III. MethodologyThis report is based primarily on field research conducted in December 2007 during a Human Rights Watch mission to Ingushetia. In the course of the mission, Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed 53 individuals, mostly victims of human rights violations and their relatives. One interview with a victim was conducted prior to the mission, in October 2007, when a Human Rights Watch consultant was traveling in the region on another assignment. Additionally, some interviews were done in Moscow or by phone from Moscow. In order to reflect the official position of the Ingushetia authorities Human Rights Watch researchers also traveled to Ingushetia in May 2008 and met with the president, the prosecutor, the minister of internal affairs, the deputy head of parliament, and the ombudsman of the republic.2 A request to meet with the head of the Federal Security Service’s Ingushetia branch was not accommodated. All interviews were conducted in Russian by Human Rights Watch researchers who are native speakers of Russian. In addition, Human Rights Watch examined official documents, including search reports, prosecutor’s office decrees, forensic medical reports, public statements by federal and Ingush officials, analytical reports published by Russian human rights groups, and media accounts. 2 In letters requesting the meetings, Human Rights Watch asked for official statistics on the numbers of abductions, killings of alleged insurgents, civilian casualties, casualties in the ranks of law enforcement and security services, criminal cases initiated for killings and abductions of Ingushetia residents, and the number of instances where criminal investigation into abuse of office related to human rights violations. Only the statistics on the law enforcement and security services casualties and those on the abductions were provided. |