Russian human rights activists discuss human rights in Dagestan

Today, a group of Russian human rights activists, Sergey Kovalyov and Valery Borschov, co-chairmen of the human rights fraction of the "Yabloko" Party, and Sharip Tsuruev, chairman of the regional branch of "Yabloko," among them, took part in the roundtable organized in Makhachkala by Farid Babaev, head of the Dagestan Regional Association of the "Yabloko" Party.

The human rights activists wished to personally listen to the opinion of the residents of Dagestan, whose rights have been somehow prejudiced.

The event was ignored by representatives of the authorities of Dagestan, although invitations were sent to them. Human rights activists have expressed their bewilderment that for unknown reasons Svetlana Alisultanova, the new Ombudsman in Dagestan, has failed to appear.

A shocking case was told by Mamat Baisultanov, a resident of Khasavyurt. According to his story, the law enforcement bodies took his house for the one, in which they were ordered to conduct a special operation to capture militants (houses Nos. 81 and 83). As a result, the pregnant Baisultanov's daughter-in-law was killed, and his son was wounded.

Mr Baisultanov has stated that later, after seeing that they got mistaken, they planted weapons into the yard of his house and then arrested his son. The son was at first presented charges of participation in illegal armed formations, banditism, relations with Basaev and other separatist leaders (finally, he was condemned to 1.5 years of imprisonment for keeping weapons).

The human rights activists have stated that they will collect all the facts about violations of human rights in Dagestan and bring them to the respective instances at the federal level.