CCPR/C/126/D/2699/2015
and was asked to withdraw his complaint against the police; he was forced to agree to the
demand. At the police station, an official record of the author’s arrest was prepared and he
was placed in a temporary detention facility. He was asked to sign a paper attesting that his
injuries were the result of a fall.
2.10 During the trial of his alleged crime, the author complained about the use of torture
against him by the investigation, but to no avail.
2.11 On 7 May 2014, the Kstovsk City Court found the author guilty under article 111 of
the Criminal Code (intentional infliction of a grave injury) and sentenced him to seven
years’ imprisonment. During the trial, a medical assistant testified in court that on 23
January 2013, during her service, she had visited the author’s home with a colleague
because he had complained of a headache. The author told her that he had been beaten by
the police to force him to confess guilt. He was brought for an examination by a surgeon
and then hospitalized.3
2.12 On 28 July 2014, the Nizhegorodsk Regional Court examined the case on appeal,
and confirmed the author’s sentence.4 On 1 October 2014, a judge from the Regional Court
refused to initiate a cassation appeal requested by the author on 12 September 2014. Thus,
according to the author, domestic remedies have been exhausted.
2.13 A representative of the non-governmental organization “Committee against Torture”
submitted a witness statement to the court, in which she stated that, on 23 January 2013, she
was on duty when the author’s mother called for an ambulance. Upon arriving at the
address, the emergency personnel saw the author lying down. He complained of a headache,
vertigo and nausea. The condition of the author was confirmed by a medical assistant, who
added that the author’s face was swollen. The author also notes other witness statements
that support his claims of the beatings.
2.14 The author notes that, according to the content of a medical certificate dated 24
January 2013, he was diagnosed with bruises of the soft tissues of the head and upper limbs.
He was also diagnosed with alcoholic intoxication. An expert concluded that the injuries
disclosed by the author could have been caused by a solid blunt object or by a hand. It was
possible that the injuries had occurred on 23 January 2013.
2.15 The author notes that the non-governmental organization “Committee against
Torture” concluded that, in his case, (a) the police had acted in their official capacity; (b) as
a result of unlawful actions by the police, the author had suffered physical harm; (c) the
violence had been inflicted on him unlawfully, which was supported by the number and the
nature of the injuries; and (d) the violence had been inflicted with the aim of obtaining a
forced confession.
2.16 The author notes that, according to a ruling by the Supreme Court dated 10
September 2003, the universally recognized principles and norms of international law and
international treaties concluded by the Russian Federation constitute an integral part of the
domestic legal system. The human rights and freedoms contained in the principles and
norms of international law and international treaties concluded by the Russian Federation
are directly enacted within the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation. Article 13 of the
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment obliges each State party to assure that any individual who alleges that he or she
was subjected to torture in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to,
and to have his or her case promptly and impartially examined by, its competent authorities.
3
4
According to documents on file, the author was hospitalized on 23 and 24 January 2013 as the result
of a concussion. He was brought to the hospital in an ambulance called by his mother, who claimed
that her son had been beaten up by the police.
Regarding the author’s claim that his confessions were obtained under duress as a result of beatings,
the appeal court noted that they had been examined by the trial court but had not been confirmed. The
appeal court noted that it had been established that the author’s confessions had been given
voluntarily, without coercion and in the presence of a lawyer. The interrogation records were read out
and signed. An investigation of the author’s torture allegations was carried out but on 13 November
2013 a senior investigator of the Investigation Committee of Kstovo issued a ruling on the refusal to
open a criminal case on the basis of the absence of a corpus delicti.
3