In accordance with paragraph 13 of resolution 1822 (2008) and subsequent related resolutions, the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee makes accessible a narrative summary of reasons for the listing for individuals, groups, undertakings and entities included in the ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List.
Emarat Kavkaz was listed on 29 July 2011 pursuant to paragraphs 4 and 5 of resolution 1989 (2011) as being associated with Al-Qaida for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of”, “recruiting for”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related materiel to” and “otherwise supporting acts or activities of” Doku Umarov (QDi.290), the Islamic Jihad Group (QDe.119), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (QDe.010) and Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM) (QDe.100).
Emarat Kavkaz, or the “Caucasus Emirate”, is a terrorist organization operating in the North Caucasus. By a decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of 8 February 2010, it was recognized as a terrorist organization and its activities were prohibited on Russian territory on the grounds that its members plan and perpetrate terrorist acts with the intent of violating the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation and fomenting ethnic and religious conflict.
The ideological basis of this terrorist organization is the notion of establishing a State based upon extremist ideology in the North Caucasus and further extending it to the Volga region and European countries through armed combat and terror.
The active formation of the Caucasus Emirate began in 2004 and was proclaimed in October 2007 by its leader and spiritual inspiration Doku Khamatovich Umarov (QDi.290). In a videotaped statement on the establishment of the Caucasus Emirate, Doku Umarov stated, inter alia, “I do not think there is any need to draw the borders of the Caucasus Emirate. That is firstly because the Caucasus is a war zone occupied by infidels and apostates and our next task is to make the Caucasus a purely Islamic area by instituting sharia in the land and driving out the infidels. Secondly, once the infidels have been driven out, we must take back all lands that were historically Muslim, and those borders lie beyond the borders of the Caucasus”. At the same time, Doku Umarov called on his supporters to engage in war not only against the Russian State but also against all states.
In May 2009, Doku Umarov established a consultative body (the Majlis ul-Shura) comprising nine emirs who are leaders of large groups (or jamaats). The shura is empowered, in particular, to select a new emir of the Caucasus Emirate upon the death of the previous leader.
The organization also has an official representative office abroad (headed by Shamsuddin Batukayev). According to the latest information, the emirate has cells in countries in Europe and the Near East.
The Caucasus Emirate has past connections to several listed entities, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (QDe.010) and the Islamic Jihad Group (QDe.119). In a statement released in May 2009, Doku Umarov took credit for restoring the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs (RSRSBCM) (QDe.100), a group previously led by Shamil Basayev (deceased) and responsible for a number of high profile attacks in Russia. Since 2009, the RSRSBCM has publicly taken credit for several terrorist attacks in Russia and claimed that they act on the direct order of Umarov.
Since July 2010, Aslambek Vadalov has been the deputy (or naib) of the leader of the Caucasus Emirate. For a long time, the “Commander of the Armed Forces” was Ali Taziyev (aka “Magas”, currently in detention), who participated in the hostage-taking of schoolchildren in Beslan in September 2004 and in an attack on the Republic of Ingushetia, the Russian Federation. The “Chief of the Security Service” is Tarkhan Gaziyev.
The judicial branch is represented by the “Supreme Sharia Court” presided over by an Islamic judge. This position was held by Anzor Astemirov (one of the organizers of the attack on Nalchik by militants in 2005; in March 2010 he put up armed resistance to his apprehension and was killed) and subsequently by Magomedali Vagabov (the main organizer of the March 2010 terrorist attacks at the Lubyanka and Park Kulturi metro stations in Moscow; he was killed during his apprehension on 21 August 2010).
The Kavkazcenter has been proclaimed the official information organ of the Emarat Kavkaz by Doku Umarov. Publications on the website are in Russian, English, Arabic, Turkish and Ukrainian. The main address is Kavkazcenter.com. The additional web portals are Kavkazcenter.info, Kavkazcenter.net, Kavkaz.org.uk and Kavkaz.tv. The principal internet provider of the website is located in Stockholm, Sweden. In March 2008 it published “Concept of the Islamic State”. Since 2007 the website has regularly published videos in which Doku Umarov and the heads of the Emarat Kavkaz have taken personal responsibility for terrorist acts carried out on the territory of Russia including the one at the Domodedovo airport (Moscow) on 24 January 2011.