Back Council of Europe anti-torture Committee returns to the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation

A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recently completed a nine-day ad hoc visit to the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation. The visit, which began on 4 February 2016, was the CPT’s thirteenth visit to this part of the Federation since the year 2000.
In the course of the visit, the CPT’s delegation returned to the Republics of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria in order to review the implementation of recommendations made after previous visits regarding the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies. For this purpose, the delegation interviewed numerous detained persons who had recently been or were still in the custody of the police or other law enforcement agencies. The delegation also reviewed conditions of detention in pre-trial establishments (SIZOs) in both Republics.

The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:

Republic of Dagestan
  • Temporary detention facility (IVS) of the Department of Internal Affairs of the City of Makhachkala
  •  Kirovskiy District Division of Internal Affairs, Makhachkala
  •  Leninskiy District Division of Internal Affairs, Makhachkala
  •  Sovetskiy District Division of Internal Affairs, Makhachkala
  •  Derbent City Internal Affairs Division and IVS
  •  Centre for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala
  •  Directorate of the Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) for the Republic of Dagestan, Makhachkala
  •  Pre-trial establishment (SIZO) No. 1, Makhachkala
  •  SIZO No. 2, Derbent.

Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria
  •  IVS of the Department of Internal Affairs of the City of Nalchik
  •  IVS of the Prokhladnenskiy District Division of Internal Affairs
  •  IVS of the Baksanskiy District Division of Internal Affairs
  •  Department of Internal Affairs of the City of Nalchik
  •  Internal Affairs Division No. 1, Nalchik
  •  Internal Affairs Division No. 2, Nalchik
  •  Centre for Combating Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, Nalchik
  •  SIZO No. 1, Nalchik
  •  Premises Functioning as a SIZO (PFRSI), Colony No. 1, Kamenka

 In the course of the visit, the CPT’s delegation held consultations with Abdurashid MAGOMEDOV, Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Dagestan and with senior representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. In both republics, the delegation also had discussions with senior representatives of the Federal Service for the Execution of Sentences (FSIN).

Further, the delegation held meetings with representatives of the Public Monitoring Commission and the Plenipotentiary for Human Rights in both republics and visited the Republican Forensic Medical Bureau in Nalchik and Makhachkala.

The delegation also met defence lawyers and representatives of various non-governmental organisations active in areas of interest to the CPT.

At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Russian authorities in Moscow. On that occasion it held consultations with Alu ALKHANOV, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, and with senior representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSIN.

The visit was carried out by the following members of the Committee:

  • Wolfgang HEINZ, Acting 1st Vice-President of the CPT (Head of delegation)
  • Vytautas RAŠKAUSKAS
  • Davor STRINOVIĆ

They were supported by Elvin ALIYEV and Janet FOYLE of the CPT's Secretariat, and assisted by three experts:  Maïté DE RUE, Deputy to the Prosecutor-General, Liège, Belgium and former 1st Vice-President of the Committee; Marija DEFINIS-GOJANOVIĆ, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, University Hospital of Split, Croatia and former member of the Committee; Lətif HÜSEYNOV, Professor of Public International Law at Baku State University, Azerbaijan and former President of the Committee.

16/02/2016
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