The Chechnya government has officially expressed its will to cooperate with the Committee against Torture in the sphere of human rights protection in the region.

This decision was made after chairman of INGO “Committee against Torture” Igor Klyapin addressed Chechnya president Ramzan Kadyrov expressing the Committee’s readiness to cooperate with the president in order to contribute to the establishment of civil society in Chechnya.

Besides, Mr. Kalyapin asked the president to pay attention to violations identified by the CAT committed by the regional prosecutor’s office and investigation committee staff when investigating into torture and cruel treatment allegations.  

Unfortunately, the Republican Prosecutor’s office and the Investigation Committee continue breaching procedural and constitutional norms on a regular basis. There are a lot of unlawful procedural decisions that are later cancelled in court. There are multiple incidents when applicants were denied the right to study the materials of the check conducted under their applications. Another widespread violation is lack of notification of decisions taken under victims’ applications. Regrettably, such breaches occur repeatedly, year after year. This affects victims’ rights to justice, diminishes effectiveness and efficiency of investigation, makes it difficult to restore the rights.

In such circumstances the position of the Chechnya administration is of immense importance.

It was voiced by Chechnya government chairman Vayhkhanov who stated on behalf of Mr. Kadyrov’s that cooperation between the government and the Committee met the interests of Chechen people and contributed to strengthening the rights, freedoms and legal interests of the population.  

Mr. Vaykhanov underlined that the Prosecutor’s office and Investigation Committee were recommended to address the violations revealed by CAT lawyers and take measures to prevent such breaches in the future, as well as to deal with the people responsible for such violations.