URGENT ACTION: WOMAN ABDUCTED IN CHECHNYA

Zarema Gaisanova, a 39-year-old Chechen woman, was abducted on 31 October in the Chechen capital, Grozny, in the Russian Federation's North Caucasus region. It appears that law enforcement officials may have been responsible for her abduction. She has not been seen since then. Zarema Gaisanova's mother was told by a representative of the Public Prosecutor's office that she was alive, but he could not give her more information.

According to neighbours, people they believed to be law enforcement officials in camouflage uniforms searched the house next to the home of Zarema Gaisanova on the afternoon of 31 October. The officials shot at the neighbouring house, and then started to shoot at Zarema Gaisanova's house, which then caught fire: a large part of it burned down.

Zarema Gaisanova's mother said that witnesses had told her that law enforcement officials had taken a woman out of the house, in a pink housedress like her daughter wore, and had driven her away in a van. Zarema Gaisanova's mother has approached law enforcement agencies, including the police and the Public Prosecutor's office, for information about her daughter. On 9 November she was informed that her daughter was alive but that the Prosecutor's office had no access to her. 

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Russian, English or your own language:

• Expressing concern for Zarema Gaisanova, who was seen being taken from her home by people believed to be law enforcement officials on 31 October;
• Urging the authorities to order an immediate investigation to establish the fate and whereabouts of Zarema Gaisanova, and if it is found to be true that she is in custody, to either release her immediately or charge her with a recognizably criminal offence

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 29 DECEMBER 2009 TO:

Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation
Yurii Yakovlevich Chaika   
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka, 15a
Moscow GSP-3   
125993
Russian Federation   
Fax: +7 495 692 17 25
Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

President of the Chechen Republic
Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov
Administration of the  President and the Government of the Chechen Republic
Ul. Garazhnaia, 10. g. Grozny
364000 Chechen Republic
Russian Federation
Fax: +7 8712 22 45 53
Salutation : Dear President Kadyrov

Ombudsman of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Petrovich Lukin
ul. Miasnitskaia, 47
107084, Moscow
Russian Federation
Fax: +7 495 607 74-70; +7 495 607 39 77
Salutation: Dear Ombudsman

COPIES TO: Diplomatic representatives of the Russian Federation accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The North Caucasus of the Russian Federation remains a highly volatile region. In April 2009 the Russian authorities declared an end to the so-called counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya, stating that the situation in the republic had normalized. However, violence and human rights violations continue to occur and seem to have increased even over the last months. The security forces continue to commit human rights violations, including abductions, torture and other ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions. Attacks on law enforcement officials, which often lead to indiscriminate killings of civilians as well as direct attacks on civilians by armed groups have increased. There are many reports of intimidation and harassment of relatives of alleged fighters. Human rights violations are being committed amidst a clampdown on civil society and widespread impunity for violations of human rights.