Defenders: Torturing Russians law enforcement officers often get off with probation

This is due to the fact that the defendants in the torture of law enforcement officers have special knowledge — including how to counteract the investigation.

The security forces convicted of torture, often receive suspended sentences and pay the victims a paltry compensation, according to the report of human rights activists. As the correspondent “of Rosbalt”, the coordinator of the human rights organization “Area law” Bulat Mukhamedzhanov, these findings are contained in the report “Violence of the security forces. Crime without punishment”. The author of the document is the lawyer Maxim Nikonov, cooperating with human rights defenders.

Over the last ten years, 4% of cases against law enforcement officers ended with the acquittal or termination for exculpatory grounds. It is almost ten times more than cases of the other categories. This is due to the fact that the defendants in the torture of the security forces have special knowledge — including how to counteract the investigation.

The ineffective investigation of cases of torture led to the fact that the Russians regularly complain of violence by the security forces the European court of human rights. Only in 2018, the court granted more than a hundred such complaints.

Almost 50% of all convictions of the judge to appoint conditional terms, although part 3 of article 286 CC RF (excess of powers of office with application of violence and special equipment) belongs to the category of serious crimes.

“In the end, the officer involved in violence risk, by and large, the only career in the state and municipal authorities, and the existing system of incentives is working to “not get caught”, not to torture”, — stated in the conclusions of the report.

Human rights activists are recommended to introduce into the criminal code a separate article on torture, which would provide a real deprivation of freedom for the security forces regardless of the caused harm to health of the victim. In addition, human rights activists, the Supreme court should establish a practice of awarding compensation on the basis of decisions of the ECHR, with the bottom limit of 700 thousand roubles.

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