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Appendix II. Letter to the Russian prosecutor general’s office

Procurator General of the Russian Federation
Yuri Yakovlevich Chaika
General Procuracy of the Russian Federation
Ul.Bolshaia Dmitrovka 15a
Moscow
125993 GSP-3
Russian Federation

Fax: +7 095 921 4186 / +7 095 692 88 48

Dear Yuri Yakovlevich:

I am writing to you with a request for information about the seven Russian citizens who were repatriated to the Russian Federation from the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 1 March, 2004.

Although the mass media covered the return of these seven men, some of their accounts provide contradictory information about the process of their return. For this reason we turn to you with a request for reliable information.

As you may know, Human Rights Watch is a neutral, international, non-governmental human rights organization with headquarters in the United States and offices in London, Geneva, Brussels, Moscow and Tashkent.

We have written a great deal about human rights abuses at Guantanamo Bay, and wish to supplement this work with information about the return of former Guantanamo detainees to their home countries. We are also turning to the U.S. authorities for such information.

In particular, we are interested in the following information:

1) The 1 March statement of the General Procuracy of the Russian Federation stated that charges had been filed against all seven detainees. What were those charges? On what date were those charges dropped? Why were they dropped?

2) The 1 March statement also says that  “All these people were recruited by representatives of radical Islamic organizations and later sent over to Afghanistan, where they fought on the side of the Taliban.”  Does the General Procuracy still believe this to be the case? What evidence did the Russian government have for that assertion at the time? Did the U.S. government provide case files on the detainees to substantiate such charges? Had all seven individuals come to the attention of Russian law enforcement before they left Russia for Afghanistan?

3) The 1 March statement by the U.S. State Department says that “The transfer is the result of discussions between our two governments over the past year, including assurances that the individuals will be detained, investigated and prosecuted, as appropriate, under Russian law and will be treated humanely in accordance with Russian law and obligations.” What was the substance of these assurances? Were they made in written or oral form? If written form, could a copy of them be provided to Human Rights Watch?

4) As part of those assurances, did the Russian government provide any kind of regular updates on the detainees’ status to the U.S. authorities? Did U.S. authorities ever make any formal subsequent inquiries about the detainees’ condition?

5) Why was Russian citizen Ravil Mingazov not part of the agreement that secured the release of the other seven detainees? Is the Russian government currently attempting to secure his release from Guantanamo?

Thank you in advance for your assistance in this regard. If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact our Moscow office at 737-8955.

With best regards,

Carroll Bogert

Associate Director

Human Right Watch