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Testimonies of those detained in Samashki on april 7-8, 1995
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- 33. Another six teenagers
- 35. Makhmudemin Denisultaevich IZIEV
- 36. Adam Ibragimovich HABUEV
- 39. Over 15 other villagers from Samashki
- 40. A villager from Misker Urt who requested anonymity
- 41. A villager from Shali who requested anonymity
Testimonies of those detained in Samashki on april 7-8, 1995(Interviews taken by Human Rights NGO Observer Mission) In the course of the Russian MVD (interior troops, OMON, special units) operation to seize control of the village of Samashki on April 7-8, men in the village were detained and transported on foot to an army unit base at a former shooting site in the hills of the Sunzha mountain range, about 2-3 kilometers north of the village. There the detainees were sorted out and sent to two places of detention. Some were loaded into trucks one over another and taken to the concentration center at a field command point near Assinovskaya. Others were transported by helicopters to Mozdok FC. The interviewees use the word «servicemen» though, apparently, they could not distinguish militia officers from interior troops. Neverthless, most villagers from Samashki reported that mostly contract soldiers or militia officers were responsible for the atrocities, rather than young soldiers on active duty.
32. Leche BUNKHOEV(A villager from Samashki, born in 1977; interview taken by Memorial member A.Blinushov in Sernovodsk on 10.4.95.) On April 10, several teenagers returned from Mozdok FC to Sernovodsk, near Samashki. They had been detained in the morning of April 8 along with men. Bunkhoev was among the detainees. He was the only one who agreed to give personal testimony. Other teenagers were afraid to be cited by name. According to Bunkhoev, the detainees were brought to an army unit base north of Samashki. They were beaten and some were set upon by dogs; several people were seriously bitten. Then the detainees were brought to Mozdok by helicopter. During the flight they were beaten again. In Mozdok they were taken to FC, upon arrival to FC the detainees were led along a line of soldiers who beat them with clubs and rifle butts. Beatings continued in the FC itself. Cells were overcrowded. One can of water for 4 people was given once a day. The detainees were beaten during interrogations; they demanded that a detainee confess to being a fighter or tell the names of Dudaev fighters. In the morning of April 10, six teenage detainees were released. At the time of the interview, Bunkhoev’s face was black and blue and there were signes of dog bites on his body.
34. Ruman SULEIMANOV(19-year-old; lives in Samashki at 100 Proletarskaya St. Interview taken in Samashki by Memorial members A.Gurianov and A.Blinushov on April 16 and 22 respectively.) According to Suleimanov, on April 8, soldiers came to his family’s house and ordered everyone out. Suleimanov and his younger brother Adlan (16 years old) were heavily beaten in the yard. Suleimanov was detained, forced to take off his clothes and footwear, and taken to a Russian army unit base along with other detainees (about 80 people). The base was located in the Sunzha mountain range, several kilometers north of Samashki. According to Suleimanov, those who fell behind were shot; the soldiers made the detainees put a stretcher with a wounded man on the ground and shot him when the group of detainees was 10 meters away. He was not an eyewitness to that because they were not allowed to look back. They were beaten on the way: Suleimanov was beaten himself and saw other detainees from Samashki being beaten. At the army unit base small groups of the detainees were taken aside, beaten and deliberately attacked by dogs. People were forced to crawl on the ground. When beating, the soldiers asked questions like, «Where is Dudaev? Which roads does he move along?» That same day the detainees who had been brought to the base were loaded into a truck one over another, covered with boards and taken somewhere, soldiers sitting over them. Suleimanov and four young detainees were taken in an APC. Beatings and humiliations continued there. In Sleptsovskaya they were interrogated by a man who was wearing no insignia but pretended to be a General. The four detainees, having told the interrogator that they were teenagers, were ordered released. On April 16, Suleimanov was telling his story lying in an improvised bed on the floor. He was feeling ill during the conversation, he may have had high temperature. Sometimes he moaned with pain when moving. His left side and leg were bandaged to a board, his back and waist were black and blue after the beatings, partly his chest also. Medical care was provided by a group of doctors (apparently, MSF) who came to Samashki on April 15. Then he was taken by car to a hospital in Sleptsovsk. Suleimanov repeated his story on April 22, when he came back from the hospital. He learned there that he had three broken ribs and a split in the thigh-bone. 35. Makhmudemin Denisultaevich IZIEV(Interview taken by Memorial members A.Blinushov and A.Gurianov in Sernovodsk on 20.4.95; State Duma members S.Kovalev, V.Borschev and Iu.Rybakov were also present.) Iziev lives in Samashki at 22 Proletarskaya St. On April 7, he fled the village with his family. They passed the first MVD checkpoint on the way from Samashki to Sernovodsk safely; however, at the second checkpoint Iziev was detained along with other male villagers. He had his passport with him. Some of the men were then released, the rest had their eyes blindfolded, hands tied or handcuffed and without any explanations put into a helicopter. They were taken out, apparently, near Assinovskaya and brought to some hole. There was a prison car there; they were placed in this car. According to Iziev, there were already 3 men, heavily beaten. In the car the detainees could take their eye bandages off, but whenever the doors were opened their eyes had to be bandaged again. Iziev was taken from the car to interrogations with his eyes bandaged. The interrogations were carried out in another hole nearby. Beatings were routine during interrogations; mainly on the kidneys and in the chest. They were attempting to force Iziev to confess that he was a fighter, demanded that he show where he had hidden his weapons, etc. According to Iziev, the interrogators were saying, «There shouldn’t be the word ‘no’. You are all Chechens — you must all have weapons.» They were suggesting signing some document not telling its contents. Torture with electric current was also used. They attached wire to the detainee’s neck, someone would shout «turn», and an electric shock followed. Once the wire was placed into the mouth. Iziev had burns on his neck. He lost consciousness several times during the interrogations. Iziev witnessed how other people were taken out of the car for interrogations; they came back beaten. The detainees were given neither food nor water. According to Iziev, among other detainees at FC there were: one disabled (without a hand) — Karnukaev (beaten) and elderly men (Issa Kariev had been kept there for 9 days by the time Iziev was brought). The elderly were released two days later. On April 10, the detainees were put into a helicopter and brought to Mozdok. They were beaten there and taken to FC. They were beaten again during interrogations and threatened with being shot. The investigator did not take part in the beatings, staying for this time in another part of the investigation carriage. Iziev heard similar things happening in adjacent compartments. The questions were all the same as before; in addition, they suggested signing a document without reading it or confession that it had been the fighters who started shooting from the village. Approximately on the fourth day, a Russian man Albert Kul’kov, apparently mentally ill, was brought to FC (the intreviewee could not recall his name exactly). He was heavily beaten; they wanted him to confess to being a sniper. After the interrogation he was brought unconscious to the adjacent cell of the carriage. He stayed unconscious for 24 hours; then, according to the guards, he was taken to hospital. Medical care was limited to a general examination by a military doctor; he would give iodine and one tablet for all diseases. When a man told him about broken ribs he just gave bandage for the guy to do it himself. Detainees in relatively good health were taken to load-unload rail cars and to cut firewood. Iziev was released on April 18. His passport was returned to him. 36. Adam Ibragimovich HABUEV(Interview taken by Memorial members A.Blinushov and A.Gurianov in Sernovodsk on 20.4.95; State Duma members S.Kovalev, V.Borschev and Iu.Rybakov were also present.) Habuev, born in 1957 in Kentau (Chimkent region), lives in Chimkent at 13 Lenin Ave., apt.54, Kazakhstan. According to him, he came to Samashki shortly before April 7 to take his relatives out. He was detained in the relatives’ house in Samashki on April 8. The soldiers tore up his passport (VI-ОЖ N 576322 issued by Dzerzhinsky district MVD office in Chimkent). We were shown what was left of the passport and was picked up by the relatives. Along with other male detainees, Habuev was taken to a military unit base north of Samashki. People were beaten on the way, they shot a wounded man who was carried on a stretcher by relatives [Habuev was not an eyewitness to the execution]. Large men were deliberately taken aside at the «camp», beaten and attacked by dogs. All this was overseen by a General who had previously participated in negotiations with Samashki inhabitants at a checkpoint on the road to Sernovodsk. Habuev was released thanks to his personal acquaintance with one of the officers and returned to Samashki. That same day, while driving out of Samashki with his neighbours and relatives he was detained again: this time at a checkpoint between Samashki and Sernovodsk (all men were detained — 12 people aged 16-56). He was taken to a concentration center near Assinovskaya. The detainees were kept in earth holes there. Their eyes were blindfolded, they were not allowed to raise their heads; under threat of beating and by throwing stones they were forced to stay motionless for long periods of time. The soldiers used to come down and beat the detainees. After 24 hours, some of the detainees were put into a helicopter. Habuev together with 28 other detainees was put into a truck. They were forced to make all the way to the truck on their hands and knees through a line of soldiers who were beating them and setting dogs on them. They were told that they would be shot. The truck took them to the Sunzha mountain range between Samashki and Sernovodsk. There the detainees were released; they were left free in their choice to go to either village.
37. Ahmed SHAMSAEV(Interview with this villager of Samashki was taken at a crossroads at the entrance to the village on April 19.) On April 7, his elder brother (34 years old) was wounded during an artillery attack. On April 8, the witness and his brother were detained in their house. Along with others, they were taken to an army base north of Samashki (he referred to as a «camp»). Shamsaev reported that on the way to the «camp» the soldiers shot his brother. According to Shamsaev, there were 134 detainees when counted in the «camp». Detainees were laid on the ground and «sorting out» began. The people on the ground were set upon dogs with a command «foe». Sixty-eight people, including Shamsaev, were taken to Mozdok FC. When they were taken to the trucks they were led along a line of soldiers, who beat them and set dogs on them (most detainees from this group got bitten). According to Shamsaev, treatment was «more or less humane» in Mozdok FC. Detainees were sometimes beaten only when taken to interrogation at night. He has no complaints about food: they were given dry bread, occasionally canned food — one can for five people, and water. 38. Berdy ARSAEV(Interview taken by Memorial members A.Blinushov and A.Gurianov in Sernovodsk on 20.4.95; State Duma members S.Kovalev, V.Borschev and Iu.Rybakov were also present.) Arsaev, born in 1953, lives in Samashki at 100 Rabochaya St. He was detained in his house on April 8. Along with other male detainees, he was brought to a bakery. They were made to take off their clothes, except trousers, and shoes. Then, surrounded by several armoured vehicles, they were forced to go to the «camp» (the villagers refer to an army unit base at a former shooting stand in the hills of the Sunzha mountain range several kilometers north of the village). People were forced to run; those who fell behind were kicked and beaten with rifle butts. According to this witness, one wounded villager (Albi Shamsaev, nickname Dudu) was carried in the convoy by his brother and cousins. The guards forced them to put the stretcher on the ground while still in the village, near the railway station. After that there was a shot: the witness suggested that the wounded had been killed. According to him, those who fell behind and fell on the ground were shot. But he failed to prove this allegation: he did not see it with his own eyes because they were not allowed to look back; besides, shots could hardly be heard in the noise of the APC. In the «camp», all detainees were laid on the ground. The soldiers were walking with the dogs among the detainees.6 Some people were taken aside and beaten. A group of detainees, including Arsaev, was led to the trucks. The soldiers started beating people heavily and set dogs on them. Arsaev was bitten twice, he got several blows and lost consciousness. He recovered in the truck where people were laid in four layers. Then they were taken to Mozdok by helicopter. Detainees were beaten both during the embarkation and during the flight. In Mozdok most detainees could not walk on their own. Nevertheless, detainees were beaten again when put in the FC carriages. They were given food only 36 hours after arrival at FC: dry bread, sometimes canned porriage. There were 18 people in the compartment. At night drunk guards would take out and beat some detainees. Arsaev was not beaten during interrogation: he knows that only some detainees were. Detainees were asked, «Who was a fighter, where were their positions, who started shooting first?» ICRC representatives visited the FC. Before the visit the guards were threating the detainees, trying to prevent their complaints, «They will go and you will stay here.» A doctor used to come to the carriage and examine the detainees on request: he was applying iodine to dog bites and bruises from beatings not registering such injuries. Arsaev was released on April 14, he was given a no grievance statement to sign.
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(Interview record provided by Mr.Dennekamp, an ICRB-Dutch Radio Moscow bureau correspondent, and Mr.Lanting, a Volkskrant correspondent. The authors of this report have the name of the witness on record.) According to the witness, his nephew, a mentally retarded young man, left his home on April 8 and never returned. The man turned to every authority in Shali district, including commanders of the Russian Army units there. Local residents know that at the 506 Mechanised Brigade base detainees are kept in earth holes. The witness spoke with officers from the Brigade who confirmed the information. Brigade officers claimed that the young man had been detained with a grenade launcher. However, according to the witness, his nephew «does not even know what the automatic rifle is and could not be armed with a grenade launcher». The detainee may have been transferred to Grozny FC. Eventually, he was exchanged for Russian POWs and his uncle (the witness) brought him home on May 18. The correspondents saw the witness’s nephew and had the impression that he could not adequately realise what was happening around. There were bruises on his face and body, signs of handcuffs on wrists and ankles and a wound in the back of his head.
A villager from Shali reported to the correspondents that on May 15 he was driving in his own car towards Teri Urt. He was detained at an MVD checkpoint because of «invalid identity». The witness had his eyes bandaged, was put into an APC and brought to an army base near Shali. There he was kept in a hole 2 by 3 meters, according to his estimates, together with about 20 people. After 18 hours he was released without a single interrogation. The victim reported extortion on the part of the guards, who were offering release for money. When the witness came to the checkpoint where his car had been left, he saw that it had been robbed: the radio had been stolen, etc.
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