Death in detention under unclear circumstances of Mr. Rim Shaygalimov_Risk of impunity

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (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 Russian-Chechen Friendship Society (RCFS), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the death in detention under unclear circumstances of Mr. Rim Shaygalimov (born on 24 February 1957), an activist of The Other Russia coalition in Krasnojarsk and a former member of the Russian Communist Party, who was serving a prison sentence in the high security detention camp located in Startsevo village, in Krasnojarsky Kray.

According to the information received, on 29 June 2009, Mr. Rim Shaygalimov’s relatives were informed by the camp’s administration of his death. According to the authorities, he committed suicide by jumping out of a window located on the 4th floor of the building breaking its two frames. However, his family rebuts this version.

According to the same information, Mr. Rim Shaygalimov’s wife tried repeatedly to obtain a meeting with the camp’s administration following her husband’s death, but without success. When she was able to get his body at the morgue, she requested a forensic expert to examine the body as no official post-mortem examination had been conducted. The forensic expert reportedly stated that the body had no signs of a fall, such as injuries on his head or broken bones. However, the body allegedly bore signs of bruises on both sides of the body and on his armpits, as well as signs on his neck indicating possible suffocation.

According to the same information, Mr. Rim Shaygalimov’s wife had not been allowed to see her husband for the past four months, and when she finally managed to speak to him, Mr. Rim Shaygalimov reportedly complained that he had been moved from one cell to another, along with detainees sentenced for murder who were harassing him. Mr. Rim Shaygalimov’s wife also reportedly found a letter dated 20 June 2009 written by her husband to the camp’s administration, asking to be transferred to the prison’s hospital because of injuries sustained following repeated beatings. However, the request was reportedly rejected. She also found several appeals requesting to buy food from the prison’s shop with the money Mr. Rim Shaygalimov had received on his personal prison bank account. These appeals were all denied allegedly because the account was empty.

Mr. Rim Shaygalimov had been arrested on 12 May 2008 and sentenced to five years and five months to prison for assault on the chief of the public security police during a protest on 9 May 2008. Mr. Rim Shaygalimov had reportedly always denied these accusations.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the death in detention of Mr. Rim Shaygalimov, all the more since the exact circumstances remain unclear and no proper investigation has been launched into the causes of his death. OMCT recalls that “(…) no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life” (Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and that the Government of Russia is legally bound to effectively ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all persons deprived of liberty in accordance with international and regional human rights law, and in particular, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.

OMCT urges the competent Russian authorities to carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the death of Mr. Rim Shaygalimov, as provided in the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, the results of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in the Russian Federation urging them to:

1. Carry out a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the death in detention of Mr. Rim Shaygalimov, the results of which must be made public, in order to bring those responsible before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal and apply penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
2. Ensure that adequate, effective and prompt reparation, including adequate compensation, is granted to the victim’s family;
3. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, Kremlin, Moscow, Russia, Faxes:+ 7 495 206 5173 / 230 2408, Email: president@gov.ru;
• Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Mr. Yuri Chayka,, 125993, Moskva K-31, Ul. B. Dimitrovka, d 15a, Russian Federation, Fax: + 7 (495)692-17-25;
• Chairwoman of the Presidential Human Rights Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, 103132 g. Moskva, Staraya ploshchad, d 8/5,pod 3, Russian Federation, Fax: +7 495 20 64 855;
• Vladimir Lukin, Russian Federal Ombudsman for Human Rights, Fax: +7 495 207-74-70;
• Minister of Internal Affairs, Rashid Nurgaliev, ul. Zhitnaya, 16, 117049 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Rossiia, 117049, Moskva, Fax: + 7 495 237 49 25;
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, Smolenskaya-Sennaya pl, 32/34, 121200 Moscow, Russian Federation, Telegram: Fax:+ 7 495 230 21 30;
• General Lieutenant Vladimir Shaeshnikov, Department for the Execution of Punishment, Krasnojarsk, 660075, Krasnojarsk, Okharny truda Str, Email: re@ktk.ru
• Mr. Alexander Khloponin, Governor, Goverment of Krasnoyarsk Krai, 660009, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, pr. Mira, 110, Fax: +7 (391) 249-33-02, E-mail: public@krskstate.ru
• Prosecutor Yury Baranov, Address 660049, г. Krasnojarsk Mir Av., 32, Krasnojarsk
• Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva Av. de la Paix 15, CH-1211, Geneva 20, Switzerland, e-mail : mission.russian@ties.itu.int, fax: +4122 734 40 44;

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

Geneva, 07 July 2009

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