Russia: Pre-election Crackdown in Chechnya

(Moscow, August 31, 2016) – Local authorities are trying to silence even the mildest critics in advance of the September 18, 2016 election for the head, or governor, of Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 56-page report, “Like Walking a Minefield: Vicious Crackdown on Critics in Russia’s Chechen Republic,” describes how local authorities punish and humiliate people who show dissatisfaction with or seem reluctant to applaud the Chechen leadership and its policies. The report also details increasing threats, assaults, and detention of journalists and human rights defenders.
To watch video clips by HRW, Mediazona, and Dozhd TV, showing attacks and humiliation of critics, please visit:
1. Video by Human Rights Watch of attack on Igor Kalyapin, head of the Joint Mobile Group, during a joint news conference with Human Rights Watch discussing the use of collective punishment against families of alleged insurgents in Chechnya. Moscow, Russia, December 11, 2014. Courtesy of Human Rights Watch.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqJK4zy6Fc   
 2. Video by Mediazona about an attack on a group of Russian and international journalists close to the administrative border Ingushetia and Chechnya, March 9, 2016. Courtesy of Mediazona.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MU2xwI1oORE
 3. Clip from Dozhd TV  news broadcast showing the leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, exercising in a T-shirt adorned with Putin’s photo followed by a clip of Adam Dikaev, a Chechen who wrote a critical post about Kadyrov, forced to humiliate himself by walking on a treadmill without his pants, renouncing his criticism. Courtesy of Dozhd TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWwKZqct8V4