Dear readers. Before you is a brief chronological guide to the key events that occurred with us in 2015.
As it seemed to us earlier, the tendency to «crackdown on» independent human rights organizations only increased in 2015. The result of this pressure was the trial regarding the INGO, «Committee against torture», in which the nongovernment organization, a bit short of its fifteen-year anniversary, announced its liquidation; refusing to publicly tell the truth, hanging the label of «foreign agent».
Rather than ceasing their activities, the members of the Committee continued fighting against torture and defending the rights of Russian citizens in a new structure, the Committee for the prevention of torture, an organization that doesn’t receive foreign funding.
Along with the informational campaign of discrediting and defaming independent human rights defenders, direct physical pressure was continued; in June 2015, with the connivance of the authorities our office, in the center of Grozny, was broken into and our colleagues were miraculously able to escape the thugs through a window.
However, despite these and many other difficulties when we were forced to protect ourselves and our right to operate normally rather than perform our duties in the country, our employees in 2015:
– 121 appeals of citizens about the use of torture and ill-treatment were audited;
– 7 criminal cases for crimes connected with violations of human rights were opened;
– 8 criminal cases involving violations of human rights were sent to court;
– More than three and a half million rubles was awarded in compensation to the victims of the illegal actions of law enforcement officers;
– 64 decisions of the Investigative Committee, prosecutor, and the court were recognized as illegal and cancelled;
– 2 complaints that were directed to the European court of human rights were handed down a positive decision;
– 8 complaints were sent to the European court of human rights;
– medical rehabilitation and treatment were 72 people (victims of torture and their relatives) received medical rehabilitation and treatment.
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