Oyub Titiev

Oyub Titiev
Born 1957
Lebedinovka, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union
Occupation Activist, head of Memorial in Grozny, Chechnya

Oyub Salmanovich Titiev (born 24 August 1957, Lebedinovka, Kyrgyz SSR, Soviet Union) is a Russian human rights activist and the head of Memorial's Grozny, Chechnya office. In 2018 he was arrested on politically-motivated charges, sparking an international campaign by human rights groups calling for his release. On 8 October 2018, Oyub Titiev was awarded the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.[1]

Biography

Oyub Titiev’s ancestors were among the first settlers of the village Kurchaloi, Chechnya. However, as a result of the deportation of Chechens in March 1944 he was born in the village of Lebedinovka in the Kyrgyz SSR. He later returned to Kurchaloi, Chechnya. Active in wrestling and weightlifting, Titiev became a physical education teacher and created a local children's sports club, which has produced a number of professional athletes.

Since 2000, he has worked for Memorial and for the Civic Assistance Committee, documenting human rights abuses in Chechnya and overseeing humanitarian projects such as assisting schools in Chechnya’s mountain regions or defending Muslims from discrimination in the criminal justice system. After the assassination of Natalya Estemirova in 1999, he became the head of Memorial in Chechnya.

Arrest, detention & criminal case

On 9 January 2018 Oyub Titiev left Kurchaloi, traveling towards Mairtup, Chechnya, where he was supposed to meet a friend at 9:00 am.[2] According to the official version, his Lada Kalina was stopped to verify his documents. Upon inspecting the car, the police officers found “a polymer bag with a substance of plant origin with the specific smell of marijuana, weighing approximately 180 grams.” Titiev was then detained and taken to the Kurchaloevsky police station for medical examination, while the packet with the substance was sent for expert analysis[3]. That same day, Memorial reported his detention.[4][5]

On 11 January 2018, the Shalinsk city court arrested Titiev until March 9 on request of the investigator[6]. The human rights activist was accused of breaking Part 2 Article 228 of the Criminal Code (the illegal acquisition, storage, and transportation of drugs)[7]. Titiev denied guilt and in a statement sent to the Investigatory Committee of the Chechen Republic accused the police officers of planting the illegal drugs under his passenger’s seat while inspecting his car[8]. On 12 January, his defense appealed the two-month arrest.

Memorial representative Aleksandr Cherkasov said that Titiev’s arrest was related to his professional work which was “met with disapproval from Chechen authorities.” The representative of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov, said that the council had already appealed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on January 10th to verify Titiev’s detention and investigate the situation.

On 24 January, Aleksandr Cherkasov appealed to the Russian and international community on behalf of Memorial, urging them to closely monitor Titiev’s case as they had with criminal proceedings against historian and head of the Karelian branch of Memorial, Yury A. Dmitriev[9]. On January 28th, Ksenia Sobchak, then a candidate in the March 2018 Russian Presidential Elections, held a one-night-long picket in Grozny in “memory of journalists who died for a free country” with a poster reading “Freedom for Oyub Titiev.”[10]

On 1 February the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatyana Moskalkova called for the investigation of the Titiev case to be passed on to the federal level. A similar opinion was expressed by the representative of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, Mikhail Fedotov.[11]

On 6 March the Staropromyslov district court extended Titiev’s arrest until 9 May, while rejecting the poruchitelstvo (personal vouches, Russian: поручительство) he received from presidential candidates Grigory Yavlinsky and Kesnia Sobchak[12].

On 4 May, while considering an appeal to the ruling of the Staropromyslov district court, human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and test pilot and Hero of Russia Sergey Nefedov also offered a poruchitelstvo for Titiev, which the court also rejected[13].

A number of leading international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, FIDH, the World Organization Against Torture) released a joint statement on 11 January, defending Titiev and Memorial’s activities in the Caucuses[14]. On 8 February, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on Oyub Titiev’s case calling for the "immediate release of the Director of the Memorial Human Rights Centre in the Chechen Republic, Mr Oyub Titiev"[15]. Memorial has included Titiev in their list of political prisoners.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Václav Havel Human Rights Prize". website-pace.net. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
  2. ↑ "Human Rights Centre Memorial". Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Rights Defender Arbitrarily Arrested in Chechnya". Human Rights Watch.
  4. ↑ "Chechnya moves to silence a courageous critic". The Economist. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  5. ↑ <"Head of Grozny HRC Memorial was arrested". Memorial. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Oyub Titiev detained and facing criminal investigation". Frontline Defenders. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ongoing judicial harassment and arbitrary detention of Mr. Oyub Titiev". Worldwide Movement for Human Rights. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Pre-trial detention of Oyub Titiev confirmed in appeal hearing amid fears for his safety in detention". Frontline Defenders. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Address of the international Memorial to the Russian and international community (Russian)". Echo Moscow. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Sobchak complained to police about provocateurs in Grozny". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "The head of the HRC called the reasons for the transfer of Titiev's case". RIA. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "Human rights defender Oyub Titiev's detention extended for two months". Amnesty International. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  13. ↑ "Court leaves Chechen rights defender Oyub Titiev under arrest". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Rights Defender Arbitrarily Arrested in Chechnya". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "European Parliament resolution of 8 February on Russia, the case of Oyub Titiev and the Human Rights Centre Memorial". European Parliament. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "Chechen human rights defender Oyub Titiev is a political prisoner, Memorial says". Human Rights Centre Memorial. Retrieved 4 July 2018.
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