Rights defenders promise to help relatives of kidnapping and torture victims in Dagestan

On June 10, in Makhachkala, activists of three human rights organizations received the people who complained about kidnappings of their relatives, security forces and doctors' errors. Unjustified accusations of drug dealing and weapon possession are characteristic of law enforcers in Northern Caucasus, human rights defenders report.

The reception of people was held by Pavel Chikov, the head of the "Agora" international human rights group; Sergey Petryakov, the director of the "Zone of Law"; and Ziyautdin Uvaisov, the head of the "Patient's Monitor" organization.

In particular, rights defenders were addressed by relatives of a local resident, who, according to their story, was arrested in a terrorism financing case and was tortured.

Also, Mr Uvaisov was appealed to by relatives of a child, who died as a result of the wrong, in their opinion, doctors' actions. The family could not get any investigation and compensation.

Mr Chikov has noted that since 2018, Dagestan has had fewer extremist and terrorist cases; therefore, stories about human rights violations are coming to the forefront.

Complaints about the torture applied in law enforcement structures come from all regions, but in the Caucasus they are often "more violent because of impunity," Pavel Chikov has added, noting that "planting weapons, ammunition and drugs are the specificities of Caucasian cases."

Many people complain of torture in Northern Caucasus, but few cases reach the court, said Andrei Sabinin, a lawyer for the "Agora".