Fear for the safety of Mr. Albert Saaev detained incommunicado in Grozny

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation/ Republic of Chechnya.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the illegal transfer of Mr. Albert Saaev, 28 years old computer expert and known hacker, who is serving a prison sentence in Moscow in relation to an attack on the official Chechen President’s web portal, to Grozny, Chechnya, where he is currently detained incommunicado. OMCT fears that he may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment.

According to the information received, on 14 April 2010, Mr. Albert Saaev was transferred from the Lefortovo’s detention centre in Moscow to Grozny, allegedly for investigation purposes into the above mentioned attack, without his family and lawyers being informed thereof. Mr. Albert Saaev would be currently detained in SIZO (pre-trial detention centre) in Grozny. Since his transfer, the lawyer appointed by his family in Grozny has been reportedly denied access to him and no further information has been provided with regard to the exact reasons of his transfer to Grozny. The family is intending to appeal the decision.

It is worth noting that Mr. Albert Saaev, who had carried out the attack on the official web portal of the President of the Republic of Chechnya, www.chechnyaTODAY.com, on 26 June 2009, was sentenced, on 1 April 2010, to two years in prison and to a fine of 35’000 rubble for “illegal access to digital information” and “creation and distribution of hacker’s software” under Article 272 §2 and 273 §1 of the Russian Criminal Code by the Kuzminskiy district court of Moscow. He was to serve his sentence in Lefortovo’s detention centre in Moscow where he was detained since 23 September 2009 following his arrest in Moscow.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the safety of Mr. Albert Saaev. OMCT fears that he may be at risk of torture and ill-treatment, in particular since he is detained incommunicado. Accordingly, OMCT urges the competent authorities to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity, at all times, in accordance with regional and international human rights instruments ratified by the Russian Federation, and in particular articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

OMCT is also gravely concerned about the transfer of Mr. Albert Saaev from Lefortovo’s detention centre in Moscow to SIZO in Grozny, a transfer which was carried out without any prior notification to Mr. Albert Saaev’s family and lawyers and which exact reasons remain unknown.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in the Russian Federation/ Chechnya urging them to:

1. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Albert Saaev as well as of his family;
2. Grant Mr. Albert Saaev unconditional access to his lawyer and family, as well as guarantee that he is examined by independent doctors and receives adequate medical care, in accordance, inter alia, with the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
3. Order the immediate transfer of Mr. Albert Saaev to Moscow where he is reportedly to serve his sentence;
4. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Fax:+ 7 495 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru;
• President of the Republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov, Administration of the President and the Government of the Republic of Chechnya, Ul. Garazhnaia, 10. g. Grozny, 364000 Chechen Republic, Russian Federation, Fax : +7 8712 22 45 53;
• Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yuri Chayka, 125993, Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 (495)692-17-25;
• Federal Security Service, Director Mr. Alexander Bortnikov, Moscow 107031, Bolshaya Lubjanka 1/3; Fax number is +7 495 914-99-32/ +7 (495) 914-26-32, Email: fsb@fsb.ru, press@fsb.ru;
• Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, 103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 495 20 64 855;
• Russian Federal Ombudsman for Human Rights, Vladimir Lukin, Fax: +7 495 207-74-70;
• Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Fax: + 7 495 237 49 25;
• Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, E-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +41 22 734 40 44;

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of the Russian Federation in your respective countries.

Geneva, 21 April 2010.

Kindly inform OMCT of any action undertaken quoting the code number of this appeal in your reply