Nura Luluyeva
Encyclopedia
Nura Luluyeva (1960–2000) was a Chechen
woman who was kidnapped
and murder
ed by a Russia
n death squad
in 2000.
In the morning of June 3, 2000, Nura Luluyeva, an unemployed nurse and kindergarten
teacher
and the mother of four children (ages 6–21), was selling strawberries
on Mozdok
skaya Street of Grozny
, the capital of Chechnya
, with her her cousins Markha Gakayeva (b. 1962) and Raisa Gakayeva (b. 1964). A group of armed men in ski masks suddenly raided the marketplace
on top of an armoured personnel carrier
with a hull number 110; their leader told a witness that he was from the FSB and some of "their guys" have been killed there. The servicemen detained Luluyeva along with her two cousins, two other women, and at least one other person. A local policeman, trying to stop them, got into a heated argument and was fired on before the APC drove away with the detainees.
Lulayeva and her cousins "disappeared"
. A search by her husband Said-Alvi Luluyev, a former Soviet
-era judge
from Gudermes
, did not bring any results, despite him contacting authorities from different ministries at various levels, petition
ing, and even personally looking for her in a detention centres and prisons in Chechnya and beyond in North Caucasus
. There was also no official record of any operation conducted on Mozdokskaya Street on this day. Meanwhile, the whole market was looted and destroyed in a raid by armored vehicles in November 2000, after the total of 18 Russian servicemen were reportedly either killed or kidnapped there since March of the same year.
In February 2001, eight months after the abduction and shortly after the official investigation was "suspended for lack of information", dead bodies of the missing women were discovered among some 60 mostly disfigured corpses uncovered from a dumping ground in an abandoned Zdorovye dacha
summer house
settlement located in the vicinity of Khankala
, the main Russian military base in Chechnya outside Grozny. Many of the cadavers found there were blindfold
ed and had their arms bound behind their backs; some of the bodies were missing ears and showing signs of torture
, and several were booby-trapped. As the bodies of Nura Luluyeva and her cousins were in an advanced stage of decomposition
, they could be identified only by their earrings and clothes. An autopsy
of Luluyeva showed that she died from a multiple strong blows to the head with a solid blunt object at least three months before the discovery of the corpse-dumping site. Her body was then taken to be buried in her home village.
On November 10, 2006, in the case of Luluyev and Others v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights
found that Russia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights
on five separate counts: right to life, right to effective investigation, prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment (applicants), right to liberty and security, right to an effective remedy. In the judgement
, the Court announced that it "could not but conclude that Nura Luluyeva was apprehended and detained by [unidentified] state servicemen. There existed a body of evidence that attained the standard of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt', which made it possible to hold the state authorities responsible for Nura Luluyeva's death." However, "the description of the injuries found on her body by the forensic experts did not permit the Court to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that she had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated prior to her death. The Court ordered Moscow to pay nearly 70,000 euros in damages to members of her family.
Chechen people
Chechens constitute the largest native ethnic group originating in the North Caucasus region. They refer to themselves as Noxçi . Also known as Sadiks , Gargareans, Malkhs...
woman who was kidnapped
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed by a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n death squad
Death squad
A death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
in 2000.
In the morning of June 3, 2000, Nura Luluyeva, an unemployed nurse and kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and the mother of four children (ages 6–21), was selling strawberries
Strawberry
Fragaria is a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits. Although it is commonly thought that strawberries get their name from straw being used as a mulch in cultivating the plants, the etymology of the word is uncertain. There...
on Mozdok
Mozdok
Mozdok is a town and the administrative center of Mozdoksky District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania in southern Russia, located on the left shore of the Terek River, north of Vladikavkaz, the republic's capital. The name of the town literally means "dense forest" in the Kabardian language...
skaya Street of Grozny
Grozny
Grozny is the capital city of the Chechen Republic, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 271,596; up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Census. but still only about two-thirds of 399,688 recorded in the 1989...
, the capital of Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, with her her cousins Markha Gakayeva (b. 1962) and Raisa Gakayeva (b. 1964). A group of armed men in ski masks suddenly raided the marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
on top of an armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
with a hull number 110; their leader told a witness that he was from the FSB and some of "their guys" have been killed there. The servicemen detained Luluyeva along with her two cousins, two other women, and at least one other person. A local policeman, trying to stop them, got into a heated argument and was fired on before the APC drove away with the detainees.
Lulayeva and her cousins "disappeared"
Forced disappearance
In international human rights law, a forced disappearance occurs when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organization or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organization, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the...
. A search by her husband Said-Alvi Luluyev, a former Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
-era judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
from Gudermes
Gudermes
Gudermes is a town in the Chechen Republic, Russia, located on the Sunzha River east of Grozny. Population: 32,000 .Gudermes had a rural locality status until 1941. Later, it became a railroad junction between Rostov-on-Don, Baku, Astrakhan, and Mozdok. Gudermes is home for oil extraction...
, did not bring any results, despite him contacting authorities from different ministries at various levels, petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
ing, and even personally looking for her in a detention centres and prisons in Chechnya and beyond in North Caucasus
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
. There was also no official record of any operation conducted on Mozdokskaya Street on this day. Meanwhile, the whole market was looted and destroyed in a raid by armored vehicles in November 2000, after the total of 18 Russian servicemen were reportedly either killed or kidnapped there since March of the same year.
In February 2001, eight months after the abduction and shortly after the official investigation was "suspended for lack of information", dead bodies of the missing women were discovered among some 60 mostly disfigured corpses uncovered from a dumping ground in an abandoned Zdorovye dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
summer house
Summer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
settlement located in the vicinity of Khankala
Khankala
Khankala is a settlement in Groznensky District of the Chechen Republic, Russia, located to the east of Grozny, the republic's capital. Population:...
, the main Russian military base in Chechnya outside Grozny. Many of the cadavers found there were blindfold
Blindfold
A blindfold is a garment, usually of cloth, tied to one's head to cover the eyes to disable the wearer's sight. It can be worn when the eyes are in a closed state and thus prevents the wearer from opening them...
ed and had their arms bound behind their backs; some of the bodies were missing ears and showing signs of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, and several were booby-trapped. As the bodies of Nura Luluyeva and her cousins were in an advanced stage of decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
, they could be identified only by their earrings and clothes. An autopsy
Autopsy
An autopsy—also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction—is a highly specialized surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
of Luluyeva showed that she died from a multiple strong blows to the head with a solid blunt object at least three months before the discovery of the corpse-dumping site. Her body was then taken to be buried in her home village.
On November 10, 2006, in the case of Luluyev and Others v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
found that Russia had violated the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
on five separate counts: right to life, right to effective investigation, prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment (applicants), right to liberty and security, right to an effective remedy. In the judgement
Judgement
Judgment is the evaluation of evidence in the making of a decision. The term has three distinct uses:* Informal - Opinions expressed as facts....
, the Court announced that it "could not but conclude that Nura Luluyeva was apprehended and detained by [unidentified] state servicemen. There existed a body of evidence that attained the standard of proof 'beyond reasonable doubt', which made it possible to hold the state authorities responsible for Nura Luluyeva's death." However, "the description of the injuries found on her body by the forensic experts did not permit the Court to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that she had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated prior to her death. The Court ordered Moscow to pay nearly 70,000 euros in damages to members of her family.
External links
- CHECHNYA'S MISSING MOURNED, The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, March 17, 2001 - BACKGROUND ON THE IDENTIFIED BODIES: Nura Lulueva, Markha Gakaeva, Raisa Gakaeva, and Aset Elbuzdukueva, Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, May 2001 - Court finds Russia responsible for Chechnya deaths, ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
/AlertNet, 09 Nov 2006 - Russian Federation: European Court ruling in two cases from the Chechen Republic, Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, 9 November 2006 - European Court Rules Against Russia, Washington Post, November 10, 2006
- Kremlin 'was complicit in Chechen murders', The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 10 November 2006