Russia
23.09.03
Urgent Interventions
Russia: further risk of torture for Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin
Case RUS 050902.4 CC
Child Concern/Torture and other forms of ill-treatment
Follow up to case RUS 050902.3 CC
Geneva, September 23rd, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in the Russian Federation.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that juveniles Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin, who have been detained in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Pre-Trial Detention Centre IZ-52/1 since 5th March, 2002, again run a high risk of ill treatment and potentially torture.
According to the information received, the case of the two teenagers was reopened by the Nizhny Novgorod Region Prosecution Office (Prokuratura Nizhegorodskoi oblasti) on August 19th, 2003. The authorities investigating the case have clearly shown their desire to abandon further investigation of the case, and have even put pressure on Andrei Osenchugov's father to write a request to halt the investigation on behalf of his son.
On September 19th, 2003 Andrei Osenchugov's father submited a written statement to the NNCAT. In the statement he informed them that he had visited Andrei in the Arzamas juvenile correction facility (Arzamasskaya vospitatelnaya koloniya), where Andrei had told him that on September 16th, 2003 he and Aleksei Shishkin had been visited by Major Martynov. Major Martynov requested that Andrei Osenchugov and Aleksei Shishkin write a request to halt the criminal procedure concerning this case. Andrei and Aleksei both refused to do this, after which Major Martynov threatened them with being transferred back to the Nizhny Novgord Pre-Trial Detention Center IZ –52/1, where they would be forced to sign a request to stop the procedure.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin. The fact that the investigating authorites are continuing to exersise pressure on the victims and their relatives in order to close the case gives rise to fears that they may again subject the two juveniles to ill-treatment and torture. OMCT calls on the Russian authorities to guarantee thei personal integrity to launch an impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in order to bring perpetrators to justice and to award reparations to victims.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin have been subjected to serious ill-treatment while detained in Nizhny Novgorod regional pre-trial detention center.
According to the information received, the adolescents were arrested on March 5th, 2002, together with two other minors, on suspicion of robbery, and were transferred two days later, on the order of the prosecutor of the Sormovski District of the City of Nizhny Novgorod, to the Nizhny Novgorod regional pre-trial detention center (sledstvennyi izolyator) IZ –52/1, in Novgorod.
In the pre-trial detention center, Osenchugov was put in a cell together with other minors and an adult person, Mr. Mikhail Petrov Germanovitch. On the 27th and 28th July of 2002, allegedly following an order given by a prison guard, Petrov, joined by another adult named Sergei, severly ill-treated and tortured Osenchugov in order to force him to confess his involvement in several other robberies, which he finally did as a result of the treatment. On 30 July, Shishkin was moved into the cell where Sergei and Petrov were detained and was beaten until he confirmed Osenchugov's statements.
On August 5th, 2002, the parents of Osenchugov and an aunt of Shishkin filed a complaint to the prosecutor of Sormovski district and to Mr. Topanov, chief officer of the pre-trial detention center, alleging the ill-treatment of the two adolescents and calling for an investigation. On August 12th, 2002, the families received a letter, signed by Mr Topanov, which informed them that the officers of the pre-trial detention center IZ-52/1 checked the claim and found no reason to initiate an investigation.
The International Secretariat of OMCT was later informed that a criminal procedure had been opened by the Prosecutor’s office regarding the serious ill-treatment of Osenchugov and Shishkin and an official investigation had been launched. Finally, the two 17 years-old adolescents and the two others were found guilty of robbery and sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment by the judge of the Sormovski district court of Nizhny Novgorod, Mr. Grigoriev, on October 21st, 2002. The official investigation, launched at the beginning of October by the prosecutor’s office, has confirmed the fact that Andrei continued to be subjected to ill-treatment between August and October 2002. Andrei was also forced to give false statements denying his ill-treatment.
According to the information received, on November 13th, 2002, investigator Elena Valer’evne Zhebko, came to visit Andrei at the detention centre. Andrei requested her presence and assistance to write a statement explaining that he had himself asked Petrov and Shulaev to torture him and that his previous declarations were all made up. Later Andrei declared that he had given this new statement of his own will and without his parents’ consent. During a short conversation alone with his father, Andrei confessed that he decided to change his statement following threats of further violence. On November 21st, 2002, Andrei’s parents received a letter from their son, in which he strongly asked his father to address a petition calling for the end of further investigation to the Soviet District Department of Interior.
Actions requested
Please write to the authorities of Russia urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin;
ii. guarantee them access to family visits and legal representation;
iii. ensure an immediate and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned alleged acts of intimidation and torture in order to identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee adequate reparations for the above-mentioned victims;
v. put an immediate end to all forms of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of children in accordance with national and international legislation and particularly with articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses:
· President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Pl. Staraya 4, Kremlin, 103132 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 206 5173/230 2408;
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 244 2203;
· Minister of Internal Affairs, Boris Gryzlov, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 237 49 25;
· Minister of Justice, Yurii Chaika, Ul. Vorontsovo Pole 4, 109830 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 916 29 03/ 209 61 38
· Procurator General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, 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, Fax: +4122 734 40 44;
Geneva, September 23rd , 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply
Child Concern/Torture and other forms of ill-treatment
Follow up to case RUS 050902.3 CC
Geneva, September 23rd, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in the Russian Federation.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that juveniles Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin, who have been detained in the Nizhny Novgorod Regional Pre-Trial Detention Centre IZ-52/1 since 5th March, 2002, again run a high risk of ill treatment and potentially torture.
According to the information received, the case of the two teenagers was reopened by the Nizhny Novgorod Region Prosecution Office (Prokuratura Nizhegorodskoi oblasti) on August 19th, 2003. The authorities investigating the case have clearly shown their desire to abandon further investigation of the case, and have even put pressure on Andrei Osenchugov's father to write a request to halt the investigation on behalf of his son.
On September 19th, 2003 Andrei Osenchugov's father submited a written statement to the NNCAT. In the statement he informed them that he had visited Andrei in the Arzamas juvenile correction facility (Arzamasskaya vospitatelnaya koloniya), where Andrei had told him that on September 16th, 2003 he and Aleksei Shishkin had been visited by Major Martynov. Major Martynov requested that Andrei Osenchugov and Aleksei Shishkin write a request to halt the criminal procedure concerning this case. Andrei and Aleksei both refused to do this, after which Major Martynov threatened them with being transferred back to the Nizhny Novgord Pre-Trial Detention Center IZ –52/1, where they would be forced to sign a request to stop the procedure.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin. The fact that the investigating authorites are continuing to exersise pressure on the victims and their relatives in order to close the case gives rise to fears that they may again subject the two juveniles to ill-treatment and torture. OMCT calls on the Russian authorities to guarantee thei personal integrity to launch an impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, in order to bring perpetrators to justice and to award reparations to victims.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source that Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin have been subjected to serious ill-treatment while detained in Nizhny Novgorod regional pre-trial detention center.
According to the information received, the adolescents were arrested on March 5th, 2002, together with two other minors, on suspicion of robbery, and were transferred two days later, on the order of the prosecutor of the Sormovski District of the City of Nizhny Novgorod, to the Nizhny Novgorod regional pre-trial detention center (sledstvennyi izolyator) IZ –52/1, in Novgorod.
In the pre-trial detention center, Osenchugov was put in a cell together with other minors and an adult person, Mr. Mikhail Petrov Germanovitch. On the 27th and 28th July of 2002, allegedly following an order given by a prison guard, Petrov, joined by another adult named Sergei, severly ill-treated and tortured Osenchugov in order to force him to confess his involvement in several other robberies, which he finally did as a result of the treatment. On 30 July, Shishkin was moved into the cell where Sergei and Petrov were detained and was beaten until he confirmed Osenchugov's statements.
On August 5th, 2002, the parents of Osenchugov and an aunt of Shishkin filed a complaint to the prosecutor of Sormovski district and to Mr. Topanov, chief officer of the pre-trial detention center, alleging the ill-treatment of the two adolescents and calling for an investigation. On August 12th, 2002, the families received a letter, signed by Mr Topanov, which informed them that the officers of the pre-trial detention center IZ-52/1 checked the claim and found no reason to initiate an investigation.
The International Secretariat of OMCT was later informed that a criminal procedure had been opened by the Prosecutor’s office regarding the serious ill-treatment of Osenchugov and Shishkin and an official investigation had been launched. Finally, the two 17 years-old adolescents and the two others were found guilty of robbery and sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment by the judge of the Sormovski district court of Nizhny Novgorod, Mr. Grigoriev, on October 21st, 2002. The official investigation, launched at the beginning of October by the prosecutor’s office, has confirmed the fact that Andrei continued to be subjected to ill-treatment between August and October 2002. Andrei was also forced to give false statements denying his ill-treatment.
According to the information received, on November 13th, 2002, investigator Elena Valer’evne Zhebko, came to visit Andrei at the detention centre. Andrei requested her presence and assistance to write a statement explaining that he had himself asked Petrov and Shulaev to torture him and that his previous declarations were all made up. Later Andrei declared that he had given this new statement of his own will and without his parents’ consent. During a short conversation alone with his father, Andrei confessed that he decided to change his statement following threats of further violence. On November 21st, 2002, Andrei’s parents received a letter from their son, in which he strongly asked his father to address a petition calling for the end of further investigation to the Soviet District Department of Interior.
Actions requested
Please write to the authorities of Russia urging them to:
i. guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Andrei Victorovitch Osenchugov and Alexei Vladimirovitch Shishkin;
ii. guarantee them access to family visits and legal representation;
iii. ensure an immediate and impartial investigation into the above-mentioned alleged acts of intimidation and torture in order to identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee adequate reparations for the above-mentioned victims;
v. put an immediate end to all forms of torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of children in accordance with national and international legislation and particularly with articles 37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses:
· President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Pl. Staraya 4, Kremlin, 103132 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 206 5173/230 2408;
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Igor Ivanov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 244 2203;
· Minister of Internal Affairs, Boris Gryzlov, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 237 49 25;
· Minister of Justice, Yurii Chaika, Ul. Vorontsovo Pole 4, 109830 Moscow, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 095 916 29 03/ 209 61 38
· Procurator General of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Ustinov, 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, Fax: +4122 734 40 44;
Geneva, September 23rd , 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply