Judicial visit to the Tuva camp

Day: 255-256

Sunrise:
06:50/06:48

Sunset:
20:01/20:02

Total kilometers:
1341

Soil condition:
Ice, snow

Temperature – Day (maximum):
8°C

Temperature – day (minimum):
0°C

Temperature – Night:
minus 13°C

Latitude:
51°33’337”

Longitude:
099°15’341”

Maximum height:
1981 m above sea level

“Who’s coming?” we ask Saintsetseg as a classy, brand new, white jeep pulls up next to Gamba’s log cabin and Mongolians dressed in expensive suits get out. “Bi medehgüj” (“I don’t know”) she says and shrugs her shoulders. “It’s the highest judicial official from Mörön,” we learn a little later. “What does he want here?” Tanja wants to know. We learn that the high-ranking official was only recently elected to office and is now introducing himself all over the country. He allegedly wants to fight corruption and reopen old, already filed legal cases. One of the cases involves a dispute between two stores in Tsagaan Nuur. Over time, one of the store owners has borrowed a fortune of 16 million tugrik (€9,142) from the other. Now he is not in a position to repay the money. The two then got into it. Because the debtor illegally sold Tuwa skins in his store, the other accused him out of revenge. “The officer is probably here to ask us about it,” we hear.

In the meantime, almost all the Tuwa present have gathered in Gamba’s log cabin and talk about their problems and how they have been cheated in recent years. The worst case is about a hair-raising story of murder and manslaughter.

A few years ago, Ultsan had to do his military service. He was accompanied by his father, his brother and the son of Saintsetseg so that he did not have to ride to Tsagaan Nuur alone. In the village they were stopped by border guards. The soldiers took a saddle away from the small group of riders. “You can have it back if you pay 10,000 tugrik (€5.61),” they demanded. This must have caused a dispute because the Tuwa didn’t have that much money with them and didn’t see why they should pay the corrupt border guards. Apparently the soldiers let the men move on. Ultsan said goodbye to his relatives and entered the small barracks. His father set off to visit a relative in West Taiga, while his brother and cousin spent a night in the village. They wanted to set off back to the Tuwa camp the next morning. After they didn’t show up at the camp, people were worried about them. A day later, the two men were found dead floating in Tsagaan Nuur. There was never a proper investigation. The official story was that the two badly beaten Tuwa men had drunk too much and therefore committed suicide in the lake. The countless injuries that had been inflicted on them were no reason to investigate the case further. The senior official promises the Tuwa to reopen the case.

“Do you think the officer will really solve this murder case?” asks Tanja as we sit in our yurt that evening. “We are in a remote Mongolian province. The Tuwa have no money for a lawyer. Let alone a good lawyer to represent them. It was years ago and I can’t imagine that the murder of the two young men will be atoned for by finding the perpetrators. Why should a civil servant with a personal commitment be involved in this? Who knows who is behind this evil deed? Who knows why the case was not pursued at the time? Even if you are not an experienced village policeman, he must have known that the two were beaten to death. And yet the official statement was suicide. The case stinks to high heaven. And someone covered up for someone. That’s what I believe.”

We look forward to your comments!