Amnesty International claims the police apply batons, bottles with water and other devices to exact confessions.
Photo: Yury Tutov
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U.N. Urged to Acknowledge Tortures in Russia
Amnesty International and Memorial released yesterday the reports on tortures in Russia and Chechnya. The western right advocates registered over 100 cases of tortures in 11 regions of Russia, and Memorial declared 1804 cases of tortures taken separately in Chechnya. The purpose of the reports is to prompt the U.N. Committee Against Tortures to release tough recommendations to the government of Russia on November 24. The pro-Kremlin political analysts say the sole achievement of right advocates will be “another blow on Russia’s image in the world.”
Tortures of people by police is a fact that couldn’t be denied, says the yesterday’s report of Amnesty International. It claims the police apply batons, bottles with water and other devices to exact confessions. The organization registered more than 100 such cases that happened in 2005 in 11 regions of Russia, except Chechnya. Chechnya is omitted intentionally, as the situation is more aggravate there.
Tortures, abductions and murders in Chechnya were covered by another organization of right advocates - Memorial. The document made out by Memorial and FIDH was presented in Moscow and Paris.
In the last four years, 1804 people were abducted and tortured in Chechnya, says the report of Memorial. Of this number, 181 were killed and 986 were missing. The federal troops and divisions subordinate to Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov were involved in all those crimes.
As to the official response to reports, the enforcement authorities of Russia don’t bother to keep back criticism. “There are claims about tortures, but many of them have no proofs once they reach prosecutors,” said representatives of the RF Interior Ministry’s press service. “Most often, the persons under investigation complain of tortures counting on condensation of the court,” Chechnya’s Prosecutor Valery Kuznetsov said not long ago.
"Law advocates do their part, but I don’t think they will succeed,” said Policy Fund President Vyacheslav Nikonov. “All these reports made including from abroad will be hardly heard by the police. But if the U.N. committee passes a negative resolution November 24, it will be just another blow on Russia’s image in the world.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 23, 2006
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