Risvan Taimaskhanov

Historical HRW disappearance entry STA-D05 — later confirmed deceased. Risvan Taimaskhanov was recorded as missing after detention on 19 January 2000, but his body was found on 10 February 2000 with gunshot wounds. The later evidence is recorded in Khashiyev and Akayeva v. Russia. The original HRW disappearance ID remains for source fidelity; it does not mean the man’s fate is still unknown. He was not in HRW’s original numbered list of 38 reported deaths. See the judicial case cross-reference.

Age reported: 22 · Last seen: 19 January 2000 · Location: Eighth Liniya (Boulevard), Grozny · Outcome: not established by Human Rights Watch in February 2000

Circumstances of the disappearance

Risvan Taimaskhanov, aged twenty-two, accompanied Magomet Goigov and Khamid Khasiev in an attempt to evacuate the wounded Mariam Goigova for treatment. At Eighth Liniya the group encountered Russian armoured vehicles. According to testimony collected by Human Rights Watch, soldiers severely beat the men and took them away after the shooting of Mariam.

Evidence limits and identity safeguards

At the time of HRW’s early interviews, Risvan’s whereabouts were unknown after the 19 January detention. Later evidence confirms that a body identified as Rizvan Taymeskhanov was found on 10 February 2000; the 2005 Khashiyev and Akayeva judgment discusses the examination of his gunshot wounds and holds Russia responsible under Article 2. HRW used Risvan Taimaskhanov, while judicial sources used Rizvan Taymeskhanov. His relationship to the Khashiyev–Taymeskhanov family is explicitly set out in the court’s judgment. The precise shooter remained unidentified.

The source’s original classification has been retained so readers can trace the chronology of reporting. This individual’s death was subsequently documented by judicial materials, and the case no longer belongs to the subset of disappearances whose eventual outcomes have not been independently established. The judgments attribute responsibility to the Russian State under the European Convention; they do not convict an identified serviceman.

Other missing people documented in the same incident

Magomet Goigov · Khamid Khasiev (Khashiev)

Primary source and case archive

Human Rights Watch, Civilian Killings in Staropromyslovski District of Grozny (February 2000), section on disappearances. HRW’s principal letter of 10 February 2000 independently notes six men who disappeared after arrest.

Return to the 38-victim and six-disappearance register · Historical case dossier