Zarema Bagavutdinova

Last updated
Zarema Bagavutdinova
Born
Zarema Bagavutdinova

1968 (age 54–55)
NationalityRussian
OccupationHuman rights activists

Zarema Bagavutdinova (born 1968) was a member of a Dagestan regional human rights group, "Pravozashchita" or "Human Rights Defense." [1] She was imprisoned in July 2013 on charges of recruiting on behalf of an armed Islamic insurgency in the region of Dagestan. [2] She was sentenced to five years of incarceration.

Contents

Bagavutdinova has been named a political prisoner by several NGOs, citing contradictory facts presented as evidence and lack of material evidence. Human rights groups note that Bagavutdinova had made several critical remarks about Russian security services prior to her arrest. [1]

Activism

A map of Dagestan Dagestan map.svg
A map of Dagestan

The Northern Caucasus region of Dagestan contains dozens of ethnic groups and languages.[22] It has been dogged by conflicts between the Islamic Sufis, who recognise the state, and Salafis, who reject secular rule.[22] This conflict has led Dagestan to the highest levels of violence in the North Caucasus republics.[23][24] The Russian Interior Ministry stated that of the 399 terrorist crimes in the North Caucasus in 2013, 242 were in Dagestan.[25]

Bagavutdinova's work with Pravozashchita documented and publicized human rights concerns related to Salafi causes. [3] The group had been placed under surveillance and some members of the group had been searched. [3]

Charges and imprisonment

Dagestani police forces charge Bagavutdinova "maintained close kinship and friendship relations with active members of the 'Buynaksk Jamaat', was actively engaged in propaganda of the 'Salafi' trend of Islam, known as 'Wahhabism', and involved in recruiting individuals to join [illegal armed forces]." [4]

Several human rights groups have stated concerns with the way this trial was conducted. The court found its verdict on the testimony of five secret witnesses, two of which were prisoners found with weapons in their homes. [4] One later recanted his testimony. [5] They initially testified that Mamma Dalgatov, a Dagestani, met Bagavutdinova in the department store where she worked. According to the court, Bagavutdinova told Dalgatov to fight jihad against the government. [6] The court claimed that Bagavutdinova cultivated a friendship and promised to marry Dalgatov if he joined the insurgency. Dalgatov was killed in an anti-terrorist action in 2013. [7]

International response

The Institute of Modern Russia and Memorial, a human rights group which Russia has called a "foreign agent," [8] have called Bagavutdinova a political prisoner. [9] The group Human Rights Watch has called Bagavutdinova's trial "politically motivated and unfair." [10]

Human rights groups say that the secret witnesses gave contradictory descriptions of the person alleged to be Bagavutdinova. This included different heights and ages. [5] One witness later recanted his testimony, stating he had made his statements under pressure. [5] Witnesses report that Bagavutdinova had previously been harassed by local authorities for her work on human rights campaigns in the area. [11] They also argue that holding the entire trial behind closed doors is a violation of her human rights. [7]

Russian officials have stated that there is no state process for convicting a person for a political crime. [12] [13] The Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest human rights organization in Russia, argue that while there are no laws against political crimes, there have been cases of politically motivated charges. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Chechen War</span> 1999–2009 conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus

The Second Chechen War took place in Chechnya and the border regions of the North Caucasus between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, from August 1999 to April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagestan</span> Republic of Russia

Dagestan, officially the Republic of Dagestan, is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, along the Caspian Sea. It is located north of the Greater Caucasus, and is a part of the North Caucasian Federal District. The republic is the southernmost tip of Russia, sharing land borders with the countries of Azerbaijan and Georgia to the south and southwest, the Russian republics of Chechnya and Kalmykia to the west and north, and with Stavropol Krai to the northwest. Makhachkala is the republic's capital and largest city; other major cities are Derbent, Kizlyar, Izberbash, Kaspiysk, and Buynaksk.

The 1999 War in Dagestan, also known as the Invasion of Militants in Dagestan was an armed conflict that began when the Chechen-based Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB), an Islamist group, led by Shamil Basayev, Ibn al-Khattab, Ramzan Akhmadov and Arbi Barayev, invaded the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, on 7 August 1999, in support of the Shura of Dagestan separatist rebels. The war ended with a major victory for the Russian Federation and Republic of Dagestan, and the retreat of the IIPB. The invasion of Dagestan served as the main casus belli alongside the series of apartment bombings in September 1999 for the Second Chechen War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic</span> Autonomous republic in the Russian SFSR

The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1991), abbreviated as Dagestan ASSR or DASSR and also unofficially known as Soviet Dagestan or just simply Dagestan, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union. This "Land of Mountains" was known also for having a "mountain of peoples," with more than thirty ethnic groups indigenous to the territory. This region was absorbed in to the Russian empire in 1813 after the signing of the Gulistan Peace Treaty, and subsequently became a breeding ground for early revolutionary fervor in the Russian Revolution due its people's discontent with being part of the empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rappani Khalilov</span>

Rappani Khalilov, also known as Rabbani, was the militant leader of the Shariat Jamaat of the Caucasian Front during the Second Chechen War, in the volatile southern Russian republic of Dagestan. He was killed on September 17, 2007, in a fierce shoot-out with the Russian special forces.

The Borozdinovskaya operation was a zachistka-type operation by Russian forces in Borozdinovskaya, Chechnya, on June 4, 2005, during the Second Chechen War. Members of the Special Battalion Vostok, an ethnic Chechen Spetsnaz unit of the Russian GRU, killed or disappeared 12 people in the ethnic minority Avar village of Borozdinovskaya, near the border with the Dagestan. Representatives of the Russian federal authorities expressed outrage over the incident, and the commander of the unit responsible was convicted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Vilayat of Kabarda, Balkaria and Karachay</span>

The United Vilayat of Kabarda-Balkaria-Karachay, also known as Vilayat KBK, was a militant Islamist Jihadist organization connected to numerous attacks against the local and federal security forces in the Russian republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia in the North Caucasus. Vilayet KBK has been a member of the Caucasus Emirate group since 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caucasus Emirate</span> Former jihadist organisation

The Caucasus Emirate, also known as the Caucasian Emirate, Emirate of Caucasus, or Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, was a jihadist organisation active in rebel-held parts of Syria and previously in the North Caucasus region of Russia. Its intention was to expel the Russian presence from the North Caucasus and to establish an independent Islamic emirate in the region. The Caucasus Emirate also referred to the state that the group sought to establish. The creation of Caucasus Emirate was announced on 7 October 2007, by Chechen warlord Dokka Umarov, who became its first self-declared "emir".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in the North Caucasus</span> 2009–2017 low-level armed conflict in Russia

The insurgency in the North Caucasus was a low-level armed conflict between Russia and militants associated with the Caucasus Emirate and, from June 2015, the Islamic State, in the North Caucasus. It followed the official end of the decade-long Second Chechen War on 16 April 2009. It attracted volunteers from the MENA region, Western Europe, and Central Asia. The Russian legislation considers the Second Chechen War and the insurgency described in this article as the same "counter-terrorist operations on the territory of the North Caucasus region".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lopota incident</span> 2012 armed incident in Lopota, Georgia

The Lopota incident, known in Georgia as the special operation against an illegal armed group in Lopota, was an armed incident where the Georgian special forces engaged an unknown paramilitary group of about 17 unknown individuals which had allegedly taken several people hostage in the remote Caucasus gorge of Lopota near the border between Georgia and the Russia's Republic of Dagestan.

Said Dzhaparovich Amirov is a Dagestani economist and former politician for United Russia who was mayor of Makhachkala from 1998 to 2013. He was detained in June 2013 on suspicion of having ordered the murder of state investigator Arsen Gadzhibeko in 2011. Amirov was suspended from his position as mayor of Makhachkala on 14 June 2013 by the Basmanny Court of Moscow which also ruled that Amirov could be kept in custody until November 2013. He is currently serving a life sentence on charges of terrorism and commissioning contract killings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chechen–Russian conflict</span> Centuries-long conflict in the North Caucasus

The Chechen–Russian conflict was the centuries-long conflict, often armed, between the Russian, Soviet and Imperial Russian governments and various Chechen forces. The recent phase of the conflict started after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and lasted until 2017.

<i>Caucasian Knot</i> Russian news website

Caucasian Knot is an online news site that covers the Caucasus region in English and Russian. It was established in 2001 and Grigory Shvedov is the editor-in-chief. It has a particular focus on politics and on human rights issues, including freedom of the press.

Aliaskhab Alibulatovich Kebekov, also known as Ali Abu Muhammad, was a Dagestani militant Islamist in Russia and the leader of the Caucasus Emirate following the death of inaugural leader Dokka Umarov. Following in the same religious tradition as Umarov, he adhered to the ideology of Salafism. The United States Department of State added Kebekov to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on March 25, 2015. On 19 April 2015, Kebekov was killed by Russian security forces during special operations in the settlement of Gerei-Avlak in Buynaksk. An Avar by nationality, Kebekov was the first non-Chechen to lead the North Caucasus insurgency.

Magomed Aliyevich Suleimanov, also known as Abu Usman Gimrinsky, was a Dagestani Islamist in Russia and the third leader of the Caucasus Emirate militant group.

Evgeny Vasilyevich Afanasyev (1952-2014) and Svyatoslav Bobyshev (b.1953) were professors at the Baltic State Technical University. In 2012, after two years of detention, the two were convicted of treason tied to alleged sale of Russian missile information to a Chinese spy. Russian Federation Courts sentenced Afanasyev to 12+1⁄2 years in a prison camp, and Bobyshev to 12. Afanasyev died in prison. Russia's Memorial Human Rights Center identified the scientists as political prisoners, and determined that their detention was a violation of international human rights agreements.

The 2010 Manezhnaya Square riot trials resulted in verdicts against Igor Berezyuk, Kirill Unchuk and Ruslan Khubaev for violent clashes in Moscow. Each was a member of The Other Russia party, and found guilty on charges such as inciting hatred and organizing the December 11, 2010 Manezhnaya Square riots. Berezyuk was also charged with assaulting a police officer. Human rights groups have argued that the three are political prisoners, and that their imprisonment is chiefly the result of their involvement in the unregistered Russian opposition party, Other Russia.

Sevil Novruzova is a lawyer and activist from Dagestan, Russia.

On the early morning of August 11, 2009, the bodies of Zarema Sadulayeva and Alik Dzhabrailov were found in a car trunk on the outskirts of the Chechen Capital of Grozny. Their bodies had traces of many bullets. Zarema Sadulayeva and Alik Dzhabrailov were kidnapped a day earlier, August 10 afternoon, from their work place, the office of non-profit organization Save the Generation, located in Grozny.

References

  1. 1 2 "The List of Persons Recognized as Political Prisoners by Russia's Memorial Human Rights Center". 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015.
  2. ↑ "Invisible War Russia's Abusive Response to the Dagestan Insurgency". Human Rights Watch. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Too Far, Too Fast: Sochi Tourism and Conflist in the Caucasus" (PDF). Crisis. 30 January 2014. p. 7. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Dagestan: Zarema Bagautdinova's case sent to court". Caucasian Knot. 20 November 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Advocate: witness tells court that Bagavutdinova is pressured by law enforcers". Caucasian Knot. 24 July 2014. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  6. ↑ "At trial in Dagestan, secret witness testified against Zarema Bagavutdinova". Caucasian Knot. 11 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Russia: 5-year sentence for human rights defender Zarema Bagavutdinova". khpg.org. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection group. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  8. ↑ "Russia censures Memorial rights group as 'foreign agent' - BBC News". 9 November 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  9. ↑ "Russia's Political Prisoners: The Updated List". Institute of Modern Russia. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  10. ↑ "Human Rights Violations in Russia's North Caucasus". Human Rights Watch. 28 January 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "Advocate: witness tells court that Bagavutdinova is pressured by law enforcers". Caucasian Knot. 21 March 2014. Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "There are no political prisoners in Russia - Moscow City Court chair". Interfax. Russia & FSU General News. 5 March 2014. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2016. – via  EBSCO 's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  13. ↑ "Putin denies existence of political prisoners in Russia". Russia & FSU General News. Interfax. 31 August 2012. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2016. – via  EBSCO 's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
  14. ↑ "Russia has political prisoners - Moscow Helsinki Group chairman". Interfax: Russia & CIS Military Newswire. Interfax. 3 September 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2016. – via  EBSCO 's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.