Yesterday in Moscow there was an awarding ceremony for people granted the Ombudsman’s Medal.   This honourable prize is awarded to individuals who have greatly contributed to strengthening protection of rights and freedoms safeguarded by the Russian Constitution, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The ceremony timed to coincide with the International Human Rights Day took place in the House of Russian Abroad named after Solzhenitsin. ICAT Chairman’s Assistant for legal and analytical issues, ICAT Board member Dmitry Kazakov was among the honourees.

In the Committee Against Torture Dmitry Kazakov is engaged in monitoring the widespread problem of tortures and ill-treatment in Russia. Besides, he is also member of the Joint Mobile Group (JMG) operating in the Chechen Republic.   

Speaking about this award, Dmitry Kazakov on behalf of the Committee Against Torture thanked the Ombudsman for appreciation of the Committee’s activity.

The honouree said: “There are many achievements in the activities of the Committee Against Torture. One of our major achievements is establishment of the Joint Mobile Group which has been working in Chechnya for 2 years already. The JMG was detained several times, it also had numerous conversations with Chechen law enforcement heads. Nevertheless, the results of its work have allowed us to gather substantive evidence   of abductions and their ineffective investigation and communicate these problems to Russian leaders and the global community.”

“This award is an acknowledgment of human rights protection efforts of all members of the Joint Mobile Group and Committee Against Torture. I would like to thank everyone for the attention paid to our work also because this can become an additional security guarantee for JMG members operating in such a complicated Russian region!” – remarked Dmitry.