The World Organization against Torture (OMCT) has condemned the ways of detention of people suspected of committing terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in Krasnogorsk and tortures used by the Russian authorities against them.
Human rights organizations and Tajik officials have reported rising levels of xenophobia against Central Asians in Russia following the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue that left 144 people dead and hundreds more injured.
Russian investigators say the attack was carried out by four men, all Tajik nationals. Other detainees are reportedly being held for aiding and abetting the attackers.
Russian authorities have said 11 Tajik citizens and a Kyrgyzstan-born Russian citizen have been arrested in connection with the attack, Russia’s worst terrorist attack in two decades. Responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (IS-K), an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
Recall, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin said in statement delivered at a meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers in Minsk, Belarus on April 12 that “an ill-conceived information campaign" in Russia was creating “a negative perception” of Tajiks.
The top Tajik diplomat also condemned the treatment of the Tajik suspects held in connection with the attack amid allegations that the detainees were tortured in custody. He, in particular, noted that when investigating the March 22 terrorist attack, Russian law enforcement authorities must comply with the norms and principles of international law and legal requirements, especially regarding the presumption of innocence, prohibition of torture and ill-treatment of detainees
Meanwhile, lawyers consider that norms of Russian legislation and international conventions were violated during the detention of the terrorist suspects and Tajikistan authorities need to protect the rights of Tajik citizens abroad.
