Rasul Kudaev, a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay whose family says was totured and is near death from this expereince at the military holding facility, has disapperared, reports the Institute for War and Peace and Reporting.
Kudaev was brought to Guantanamo in 2001 shortly after the war in Afganhistan started on suspicion of being a terroist. As with most detainees Kudaev was never given a trial He was taken to Guantanmo were his family says he was beaten and tortured. In 2004, Kudaev was returned to his native Russia where charges against him and seven other prisoners were dropped. However, Kudaev's mother, Fatima Tekaeva, told the IWPR that the experience in military custody had a perminent effect on her son.
Before his American ordeal, he was strong and healthy, but he returned from Guantanamo an invalid.
Last October , Russian military forces arrested Kudaev at his home after suspected Islamic militants attacked security agencies in the city of Nalchik located in southern Russia. Tekaeva reacalls the violent treatment of her son.
"They surrounded the house, shouting 'Stay where you are!' and 'Don't move!' I started calling the neighbors for help. My son Rasul heard me shouting and came out of the house with difficulty.
One of the interior [ministry] forces men, who had detained Rasul several time before, immediately ran up to him and started giving orders to handcuff him. I asked to see a permit for his arrest, but they didn't have one. The search warrant had not been signed by a judge. When they took Rasul away, they pushed him about violently with the butt of a rifle and kicked him.
Lawyers on the case say that Kudaev has been totured while awaiting trial and that his legs were broken. Kudaev recounted his mistreatment to Russian officals who visited Kudaev and supported his claims. However, just as support for his case was building he went missing.
Kudeav has been arrested twice and has never had an offical trial or a ruling on either instance in which he was suspected of terrorism. At the very least he deserved a trial and human decency.
Amnesty International is asking to take urgent action for Rasul Kudaev.
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