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www.globeandmail.com (Canada)
October 29, 2002
Amnesty slams human-rights abuse in
Russia
By OLIVER MOORE
Globe and Mail Update
A woman stopped on suspicion of drunk driving is taken into custody to sober up. By the time she appears in court the next morning, she has been beaten and gang-raped by police. Trying to tell the judge about her ordeal, she is brusquely interrupted and accused of being abusive. After two years of dogged complaint, one officer is found guilty of premeditated infliction of bodily harm — but is then released almost immediately under an amnesty.
Such is the state of justice in Russia, Amnesty International says, in a harsh report that comes only days after a military raid to end a hostage-taking in Moscow resulted in about 165 deaths, the majority of them hostages.
"A pernicious cycle of human rights abuse exists in Russia today," Amnesty's Secretary-General said Tuesday upon the release of the 102-page report. "If President [Vladimir] Putin wants to promote Russia's role as a global player, he must begin by delivering real justice and rights for everyone in Russia."
The report details a lengthy list of allegations, from specific torture techniques to accusations of demeaning and humiliating treatment.
A widespread fear of rising crime levels has put pressure on police to solve as many cases as possible, with the most successful officers winning coveted promotions, the group says. But a lack of proper standards or reliable due process means that many arrests and convictions are based on faulty evidence or forced confessions.
The report accuses police of "routinely" torturing prisoners into confessing, generally preferring methods that leave few marks. One favourite is the slonik (the elephant), according to the report, in which the prisoner is suffocated to unconsciousness with a gas mask, revived and threatened with a second round. Variations on this theme include spraying the inside of the mask with teargas to induce prolonged vomiting.
The report says that nearly one million people are in jail in Russia, including about 200,000 awaiting trial. Conditions in the pretrial detention centres are so foul, they accuse, that there are documented cases of people offering false confessions in order to get into the regular penal system.
About 10 per cent of those awaiting trial are female, and about 5 per cent of those serving time in prison are female. The smaller numbers mean, the report notes, that there are fewer facilities for incarcerated women and that they are thus less likely to be near their families. Conditions in these colonies are wretched, the report says, with women at risk at sexual abuse and denied even such basic commodities as menstrual supplies.
Amnesty said Tuesday that the war in Chechnya has spawned its own range of human-rights violations. Even though the group condemns last week's hostage-taking as "a despicable abuse of human rights," they are also firm in their belief that such violence is a "terrifying reminder of the unsolved situation in Chechnya."
The group says that the war in Chechnya — which is politically popular for Mr. Putin but which Russian soldiers do not appear to be winning — has led to "credible" reports of torture, rape and extrajudicial executions.
Amnesty criticizes the Chechens, saying that they are reported to have committed their own human-rights violations, but focuses its attention more closely on Russian abuses.
"Amnesty International is concerned that the authorities have failed to investigate allegations of violations by Russian forces adequately and to bring those responsible to justice," the report says. "This has created a climate in which Russian security forces believe that they can continue to violate the fundamental rights of the civilian population in Chechnya with impunity."
Rebel leaders in Chechnya are reported to have said that they are tired of seeing their wives and children killed and that it was time to give the Russians to give them a taste of the suffering that pervades the breakaway republic.
Alluding to Mr. Putin's vow to strike hard in Chechnya to avenge the hostage-taking, Amnesty warns that Moscow "must not use the war against terrorism to avoid confronting the denial of justice that permeates all of Russian society."
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