Recommendations

Amnesty International's recommendations to the Russian Federation Government to address human rights violations in the Russian Federation

Amnesty International believes that the following measures would radically improve the protection of human rights in the Russian Federation. It calls on the Russian authorities to:

1. Show a clear political commitment to promote and protect fundamental human rights for everybody and to give an unequivocal message that violations of these rights will not be tolerated.

2. Take immediate and concrete steps towards the abolition of the death penalty in law and ratify Protocols No. 6 and 13 to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

3. Institute training and monitoring programs to ensure that law enforcement and other officials do not act in a discriminatory way towards people on the basis of their gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origin or any other aspects of their identity or status.

4. Make domestic violence a distinct criminal offence, and introduce training for law enforcement officials to recognize and prosecute violence against women, including domestic violence and trafficking of women.

5. Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, granting authority to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) to examine complaints by individuals and groups.

6. Ensure that children are deprived of their liberty only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate time.

7. Review legislation and regulations at federal and regional levels with the aim of removing all elements of the passport and registration system (formerly known as the "propiska" system) which serve as a basis for systematic discrimination.

8. Ensure that crimes that are racially motivated are classified and prosecuted as such.

9. Establish national laws and procedures consistent with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Principles Governing Conventional Arms Transfers (agreed in November 1993) to prevent exports of arms and security equipment and technology where there is a danger that those exports will be used for serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

Torture and ill-treatment

10. Adopt a law which specifically criminalizes torture and ill-treatment in line with international human rights standards - including Article 1 of the Convention against Torture - and which provides for penalties that take into account the grave nature of these offences.

11. Implement in practice the prohibition of coercion under Article 302 of the Criminal Code and ensure that Article 9 of the new Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which prohibits anyone involved in criminal proceedings from being subjected to violence, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, is respected.

12. Ensure that prompt, impartial, independent and thorough investigations of complaints of torture are carried out and that the perpetrators are brought to justice in line with international human rights standards.

13. Establish an independent body with powers, including the power to subpoena witnesses, to investigate and prosecute acts of torture and ill-treatment by officials or that occur as a result of the acquiescence, instigation or consent of officials.

14. Ensure that all law enforcement personnel are trained in international law on the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment in all circumstances and are informed of the criminal liability that the use of torture and ill-treatment entails, regardless of rank.

15. Ensure that all detainees are guaranteed prompt access to a lawyer following arrest, as stipulated in the Russian Constitution. This right should be extended to anyone summoned to a police station as a witness who is then questioned as a possible suspect.

16. Ensure that all evidence, including statements, admitted in any proceedings have been lawfully obtained.

17. Ensure that all detainees who allege that they were subjected to torture or ill-treatment are examined as a matter of routine by qualified and independent medical personnel for physical and psychological signs of torture.

18. Ensure that health care professionals at official treatment centres are trained in the recognition and treatment of injuries, including psychological, relating to torture and ill-treatment.

19. Amend the new CPC to ensure that medical reports from all qualified medical personnel are accepted as evidence in cases relating to allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

20. Ensure that female security personnel are present during the interrogation of women detainees and are solely responsible for conducting body searches of women detainees. There should be no contact between male guards and female prisoners without the presence of a female guard.

21. Include gender-specific information in programs to educate, inform and train relevant officials regarding the prohibition of torture.

22. Ensure that victims of human rights violations, including torture and ill-treatment, have access to reparation, including compensation, medical care and rehabilitation.

23. Introduce training for all law enforcement officials and members of the security forces on the special needs and rights of children, as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

24. Urgently address the causes of overcrowding in detention, particularly in pre-trial detention facilities, including through the implementation of new provisions under the new CPC that place greater emphasis on alternatives to pre-trial detention.

25. Authorize, without delay, publication of all reports of European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visits to the Russian Federation, and translate and disseminate them widely in all relevant languages. Take all necessary measures to implement the recommendations of the CPT without delay.

26. Take all other measures necessary to prevent and punish torture including those set out in Amnesty International's 12-Point Program for the Prevention of Torture by Agents of the State.

Chechnya

Amnesty International calls on the government of the Russian Federation to implement the following recommendations in relation to the conduct of its forces in Chechnya:

27. Take urgent steps to ensure that civilians are protected at all times from the impact of security force operations.

28. Hold comprehensive and impartial investigations into allegations of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes, and bring those responsible to justice in accordance with international standards.

29. Ensure that all victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law have access to a system of effective redress and an enforceable right to fair and adequate reparation.

30. Take steps to build confidence between the civilian population and the authorities, including the appointment of trained, experienced and qualified mixed-gender teams of investigators and prosecutors to investigate allegations of torture involving sexual violence and rape against the civilian population.

31. Revise the training, disciplinary procedures and rules of engagement for the security forces, to prevent human rights violations.

32. Ensure that Order 80 and Decree 46 are expanded to cover all Russian security forces, including federal soldiers, involved in carrying out raids and that appropriate measures are taken against those who violate them.

33. Make available regularly up-to-date lists of all members of the Russian security forces charged and prosecuted for human rights violations committed in Chechnya, which should include specific information on who has been charged with what crime. The list should also include information on the status of all investigations into and prosecutions in connection with violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Chechnya.

34. Take all other measures necessary to prevent and punish torture including those set out in Amnesty International's 12-Point Program for the Prevention of Torture by Agents of the State.

35. Carry out autopsies where there are grounds to believe the person may have died as a result of torture or extrajudicial execution, in order to determine the cause of death, whether injuries occurred prior to death and - where necessary - to establish the identity of the deceased.

36. Extend an invitation to and arrange without delay dates for visits of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Grant unrestricted access to Chechnya to independent media and human rights monitors, including from international organizations.

37. Ensure that all those held in custody are treated humanely with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person and are held in conditions which at least meet minimum international standards.

38. Make public the names and whereabouts of all persons deprived of their liberty and the charges brought against them, including those detained at border crossings and other checkpoints, in police stations, temporary detention facilities and on the premises of Russian military bases.

39. Take all other measures necessary to prevent "disappearances" including those set out in Amnesty International's 14-Point Program for the Prevention of "Disappearances" .

40. Ensure full and appropriate access to detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

41. Provide adequate protection and humanitarian assistance, in accordance with principles of humanity and impartiality, to Chechen internally displaced people (IDPs) and other civilians in Chechnya in accordance with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and other applicable international standards. Stop attempts to forcibly return Chechen IDPs back to Chechnya until they can return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their place of origin or choice.

Amnesty International calls on the Chechen armed opposition groups to implement the following recommendations:

42. Take steps to ensure that all fighters fully respect the requirements of international humanitarian law, in particular those protecting civilians and captured combatants.

43. Ensure full and appropriate access to detainees by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

44. Protect and facilitate the operations of any humanitarian agency or human rights organization present in or seeking access to territory under the control of Chechen forces.

International community

Amnesty International calls on the international community to:

45. Expose and condemn human rights violations, such as torture and ill-treatment, committed by Russian law enforcement officials.

46. Condemn human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed by Russian security forces and Chechen forces in Chechnya.

47. Urge and, if necessary, assist the authorities to ensure that all those responsible for abuses of human rights or international humanitarian law are brought to justice before independent impartial courts established by law and in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness, and take measures to facilitate such proceedings.

48. Put pressure on the Russian authorities vigorously to investigate and prosecute in fair trials the perpetrators of these violations and to abide by their international obligations to promote and protect human rights for everybody.

49. Ensure the enactment of legislation providing for universal jurisdiction over crimes under international law including crimes against humanity; war crimes; genocide; torture, including rape; "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions, and exercise such jurisdiction whenever cases arise.

50. Ensure that people who have fled the conflict are not returned to Chechnya or other parts of the Russian Federation unless and until their safe and durable return with dignity is assured.