missing persons

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Abkhazia

Voice | ‘We still believed that he was alive and that he would come back one day’

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•7 min read

On 16 March, the bodies of 12 people who died during the 1992–1993 conflict in Abkhazia were returned to their families. Lika Managadze, whose father Akaki was among the dead, reflects on her memories of her father and how the war shaped the course of her life. ‘I was born in Abkhazia, in the village of Aradu in the Ochamchire region. I was only five when the war broke out; my brother was seven and my mother 30. We were in a corn-field when planes flew over us and opened fire.’ ‘My brothe

Abkhazia

25 years later, Abkhazia remains haunted by the missing

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•5 min read

A quarter of a century after the Abkhazian–Georgian war, the bodies of those killed are still being recovered. In the centre of Sukhum/i, capital of breakaway Abkhazia, a giant stylised sword plunges into a grassy mound. Flanked by 14 flagpoles flying the territory’s vibrant red, green and white standard, this unusual sculpture is the centrepiece of a memorial — the Park of Glory — commemorating those lost during the Abkhazian-Georgian war in 1992–1993. Four years ago, an international te

Zelimkhan ‘Zelim’ Bakayev disappeared in August 2017 in Grozny, which he was visiting from Moscow for his sister’s wedding.

Chechnya

Online campaign for missing Chechen singer Bakayev

by OC Media

•2 min read

Russian human rights activists have launched an online campaign to support the search for Chechen singer Zelimkhan Bakaev, who disappeared in the Chechen capital Grozny on 8 August. A social media campaign with the hashtag #BringBakaevBack was launched on 31 August and has already gained support, with messages from people from the US, Austria, France, Latvia and the Czech Republic. ‘With the help of the Internet we will bring the attention of the international community to this case. We h

Ingushetia

Search in Ingushetia for missing men

by OC Media

•1 min read

Searches are continuing in Ingushetia for two local men who disappeared without a trace five days ago. Police and relatives have so far failed to find a trace of the missing men, according to the Ingush Interior Ministry. The missing men are Ilyas Teboyev, 20, and Khavazh-Bagaudin Kartoyev, 19, who disappeared on 19 July. Searches began the following day, a spokesperson for the ministry told OC Media. The young men’s fathers were the first to sound the alarm after the two failed to return

david sanakoyev

Georgia and South Ossetia — working to identify the dead

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•5 min read

There are over 2,000 people whose fate is still unaccounted for from Georgia’s conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, making it difficult for families to grieve and move on. While cross border efforts lead by the Red Cross are in full swing to find, exhume, and identify the bodies of the fallen — time is not on their side. ‘If he is dead, then where is his body?’ For nine years Ana Samadalashvili from Gori has been waiting for her husband to return home. On 8 August 2008, Zaza Birtveli

relatives of missing persons plant seedlings in the central park in Armavir, Armenia (H. Galstyan/ICRC)

Analysis

No political will in Armenia to find the missing persons of the Karabakh conflict [Analysis]

by Volodymyr Soboliev

•4 min read

Thousands of people have gone missing due to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. More than two decades have passed since a ceasefire agreement was signed, but thousands of families still do not know what happened to their loved ones. According to a report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), 4,604 Azerbaijanis and 947 Armenians remain missing in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. Most of them disappeared during the 1988–1994 Nagorno-Karabakh War. Although ther