News

As reported by the Chechen Ministry for Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, the republic's authorities plan to spend 15 million roubles for the ceremony of the torch relay for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. In the territory of Chechnya, the torches with the Olympic Flame will be carried by 40 persons.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found the Russian authorities guilty of violating the rights of residents of Ingushetia in the case of disappearance of their relatives in 2002-2005. The ECtHR has obliged Russia to pay to six applicants more 200,000 euros. This was pronounced in the ECtHR's decision issued on October 10.

Residents of the village of Mutsalaul of the Khasavyurt District of Dagestan have appealed to the Dagestani Regional Public Organization (DRPO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy) with complaints about the facts of unlawful detentions and torture of their relatives suspected of aiding and abetting militants.

Local residents report that water supply has been fully restored in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt and surrounding area. Now, the "Gorvodokanal" of Khasavyurt has a month to pay all the debts to the power company, said Shamsudin Khalitov, the first deputy head of the city administration.

Ingushetia has opened the international conference of Ombudsmen dedicated to the protection of human rights. The leader of the republic promised to resolve till the end of 2015 all the problems associated with housing accommodation of refugees and residents of landslide zone.

Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the Board of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and the chair of the Committee "Civil Assistance", was awarded the Swedish Stieg Larsson Award – the ceremony will take place on November 7 in Stockholm.

The October 9 presidential election in Azerbaijan was not fair, free and democratic, says the joint statement of the Centre for Monitoring Elections and Democracy Training (CMEDT) and the Public Association for International Cooperation of Volunteers (PAICV).

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has satisfied the claim of 40 residents of Chechnya by finding Russia's violation of the rights of the disappearance of their relatives, says the court decision. The ECtHR has ordered Russia to pay 1.06 million euros to the applicants.

Zarema Magomedova, a resident of the Dagestani city of Izberbash and an official of the Dagestani Regional Public Organization (DRPO) "Pravozaschita" (Advocacy) in the Buynaksk District, asserts that local policemen force her to pass a DNA blood test. However, the GOVD (City Interior Division) of Izberbash denies it, saying that they do not collect assays.

Remains of a resident of Grozny, who disappeared after detention by servicemen of federal forces in December 1994, were found at one of local cemeteries.

In Georgia, at the presidential election, three candidates Georgy Margvelashvili, David Bakradze, and Nino Burjanadze occupy leading positions out of all 23 presidential candidates registered by the Central Election Commission (CEC). The majority of candidates have no chance of winning. This was concluded by Georgian political analysts questioned by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Adam Agakhadjiev, an arbitration judge from Chechnya, who was found dead on October 9 in the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR), was heading for a business trip to the city of Yessentuki, Stavropol Territory, says the ICRF. So far, law enforcers have no facts about any conflicts of the judge or the other casualty – entrepreneur Isa Ataev – that could serve as a pretext for the murder, said a source from the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The Prosecutor's Office of the capital of Dagestan requests to declare the multi-storey buildings constructed near the "Russian Cemetery" unauthorized buildings and to oblige developers to demolish them. The court considers claims filed by the Prosecutor's Office to recognize as non-compliant to the law the resolutions issued by the Mayor of Makhachkala that permitted construction of apartment buildings in the land plots in question.

The FSB intends to keep track of phone calls and Internet correspondence carried out by guests of the Olympic Games in Sochi by extending application of the systems of operational and search activities (known as SORM). This was stated by Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, the authors of the journalistic investigation.

Children from families of refugees from Ingushetia and Chechnya affected by interethnic conflicts have returned home after a three-month stay in America. This was reported by Alikhan Akhilgov, one of the organizers of the trip, the leader of NGO "Foundation to Help Formerly Deported Peoples".

In Karabulak, residents of the temporary accommodation centre (TAC) "Promzhilbaza" complain that the city authorities started the forced eviction of residents from the TAC. Starting from the early October, the similar reports also come from other TACs in Ingushetia. This was reported by Timur Akiev, a staff member of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" in Ingushetia.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan, the incumbent President Ilham Aliev wins the presidential race with 84.94% of all the votes.

In Yerevan, the Criminal Court of Appeal has again failed to consider, at its session on the case of oppositional activists of the "Armenian National Congress" (ANC), the petition lodged by the defence on changing the freedom restraint measure of the arrested oppositional activist Tigran Arakelyan. The latter insists that he is persecuted on political grounds and refused from the amnesty.

On Wednesday, in Khasavyurt, where water supply was absent since October 2, it was resumed both to the population and all critical infrastructure facilities, said Nurmagomed Nurmagomedov, an official from the city administration.

The presidential election takes place in the environment of massive violations of the law, the oppositional parties of Azerbaijan assert. In his turn, Mazakhir Panakhov, the CEC chairman, has stated minor violations during the vote, which cannot affect the outcome of the election.