Valera (surname unrecorded)
Missing-person record STA-D01 · Classification: reported disappearance following detention · Not counted among HRW’s 38 reported deaths
Age reported: Not established · Last seen: 1 January 2000 · Location: Bomb-proof civilian shelter in Staropromyslovski district, Grozny · Outcome: not established by Human Rights Watch in February 2000
Circumstances of the disappearance
A resident interviewed by Human Rights Watch, Zainap Tangiyeva, said Russian soldiers came to the shelter on 1 January and ordered three men, Valera, Issa and Visayit, to put on warm clothing and accompany them. The men left in the custody of soldiers and did not return. When relatives asked the troops what had happened, the soldiers denied taking the men.
Evidence limits and identity safeguards
The published investigation gives no surname, age, formal detention record or traceable later outcome for Valera. HRW classified this as a disappearance, not a confirmed death.
This file records the state of evidence at the time of the original HRW investigation; it is not a current declaration that the person remains missing, nor a death certificate. No name, age, later outcome or family relationship not supported by the cited material has been invented. The case must be reassessed if reliable later documentation emerges.
Other missing people documented in the same incident
Issa (surname unrecorded) · Visayit (surname unrecorded)
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
