KBR’s POC headed by power agent

On April 20, Anatoly Barsagov, an ex-deputy head of the criminal police, was elected the chairman of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) of Kabardino-Balkarian Republic (KBR). Rights defenders believe that the former policeman is unlikely to stand up for the defence of prisoners' rights.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the new staff of the KBR’s POC was announced on March 4. Out of 12 members, four are ex-policemen and UFSIN (Department of the Russian Penitentiary Service) employees. Valery Khatazhukov, the head of the KBR’s Human Rights Centre (HRC), Irina Kishukova, the Director of the “Razvitie” (Development) Charity Fund, and Marx Shakhmurzov, the Chairman of the Association of Victims of Political Repressions, were not included into the POC.

Not all the members of the POC know the new chairman, said Adam Medaliev, a POC member. According to his story, only time will tell how Barsagov manages to organize the work of the POC, but there are grounds to doubt that the former policeman will take a principled stand in relation to violations of prisoners' rights.

According to rights defenders, the authorities are trying to take the POC’s activities under control; and in this format, the Commission will exist just "for a tick".

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