U.S.A. IMPOSES
SANCTIONS ON RUSSIAN
INVESTIGATORS BECAUSE OF JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES CASE
The United
States imposed sanctions
with regard to two employees of the regional Investigative
Committee (SKR) in
Surgut, accusing them of participating in tortures and
violations of the rights
of adherents of the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses
(considered extremist
and banned in the RF). This is said in a statement distributed
on Tuesday by
the press service of the State Department.
The director
of the regional
investigation department, Vladimir Ermolaev, and the senior
investigator of the
department, Stepan Tkach, were included in the sanctions list.
"The State
Department has credible information that Ermolaev and Tkach
participated in
tortures and/or cruel, inhumane, or demeaning treatment of
members of the
Jehovah's Witnesses in Surgut, Russia," the document of the
American
foreign policy department affirms. Both Russians, and also their
closest
relatives, are prohibited from entry into the territory of the
U.S.A.
"Russia must
cease the unjust
campaign against Jehovah's Witnesses and immediately release the
more than 200
persons who at the present time are in detention for the fact
that they
exercised their right to freedom of religious confession," the
State
Department believes. The U.S.A. also urged "bringing to
accountability officials
who participated in the violations, including those with regard
to members of
the Jehovah's Witnesses in Surgut."
Detention in
Surgut
In
mid-February in Surgut, three
members of the Jehovah's Witnesses were arrested, and a criminal
case was
opened against them based on part 2 of article 282 of the
Criminal Code of the
RF (Arranging the activity of an extremist organization). Surgut
became the
second city of the autonomous district where, in February,
security personnel
discovered a cell of Jehovists. On 7 February, in Uray, the
activity of yet
another local cell of the organization was halted.
Followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses reported on their website that on 15 February, after searches, their devotees were taken to the building of the department of the Investigative Committee where allegedly their arms were bound with scotch tape, and they were beaten, stripped, doused with water, and tortured with an electric shocker. Several persons received wounds and appealed to the oversight agencies, the report says. The report about torture was denied in the regional SKR.
In late March, the European Court of Human Rights informed the Russian Ministry of Justice about its refusal to satisfy a request from one of the members of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization, Sergei Loginov, for taking urgent measures in the case, inasmuch as during the criminal investigation he allegedly was subjected to torture on the part of representatives of Russian investigative agencies. Within the context of responding to the related appeal, the E.C.H.R. suggested to Russian authorities that they conduct an independent medical examination of the plaintiff with the goal of confirming or refuting the claims he made.
The Ministry of Justice and the Federal Penitentiary Service conducted a medical examination of the plaintiff, with the participation of independent specialists, which did not confirm the fact of the use of torture. The agency explained that after a review of evidence provided and the legal argumentation, the E.C.H.R. did not see reasonable grounds for granting Loginov's petition. (tr. by PDS, posted 11 September 2019)
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