EUR 46/043/2011

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

An ethnic Chechen man, Zubair Zubairaev, imprisoned in Siberia, urgently needs an independent medical examination and complex treatment. His health has been gravely affected by torture and other ill-treatment.

According to his lawyer, who visited the prison in early September and October, Zubair Zubairaev could only walk using a crutch and leaning heavily on another inmate. He could neither sit nor stand, and had to lie on the floor during the meetings. Zubairaev's critical health condition has also been confirmed by human rights activists who visited him in July and September. They also documented Zubairaev's complaints that he had been severely beaten on several occasions both by the penal system staff and by medical workers in the Minusinsk prison, where he is held now, and in Krasnoyarsk remand centre; he was also beaten in Krasnoyarsk prison hospital, where he was held for a week in July for medical examination; every time, he was reportedly threatened that he "would not see his release" as he "would be beaten to death".

Fearing for his life Zubair Zubairaev refuses to be sent to prison hospitals in Krasnoyarsk region as he does not trust the medical workers. He needs to be transferred urgently to another region of Russia, closer to his home, where his family could stay in better contact with him and where he could undergo full medical examination and treatment without fear for his life.

Please write immediately in Russian or your own language:

* Expressing grave concern at reports that Zubair Zubairev's health has deteriorated severely, that he is not being provided with the medical treatment he needs urgently, and that he is being continually threatened and ill-treated by penal system staff;

* Urging the authorities to ensure arrangements are made for Zubair Zubairev to be transferred immediately to serve his sentence in another region of Russia, closer to his home;

* Urging them to ensure, urgently, that Zubair Zubairaev is examined by independent doctors and given any medical attention he may require, in a civilian hospital.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 1 DECEMBER 2011 TO:

Director, Federal Penal Service

Colonel-General Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Reimer

Federal Penal Service

ul. Zhitnaya 14,

GSP-1

119991 Moscow

Russian Federation

Fax: +7 495 982 19 50 / +7 495 955 59 12

Salutation: Dear Director

Prosecutor General

Yurii Ya. Chaika

ul. B.Dimitrovka, d. 15a

Moscow, GSP-3

107048

Russian Federation

Fax: +7 495 692 17 25

Email: prgenproc@gov.ru

Salutation: Dear Prosecutor General

And copies to:

Head of Penal Service for Krasnoyarsk region

Vladimir Konstantinovich Shaeshnikov

GUFSIN for Krasnoyarsk region

Ul. Okhrany Truda,1

660075 Krasnoyarsk

Russian Federation

Fax: +7 391 211 49 57

Email: up288@ktk.ru

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.

RYSKA FEDERATIONENS AMBASSAD

GJÖRWELLSGATAN 31

112 60 STOCKHOLM

FAX 08-618 27 03

E-post: rusembassy@telia.com

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Zubair Zubairaev was sentenced in August 2007 to five years in a maximum security prison for an attempt on a serviceman's life and for illegal transportation of an explosive device, charges that he denied, and was sent to IAR-154/25 in Frolovo, Volgograd region, where sources close to him say he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated by prison officers; this included the use of electric shocks and beatings with plastic bottles filled with water, truncheons and rifle butts. His feet were pierced through with a sharp metal instrument. After making several complaints about this treatment, his condition worsened. He was transferred to a prison colony in Volgograd and admitted in February 2008 to a prison hospital, but the beatings and ill-treatment continued. At the time he told some of his contacts outside the prison that he did not receive any treatment for the injuries he had sustained. He was transferred to FBU UP-288-T in Minusinsk in mid-2009.

Zubair Zubairaev has had difficulty walking, needing to use a crutch to move around, and suffers from severe, chronic pain to his back and legs. He is also experiencing dramatic fluctuations in blood pressure and possibly has an ongoing seizure disorder related to head trauma sustained while he was imprisoned in Frovolo.

Amnesty International regularly receives reports of torture or other ill-treatment in places of detention across the Russian Federation, including penal colonies, and of the authorities' frequent failure to investigate and bring those responsible to justice. In February 2007, the UN Committee against Torture expressed its concern regarding the inadequate health-care provided to people in pre-trial detention centres and prison colonies.

The denial of medical care may be considered to be torture and other ill-treatment, and the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners require that "sick prisoners who require specialist treatment ... be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals" (para. 22 [2]).

.

Name: Zubair Zubairaev

Gender: m

Zubair Zubairaev was previously the subject of UA 342/08 (EUR 46/031/2008, 12 December 2008) and follow-ups (EUR 46/005/2009, 10 February 2009; EUR 46/006/2009, 3 March 2009; EUR 46/008/2009, 28 April 2009