Sochi: observers reveal problems with information and accessibility of police stations for invalids

Sochi has held an inspection decade of the work of police offices and stations. Rights defenders and activists of public organizations inspected 14 police stations located in all four districts of Sochi, Adler and Krasnaya Polyana, including those at railway stations. They noted problems related to accessibility of police stations for citizens with limited mobility, and with information support. The observers intend to sum up the outcomes of the inspection and direct a letter with proposals to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).

The inspection revealed a number of shortcomings in the work of the police. Thus, most offices have obstacles at the entrance and in the corridors that impede wheelchair invalids; and toilets are not adapted for them.

According to Semyon Simonov, one of the initiators of the inspection decade, the coordinator of the Sochi reception office of the "Migration and Law" network of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial", not all the police station had the necessary information about the rights of detainees and contacts, where people should address their complaints on police misconduct.

He added that policemen reacted positively to the inspection decade.

Such checks are needed for the police to know that there are public organizations, which check the work of the police, said Alik Le, a member of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) of the Krasnodar Territory.