Response of the Government of the Russian Federation 1185

RESPONSE

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION TO THE REPORT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVENTION OF TORTURE AND INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT (CPT) ON ITS VISIT TO THE NORTHERN CAUCASIAN REGION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FROM 27 APRIL TO 6 MAY [CPT/Inf (2013) 2]

The Russian Government has requested the publication of this response. The report of the CPT on its April/May 2011 visit to the Russian Federation is set out in document CPT/Inf (2013) 1.

Strasbourg, 24 January 2013

Note: In accordance with Article 11, paragraph 3, of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punish- ment, certain names have been deleted.

(English translation provided by the Russian authorities)

On paragraphs 8 and 48 of the Report

On its demand the CPT delegation was provided with accurate and full information on the issues of concern during the visit to SIZO No. 1 in Makhachkala and SIZO No. 1 in Vladikavkaz. The information about the fact that several detainees were afraid to speak with the CPT delegation, and some of them stated that they had been warned by prison staff not to make any complaints to the members of the del- egation has found no confirmation. During the monitoring the public prosecutor’s office established that before the visit of the CPT delegation suspects, accused and convicted per- sons, detained in SIZO No. 1 in Makhachkala and SIZO No. 1 in Vladikavkaz, were not morally or psychologically pressurized by employees of these institu- tions. Moreover, any kind of intimidating or retaliatory action against persons detained in SIZO No. 1 in Makhachkala and in SIZO No. 1 in Vladikavkaz after they had spoken to the CPT delegation did not take place. 1186 Response of the Government of the Russian Federation

On paragraph 9 of the Report

On August 24, 2011 an appropriate instruction was sent to the Internal Affairs Division for Transport in Makhachkala, the Internal Affairs Division for Transport in the region of North Caucasus in order to avoid unjustified obstruction of visiting by the CPT delegation detention places and access to relevant documentation. At the same time, in connection with the difficult operational situation in the Republic of Dagestan in non-working time (the time when the CPT del- egation expressed its desire to visit the institution) the entrance into the build- ing of the Centre for combating extremism was strictly limited; the delegation also had to wait for nearly 30 minutes before being allowed to visit the Centre personally by the Director of the Centre, who accompanied it when the delega- tion was making its round through the offices. At the same time, a letter about the need to take additional measures to ensure that such incidents do not occur during future visits was sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Dagestan.

On paragraph 10 of the Report

According to Article 2 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in 1987, “each Party shall permit visits to any place within its jurisdiction where persons are deprived of their liberty by a public authority”. The legislation of the Russian Federation defines the exhaustive list of facilities, where it is allowed to detain such category of persons: investigatory isolation wards, correctional facilities of the criminal-executive system, deten- tion centres of internal affairs bodies, as well as detention centres of border control bodies, the list of which was given to the CPT delegation in the course of the visit to Russia. Taking into account the fact that people, deprived of their liberty, are not detained in the Russian FSB institutions, as well as because of the absence of instructions of the possible presence of detainees in the premises of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, no meeting was arranged between the head of the FSB Directorate of Russia for the Republic of Dag- estan and the members of the CPT delegation.

On paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Report

The CPT delegation requested to meet Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Al- exander KHLOPONIN, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North Caucasian Federal District, as well as the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Mr. Alex- ander BASTRYKIN. However these meeting did not take place in the period