Rights defenders state violations of Chechens' and Ingushes' rights in Russian prisons

The natives of Chechnya and Ingushetia, who are exposed to acts of violence in Russian prisons, often fall victim to aggression of participants of Chechen Wars. This was announced today in Moscow by the Committee "Civil Assistance" during presentation of its report on the outcomes of the project.

"Those, who are tortured in prisons, are mostly people, whose criminal cases had been fabricated. However, regardless of whether the person is guilty or not, the law must be observed in his relation," said Svetlana Gannushkina, the head of the above committee.

According to her story, the decision to implement a project aimed to monitor the Caucasians in prisons was made after the "Civil Assistance" had accumulated complaints from prisoners on inappropriate treatment by prison personnel.

"These are facts of misunderstanding and aggression, brought to prisons by the guards, who had earlier fought in Chechen Wars and are still angry with Caucasians," said Gannushkina.

During the project, the committee received more than 700 complaints from prisoners and their relatives, Olga Chmurova, the project administrator, said during a press conference.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.