Senators have already begun work on changing the relevant legislation

Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a meeting of the HRC that the Federation Council is working on a draft law on the allocation of torture as an independent corpus delicti.

“The Federation Council has already begun to work on amendments to the legislation that would enshrine the very concept of the crime of torture. Such work is already underway, they are working on it, ”he said.

Human rights activist Eva Merkacheva made a proposal to legislate the punishment for torture.

“The question is, of course, very important, I followed what was happening, this information, you need to carefully understand this. The central office of the Investigative Committee is conducting a preliminary investigation on issues that have become known and are being considered in the framework of the initiated criminal cases. Here, I agree with you, systemic measures are needed, ”Putin replied.

“Of course, this is a very important topic for all of us. Things are absolutely unacceptable. What is there to comment on? You are all right, we need to work in this direction consistently and add the results we need, ”he added.

Meanwhile, on the eve, Putin conferred the rank of Major General of the Internal Service on Leonid Sagalakov, head of the GUFSIN for the Irkutsk Region. It is in this region that Angarsk IK-15 is located, where a riot took place in April 2020, and hundreds of prisoners injured themselves in protest against the bullying by the administration. The riot was suppressed by special forces. After that, many prisoners were taken to other institutions of the FSIN, where, according to eyewitnesses, they were subjected to terrible torture.

In March became knownthat a working group has been set up in the Federation Council to prepare amendments to the Criminal Code aimed at combating torture. The bill provides as a punishment up to ten years in prison for law enforcement officers who torture detainees and convicts. One of the authors document – Senator Lyudmila Narusova, the initiative was developed jointly with the Ombudsman for Human Rights in Russia Tatyana Moskalkova.

Earlier, the UN Commission on Torture recommended that Russia create a special law against torture and introduce the concept into the Criminal Code as an independent corpus delicti.