DISINFO: The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture visited Chechnya and found no evidence of extrajudicial executions
SUMMARY
The delegation of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture visited Chechnya and found no evidence that extrajudicial executions were committed on the territory of the republic, as it had been reported by the media before.
RESPONSE
The Council of Europe has said precisely the opposite: a delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) rejected the claims and reported: "At the end of the visit, and in accordance with usual practice, the delegation discussed the main findings of the visit during a confidential meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Russian authorities had authorised a representative of [Human Rights Commissioner of the Russian Federation] Ms Moskalkova’s Office to attend that meeting. After the visit, reports have appeared in the Russian media quoting Ms Moskalkova as saying that the CPT’s delegation found no confirmation of extrajudicial executions/punishments or torture. These reports are misleading and should not be considered as reflecting the CPT’s findings during this visit."www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-visits-the-chechen-republic-of-the-russian-federation, Newspaper Novaya Gazeta published in July 2017 an investigation according to which tens of people had been executed extrajudicially in January 2017 in Chechnya. www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2017/07/09/73065-eto-byla-kazn-v-noch-na-26-yanvarya-v-groznom-rasstrelyany-desyatki-lyudey,