#9 - RW 10-22-04 - RW Home
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH'S STUDY OF ABUSE IN RUSSIAN ARMY DOES NOT COVER LAW ENFORCERS' ACTIVITIES

MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Human Rights Watch's study of widespread abuse in the Russian army does not cover law enforcement bodies' activities to address the problem, Justice Major General Alexander Nikitin of Russia's Central Military Prosecutor's Office told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

General Nikitin said the scale of army abuse was gravely exaggerated in the report.

"Interviews with 100 conscripts from 50 military units an organisation official cited in the study can hardly reflect the reality. Statistical data show that not a single crime of this kind has been registered in any of more than 80% of military units," said the general.

"Human Rights Watch officials who have been working in Russia for a long time already, undoubtedly, have access to information circulated in the media on the results of measures taken by military prosecutors and the command for fighting non-manual relations in the armed forces," said General Nikitin.

"They must know that the command and the military prosecutor's office have never tried to dodge the problem. Furthermore, they have been conducting a massive campaign against such relations in the army over the past few years," emphasised the general.

A hot line service, emergency centres, regular checks in army units, cooperation with public organisations, including those set up by conscripts' parents, are the measures that helped law enforcement bodies regain conscripts' confidence and uncover a greater number of violations in the armed forces, according to General Nikitin.

"The number of registered crimes of this kind has risen somewhat, by 8%, as the amount of unreported crimes had declined, including the instances when conscripts were scarred morally, rather than physically," said the general.

"Over 1,500 criminal cases have been closed and over 1,000 inquiries into manhandling completed this year alone. Courts issued sentences to 3,200 servicemen, including over 400 officers," said General Nikitin.

General Nikitin said the Central Military Prosecutor's Office had requested the rights organisation to provide material to inquire into other facts cited in the study.

The Central Military Prosecutor's Office is expected to publish the inquiry results and update the public on efforts to maintain legal order in the armed forces at the end of the year.