14:13, 25 September 2019

Said Amirov and Rasul Kudaev complain of lack of medical treatment in penal colony

Said Amirov. Photo by Oleg Pchelov for the Caucasian Knot

Andrei Babushkin, a member of the Human Rights Council (HRC), demanded to provide medical assistance to Said Amirov, the former Mayor of Makhachkala, and Rasul Kudaev, a former Guantanamo prisoner, who are being kept at the "Black Dolphin" penal colony.

On September 9, Andrei Babushkin visited the penal colony No. 6 in the Orenburg Region, known as the "Black Dolphin". The report about the Andrei Babushkin's visit to the "Black Dolphin" penal colony, posted on September 24 on the human rights defender's LiveJournal page, contains the information about the complaints filed by prisoners Said Amirov and Rasul Kudaev, kept in the penal colony.

During the visit of the HRC's commission, Said Amirov said that he needed to undergo a medical examination by specialists whom warders did not allow to visit him.

Furthermore, the former Mayor of Makhachkala reports that "the medical officers who help him are doing their best, but they do not have the necessary equipment to help him with his complex diagnoses." Besides, according to Said Amirov, he is experiencing serious inconvenience because of the fact that he can move in a wheelchair only.

In August 2015, the court sentenced Amirov to life imprisonment for murders, banditry and terrorism. The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) passed in October 2017 on Amirov's complaint equated his stay in colony to torture, said his advocate. Doctors, who examined Amirov, agreed that he should be released.

Resident of Kabardino-Balkaria Rasul Kudaev complained to Andrei Babushkin about the disappearance of his letters to the General Prosecutor's Office and the Prosecutor's Office for the Orenburg Region and a complaint requesting an institution of a criminal case which disappeared during one of the searches.

Rasul Kudaev also told the human rights defender that he was suffering from pain in his back and frequent headaches of a post-traumatic nature after beating.

According to Rasul Kudaev, on March 31, 2016, he was beaten at the penal colony, but he still did not receive any response from the investigating bodies to his complaint about the beating.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 24, 2019 at 11:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.