News

April 14, 2021 13:37

• Doctors report jump in coronavirus infections in Georgia

  For the first time since January 2021, the number of people infected with coronavirus in Georgia for the past 24 hours has exceeded a thousand people, said Amiran Gamkrelidze, the head of the National Centre for Disease Control and Public Health.

April 14, 2021 11:18

• OMCT claims human rights violations in "Terter case"

  In Azerbaijan, 78 persons were detained and sentenced to terms from 12 to 20 years in prison under the so-called "Terter case", the World Organisation Against Torture (Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture - OMCT) has reported. The detainees were tortured; there are 11 confirmed deaths from torture, human rights defenders have claimed.

April 14, 2021 11:06

• POWs' relatives refuse to unblock administration of Shirak Region

  The relatives of the prisoners of war (POWs), who block the entrance to the administration of the Shirak Region, demand from the authorities to announce the actions taken to free their relatives from captivity. The efforts to return POWs from Azerbaijan are not advertised, so as not to harm the POWs themselves, Nina Karapetyants, a human rights defender, and Naira Zograbyan, an MP, have noted.

April 14, 2021 08:31

• In dispute over construction of mosque in Batumi, court sides with Muslims

  The Georgian Court of Appeal (CoA) has approved the construction of a mosque in Batumi, having found the Mayoralty's refusal to sanction the construction as discrimination against believers.

April 14, 2021 08:17

• Activists find Navalny's office employees who disappeared in Makhachkala

  Eduard Ataev, the head of Navalny's office in Makhachkala, who disappeared on April 12, is serving 10 days of his administrative arrest in Khasavyurt. Murad Manapov, his assistant, was arrested for three days and is in a special detention centre, Ruslan Ablyakimov, an activist, has informed. A policeman came to Manapov's home and took away his passport, but said nothing about his whereabouts, his wife said.

April 13, 2021 22:27

• OPHRD launches a campaign in defence of Elchin Mamed

  The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders called on the authorities of Azerbaijan to immediately release journalist Elchin Mamed and provide him with adequate medical care and treatment. A mother of the imprisoned journalist called his health state severe.

April 13, 2021 22:07

• Advocate finds out whereabouts of Magomed Gadaev

  Magomed Gadaev, deported from France and handed over to Chechen law enforcers in Novy Urengoy, is being kept at a police department of Urus-Martan, but no advocates have been yet allowed to visit him, the “Caucasian Knot” has been informed by Tatiana Lokshina, the associate director for Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division.

April 13, 2021 21:54

• POWs’ relatives block administration building in Shirak Region

  Relatives of prisoners of war (POWs) and of soldiers missed in action blocked the entrance to the administration of the Shirak Region. They demand a meeting with the Prime Minister of Armenia. The problem of POWs remains unresolved despite several meetings with the authorities, the protestors claim.

April 13, 2021 18:44

• Advocate: Artsuev’s relatives refuse help for fear of deportation

  Relatives of Lezi Artsuev, a native of Chechnya, deported from France to Russia, refused the help of an advocate after it turned out that Lezi Artsuev had been taken to Gudermes, his former defender reported. The advocate associates the decision of the Lezi Artsuev’s relatives with their fear of being deported as well.

April 13, 2021 18:28

• Beginning of Ramadan highlights ban on sale of alcohol in Dagestan

  In Dagestan, the ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks during the month of Ramadan infringes on the rights of residents, some local residents note on Facebook. However, their opponents consider the ban justified.

April 13, 2021 13:24

• Greenpeace criticizes plans to build "Dolina Vasta" resort in Sochi

  The construction of the new "Dolina Vasta" (Vasta Valley) ski resort in Sochi is illegal, the Russian branch of the environmental Greenpeace has stated. The construction of a new ski resort on the lands of the Sochi National Park will lead to the destruction of natural complexes, ecologists assert.

April 13, 2021 13:03

• Gadjiev's colleagues hold pickets in his support

  At their solo pickets held in Makhachkala, Magomed Magomedov and Magdi Kamalov, the deputy editor-in-chief and the founder of the "Chernovik" (Draft) weekly edition, accordingly, demanded to set the journalist Abdulmumin Gadjiev free and put an end to the practice of unjustified arrests.

April 13, 2021 11:14

• Chechen Diaspora accuses French authorities of Gadaev's illegal deportation

  The deportation of the Chechen-born Magomed Gadaev to Russia is illegal; his life is in danger, the Assembly of Chechens in Europe has stated blaming Gerald Darmanin, the French Interior Minister, for Gadaev's fate.

April 13, 2021 10:55

• Muslims of Southern Russia welcome Ramadan

  In the evening on April 12, believers in Southern Russia held collective prayers in mosques in honour of the onset of the holy month of Ramadan.

April 13, 2021 08:34

• "Such are the matters": women in Ingushetia are defenceless against domestic violence

  In Ingushetia, it is shameful to be a divorced woman, and it is not customary to complain about domestic violence, while the teip (family-clannish) structure of the society keeps victims from going to the police and seeking psychological support, the founder of the "ING-Attention" fem group asserts.

April 13, 2021 08:17

• Clashes with police break out in Namakhvani

  Policemen have set up a cordon and would not let protesters against the construction of the hydroelectric power plant (HPP) near the village of Namakhvani, who tried to break through the cordon. One of the women-defenders of the Rioni River Gorge lost consciousness in the clash.

April 12, 2021 22:39

• Two activists of Navalny’s office disappear in Dagestan

  Eduard Ataev, a coordinator of an Alexei Navalny’s office, disappeared after opening an office in Makhachkala. Today, Murad Munapov, an assistant to Eduard Ataev, has also stopped contacting his relatives and friends.

April 12, 2021 21:32

• Police rescue hostages in Vladikavkaz

  Today, hostages have been taken in a clothing store in Vladikavkaz. The police detained a suspect, who threatened with an explosion, and the hostages were not injured, sources from the law enforcement bodies report.

April 12, 2021 21:15

• Gadaev’s whereabouts still unknown after his detention in Novy Urengoy

  An advocate and human rights defenders are not aware of the whereabouts of Magomed Gadaev, who was handed over to Chechen law enforcers in Novy Urengoy a day ago, reports today Oleg Orlov, a member of the Council of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*.

April 12, 2021 18:49

• Human rights defenders appeal against refusal to investigate extrajudicial executions in Chechnya

  The details of the extrajudicial killings in Chechnya made public by Suleiman Gezmakhmaev give grounds to cancel the decision to refuse to institute a criminal case on the killings of 27 people, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* announces today. The human rights defenders request the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) to study the testimony of the former Chechen law enforcer and question his colleagues.