Russia: Alleged forced confession under torture

Case RUS 030806
Alleged forced confession under torture

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Russian Federation.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Society for the Russian-Chechen Friendship, a member of the OMCT network, of the arbitrary arrest of Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich (born in 1976) on 17 July 2006 by servicemen of an unidentified force agency. Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich is charged with murdering a policeman.

According to the testimonies of some relatives of Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich, who earns his living by trading at the central market of Grozny, the arrest took place at the flat of Mr. Sultanovich in Mir street. His flat was searched without a warrant. Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich was kept in custody at the local police office of the Leninsky district in Grozny. Currently Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich is being detained at the investigation prison of Grozny.

According to the information received, Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich has been officially charged with the murder of an OMON serviceman at the central market in Grozny in 2002. According to his relatives, Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich has been forced to confess the murder due to the torture suffered. Furthermore, his brother, who visited him in the investigation prison, stated that Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich’s back was black with bruises. His relatives have hired a lawyer.

The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its concern over the psychical and psychological integrity of Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Russia urging them to:
1. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Sangariev Arthur Sultanovich and ensure that he is provided with all required medical assistance;
2. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, ensure that he is given a prompt and fair trial, in which his procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
3. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the civil, penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
4. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Pl. Staraya 4, Kremlin, 103132 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 206 5173/230 2408, E-mail: president@gov.ru
  
  
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 244 2203
  
  
• Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 237 49 25
  
  
• Minister of Justice, Vladimir Ustinov, Ul. Vorontsovo Pole 4, 109830 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 916 29 03/ 209 61 38
  
  
• Procurator General of the Russian Federation, Yurii Chaika, Ul. Bolshaya Dimitrovka15a, 103793 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 292 88 48
  
  
• Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, ,Staraya ploshchad 8/5, pod 3, 103132 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +70952064855
  
  
• Ambassadeur, Skotnikov Leonid, Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Genève 20, Suisse, E-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 734 40 44
  
  
• Chairperson of the Moscow Procuracy, Mikhail Avdiukov, Novokuznetskaia ul. 27, 113184 Moscow, Russian Federation,
  Fax: +7 095 951 5040

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

***
Geneva, 3 August 2006

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