Armenian citizen complaints to court against torturous conditions in Russian prison

Yesterday, on November 11, citizen of Armenia Ashot Kirakosyan lodged a complaint to the Syktyvkar City Court of the Komi Republic against torturous custody conditions at the special detention facility of Syktyvkar militia. This news was reported to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Ernest Mezak, board member of the Komi human rights commission of the "Memorial".

Mr Mezak said that the claimant was deported from Russia on November 8 for breaching migratory regulations. Now Mr. Kirakosyan is asking the court to assess the conditions of his four-month custody at the special detention facility of the Department of Internal Affairs of Syktyvkar. He asserts that the militia had broken Article 3 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which prohibits torture.

The legal defence of Mr Kirakosyan's interests was ensured by the "Civil Assistance" Moscow Committee for Helping Migrants and Komi Human Rights Commission (KHRC) "Memorial".

On October 23, 2008, the KHRC "Memorial" addressed Gail Akopyan, Consul of Armenia in Moscow. In this appeal, the human rights activists expressed their opinion that Kirakosyan's custody conditions at the special detention facility humiliated his human dignity, thus, violating Article 3 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

The "Memorial" referred to the decision of the European Court for Human Rights passed in 2006 on the case "Kaya versus Greece". In that decision, the Strasbourg Court upheld the stand of the European Committee against Torture, according to which police insulation facilities are basically unfit and not intended for keeping migrants for several months. The "Memorial" asked the consul to undertake defence of his compatriot.

"Arbitrariness in relation to foreigners became a rule at the special detention facility of Syktyvkar. There, Ivan Genov, a citizen of Bulgaria detained back in June, is still waiting for his deportation from Russia. We informed the Embassy of Bulgaria in Moscow about his heavy situation and received a response," Igor Sazhin, chairman of the KHRC "Memorial" has commented the situation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria has treated the fact that Russian authorities had failed to inform the consul of Bulgaria about Ivan Genov's detention as unacceptable.