Human rights violations during anti-terrorist operations in the Republic of Ingushetia Contents Introduction 3

4. Recommendations

4.1.1. The General Prosecutor of the RF must conduct a comprehensive examination of the actions of law-enforcement agencies and the work of agencies of the public prosecutor's office on the territory of Ingushetia and North Osetia-Alania; an examination of the activities of the North Caucasus division of the General Prosecutor of the RF in these republics; an examination of all cases of illegal armed formations which were investigated in these republics in cases where it is asserted that suspects were tortured and pressured, and in these cases to reexamine these cases with consideration of the new circumstances; and to bring to responsibility those who have treated detainees and arrestees in an unlawful manner.

4.1.2. The practice of the temporary "disappearance" of detainees and arrestees must be ceased at once. In order to reduce the chances of torture and other unlawful methods of coercion being applied to detainees and arrestees, and also in order to provide for the lawful interests of their relatives, the General Prosecutor of the RF must inform relatives of detainees and arrestees as quickly as possible of the locations where the latter are being detained.

4.1.3. The leadership of the FSB, Interior Ministry, and Ministry of Defense must formulate normative documents regulating special operations³⁵ and covering, in particular,

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  readable identification numbers on military vehicles,
  
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  government registration numbers on transport vehicles,
  
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  chest-mounted tags with readable identification numbers on persons conducting special operations,
  
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  when conducting a check and inspection of a household, the introduction of the senior member of the group, who should provide his name and rank to the owner of the household and present him with the relevant documents;
  

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  the necessity of protecting the civilian population located on the territory where the special operation is conducted,
  
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  the necessity of applying the force and means commensurate to the threat,
  
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  the necessity of compensating the damage done by the operation.
  

4.1.5. — state human rights agencies: the apparatus of Plenipotentiary for Human Rights of the RF and the President of the RF's Council on the development of civil society and human rights;

4.1.6. — the President's representative in the southern federal region.

4.1.7. The highest executive authority of Ingushetia must approve a list of jury candidates for Ingushetia in order to guarantee the right of defendants to a fair trial.

Inasmuch as the problems discussed in this report (following the law in detention facilities during interrogation and investigation) concern not only Ingushetia but other regions of the Russian Federation as well, Memorial recommends:

4.1.8. — that the Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation cooperate with nongovernmental human rights organizations working to establish civilian control in detention facilities;

4.1.9. — that representatives of international humanitarian organizations, including the Red Cross, be given access to detention facilities in order to visit detainees under conditions acceptable to the organizations;

4.1.10. — that, in correspondence to the recommendation of the Red Cross, members of families of the disappeared be helped in their struggle for their right to know the fate of their relatives.

4.2. The situation in Ingushetia merits the particular attention of international intitutions of which the Russian Federation is a member, in particular the Council of Europe:

4.2.1. –in the analysis by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of the situation in the armed conflict in the North Caucasus;

4.2.2. –in the monitoring by Council of Europe of Russia’s compliance with its obligations as a member of the organization;

4.2.3. –in the analysis of the problem of enforced disappearances by the Commission for Human Rights and Legal Issues;

4.2.4. –during inspections on the territory of the Russian Federation by the Commission for the Prevention of Torture of the Council of Europe. A special attention should be paid to detention facilities in Ingushetia and North Osetia such as the preliminary detainment facility in Vladikavkaz, the UBOP in Republic North Osetia-Alania and Ingushetia, the Ingush Interior Ministry, the Ingushetia municipal police department, and the Ingush branch of the FSB in the city Magas.

4.2.5. Memorial recommends that the European Court on Human Rights in Strasburg assign a high priority, according to Rule 41 of the Court's charter, to a review of the cases of people who have disappeared after their detention by law-enforcement agents of the Russian Federation and Ingushetia.

4.2.6. The situation in Ingushetia must be accounted for by special organs of the UN in reviewing the Russian Federation's reports of its compliance with a series of international agreements on human rights, in particular the Convention Forbidding Torture and the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights.

4.2.7. The staff of the UN special rapporteur for enforced disappearances should apply available urgent procedures in cases of people who have disappeared after being detained by members of Russian and Ingush law-enforcement agencies.

4.2.8. It is all the more obvious that official observers must be deployed to the zone of armed conflict in the North Caucasus to review cases of torture, extrajudicial executions, and the disappearance of people. In this context, they should give particular attention to events in Ingushetia.