level of the President of the Russian Federation the crucialrole of human rights defendersas pillars of democracy and watchdogs of the rule of law and publicly condemnall attacks against human rights defenders, particularly in the ChechenRepublic;

v. Comply with all the provisions of theUnited Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular withArticles 1, 12.1 and 12.2;

vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect forhuman rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international humanrights standards and international instruments ratified by the RussianFederation.

Addresses :

• Vladimir Putin, President, Fax: + 7 495 606 3602; + 7 495 625 3581

• Dimitri Medvedev, Prime Minister, Twitter: @MedvedevRussia

• Sergueï Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fax: + 7 495 644 2203

• Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. Fax: +41 22 734 40 44, E-mail: mission.russian@vtxnet.ch

• Embassy of the Russian Federation in Brussels, Belgium. Fax: +32 2 374 26 13. E-mail: amrusbel@skynet.be

• Permanent Representation of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe, France. Fax: (+33) (0) 3 88 24 19 74. Email: russia.coe@orange.fr

Please alsowrite to the diplomatic representations of Russia in your respective countries.

***

Paris-Geneva,January 19, 2018

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is tointervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanismimplemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel andfax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22809 49 29