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).

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