CCPR/C/120/D/2532/2015
2.2
During his detention lasting several days at the Department of Internal Affairs, 1 the
author was beaten severely2 by three police officers.3 The officers repeatedly put a gas mask
over his head and turned off the oxygen to prevent him from breathing. Consequently, the
author lost consciousness on numerous occasions. His body was covered by large
hematomas. He was deprived of food and water.
2.3
On 3 June 2009, the author suffered a heart attack as a result of the violence. Two
urgent care physicians examined the author and informed the police officer in charge that
he needed urgent medical assistance in a hospital. The police officer in charge refused to
act upon the doctor’s request. The doctor requested to be given a written refusal of
hospitalization.4
2.4
On the evening of the same day, the author was transferred to a pretrial detention
facility (isolator), located in the same police department building. The officer on duty in the
facility, R., took photos of the injuries the author had sustained to his face, arms and body,
measured them and recorded the information in a journal, 5 which he requested that the
transferring police officers sign. After they left, he gave the author some bread and water.
2.5
On 5 June 2009, the authorities brought the author to the Tatarstan Republican
Forensic Medical Office of the Ministry of Health, where a doctor registered the visual
traumas on his body in a special journal. He was issued a medical certificate detailing his
bodily harm.6
2.6
On the same day, the author was brought before the Soviet District Court of Kazan,
charged with robbery and murder. The Court issued a decision to extend the author’s
detention.7
2.7
In August 2009, the author was transferred to the Kazan prison hospital after
fainting and losing consciousness several times while in detention. After one month in
hospital, the author was returned in the place of detention, 8 where he was subjected again to
severe and repeated beatings during interrogation. The author tried to end his life by cutting
his veins. As a result of the torture, he suffered an organ failure, developed a number of
diseases and became partially disabled.9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
2
The submission does not specify the exact number of days. There is a discrepancy as to the date of
apprehension, either 1 or 3 June 2009.
The author claims that officer Al. twisted his arms behind his back, handcuffed him and pushed him
to the floor, then he and the bald officer kicked him. Then they put him in a chair, then the bald
officer hit him on the head and on the face with his elbows and put a gas mask on his head to prevent
him from breathing.
The author names two of the officers as “Ar.” and “Al.”, and describes the third as “the bald officer”.
The decision of 28 August 2011 not to open criminal investigation against the police officers includes
a statement that a doctor and his assistant had testified that the author had suffered earlier cranialcerebral trauma and had been hospitalized following a heart attack in the past, that the author had
refused to be hospitalized and had signed a statement to that effect, that there had been no sign of
physical violence and that the author had not made any complaints.
A copy of the journal/medical record is not included in the file.
A copy of the medical certificate issued by a forensic expert/medical doctor on 5 June 2009 is part of
the submission. The medical certificate includes a statement that the examination had taken place on 4
June 2009 at 3.40 p.m. and details of serious bodily harm as a result of being hit with a hard object or
objects. In the medical expertise, it is estimated that the bodily injuries had been caused 2 to 5 days
before the time of examination for some of the injuries and 4 to 8 days for others. In its conclusion,
the medical expertise excludes the possibility that the bodily harm had resulted from the author falling
down once. In that document, the author states that he was apprehended by the police on 2 June 2009
at around 3 p.m. and that the officers did not use physical violence during his apprehension. He states
that he does not remember whether he had been injured in May 2009, but states that one week earlier
he had fallen on the street and damaged his left shoulder and knees. The record indicates that he did
not voice any complaints.
This decision is not part of the file.
The submission does not specify the exact place of detention.
Medical certificates, dated 9 and 11 November 2010, outline that the author suffers from hypertension
disease, chronic pancreatitis and nephroptosis (also called “floating kidney”), an abnormal medical