Dagestan human rights defender dies in unexplained circumstances

Dagestan human rights activist Mustala Addurakhmanov who was a member of the organization “Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights”, was found dead in Makhachkale on Thursday, 30 October. Colleagues suggest that he may have been killed, the website Caucasian Knot reports.

RIA Novosti reports that “Mustala Addurakhmanov, born in 1966, disappeared during the previous day. He set out to collect his daughters from the medrese [religious school], but did not get there. It was learned on 30 October that his body was in the morgue.  Access to the body was only granted on 31 October, however morgue staff told us that he (Addurakhmanov) was killed, Ismail Butdayev, a colleague of Addurakhmanov told RIA Novosti”.

The organization “Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rights” has existed since August 2007 and is involved in defending the rights of people who have suffered at the hands of the police and authorities.  Those who the organization deals with are mainly people persecuted as relatives of fighters and because of their religious convictions. “The Mothers of Dagestan” accuse the security service of abducting civilians in the republic and regularly holds rallies, pickets and hunger strikes in protest.

The organization publicizes cases of abduction, torture and rigging of criminal cases and demands that the authorities investigate them and bring those responsible to justice.

A campaign has been underway in Dagestan since spring 2008 aimed at discrediting the organization.