CAT/C/70/D/915/2019
complainant’s investigative activities were detrimental to the interests of the Governor and
the Provincial Prosecutor. The complainant and his spouse started to receive frequent
telephone calls and text messages threatening physical assault and rape of the spouse, the
abduction of their children and the imprisonment and disappearance of the complainant. On
several occasions, unidentified cars were parked outside his apartment and his child’s school.
Faced with “totally fabricated charges”, threats and pressure and living in fear of their lives,
the family left the Russian Federation. They arrived in Georgia in October 2016.
2.2
The Criminal Police of Georgia arrested the complainant on 30 April 2018 in Tbilisi
in line with an arrest warrant issued in the Russian Federation against him channelled through
the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL). On 29 October 2018, Tbilisi
City Court decided to grant the extradition of the complainant to the Russian Federation. The
Georgian Supreme Court upheld this decision on 7 November 2018.
Complaint
3.1
The complainant claims that his extradition to the Russian Federation would expose
him to detention conditions amounting to a real risk of persecution, torture or ill-treatment.
He would have no effective remedies in the Russian Federation to challenge the violation of
his rights under the Convention.
3.2
The complainant argues that human rights treaty bodies and international
organizations remain concerned about torture, ill-treatment, extremely high mortality rates
and poor detention conditions in the Russian Federation. The European Committee for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment has conducted
28 visits to the Russian Federation since 1998, but only three reports have been made public,
which demonstrates the uncooperative attitude of the Government of the Russian Federation
and raises serious concerns that the penitentiary system does not meet standards on
combating torture. The Russian Federation has the highest mortality rate in penal institutions
in Europe.1
3.3
The complainant refers to the Committee’s concluding observations on the sixth
periodic report of the Russian Federation, which mention acts of torture and ill-treatment and
a lack of investigations and prosecutions as principal subjects of concern.2 The Committee
further expressed its concern at the detention conditions, including overcrowding and harsh
material conditions, as well as the discrepancy between the high number of deaths and
charges brought against prison staff concerning these deaths and the low number of sanctions
imposed.3
3.4
The complainant further claims that corruption among the judiciary and law
enforcement personnel in the Russian Federation prevails. Any anti-corruption activity,
especially by law enforcement officials, is perceived as hostile conduct, contrary to the
interests of high-level officials. Efforts at countering corruption usually result in exclusion
and revenge, including fabricated criminal proceedings, illegal imprisonment, threats against
family members, physical assault, abduction, inhuman or degrading treatment, torture or
killing. The complainant believes that the charges against him are directly linked with his
anti-corruption activities and constitute personal revenge by the Governor of Kaluga
Province and the Provincial Prosecutor, who are powerful officials.
3.5
The complainant refers to the decision in Kalinichenko v. Morocco, where the
Committee found that the expulsion of a businessman to the Russian Federation would put
him at risk of torture, in breach of article 3 of the Convention.4 The complainant submits that,
in his case too, there is a risk of torture due to his anti-corruption activities, which undermined
1
2
3
4
2
Council of Europe, “Annual Penal Statistics: SPACE I – Prison Populations Survey 2014”. Available
at http://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2019/02/SPACE-I-2014-Report_Updated_190129.2-1.pdf; Council of
Europe, “Annual Penal Statistics: SPACE I – Prison Populations Survey 2015”. Available at
http://wp.unil.ch/space/files/2017/04/SPACE_I_2015_FinalReport_161215_REV170425.pdf.
CAT/C/RUS/CO/6, para. 14.
Ibid., para. 38.
Kalinichenko v. Morocco (CAT/C/47/D/428/2010).