Committee against Torture sends a new complaint to ECtHR concerning resident of Chechnya

With support of the Inter-Regional Committee against Torture (IRCAT), Roman Gastemirov, a resident of Grozny, who was tortured by militiamen and then tried for five years to seek justice in Russia, has addressed the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg.

Let us remind you that on August 10, 2005, Roman Gastemirov was taken to Lenin ROVD (District Interior Division) of Grozny. There, militiamen severely beat him, demanding to "confess" of arms transportation and links with illegal armed formations (IAFs).

Some days after detention, Roman was tortured with electric current; he lost consciousness, and an ambulance was called to him. As reported by the IRCAT, on August 20, 2005, Roman was brought to SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 20/1, where his bodily injuries were fixed.

In the course of public inquiry, lawyers of the IRCAT established the facts of application of illegal violence to Roman and of inefficient investigation of the incident by the authorities.

However, the local prosecutor's office refused to open a criminal case on the revealed circumstances. Inspectors repeatedly passed decisions about this refusal, which were cancelled by higher instances. Nevertheless, finally, in the end of the last year the district and republic's court upheld the conclusions of the prosecutor's office.