58
Concerns in Europe: January - June 2001
AI Index: EUR 01/003/2001
Amnesty International September 2001
On 25 April at around 10pm, Paul Surdu, a 22
year old man detained in Rahova prison in Bucharest,
was taken to the dentist’s surgery for treatment of a
toothache. After the medical assistant on duty
reportedly stated that she did not have any pain-killers,
Paul Surdu insisted that he should be taken to a
hospital providing emergency services. Ten prison
guards then came to the surgery, put him in handcuffs
and took him to the isolation cell. Between 2am and
3am the officer on duty and four other guards came
into the cell and reportedly punched and kicked him
on the head and the abdomen, spat at him, insulted him
and stuffed the bed sheet in his mouth to make him
stop screaming. In the morning, following a visit from
the medical assistant, Paul Surdu was taken to a
hospital. He has subsequently complained to the
Rahova prison management and to the Military
prosecutor. As a result he has reportedly been harassed
by prison guards and the prison authorities have
reportedly failed to take any measures to ensure his
safety.
An article published in
Ziua, a Bucharest daily
newspaper, on 2 February 2001 reported on the death
of 20-year-old Valentin Carolin Stanciu who had been
in detention in a Bucharest police station following
arrest on 29 January on suspicion of having committed
a theft from a car. On 1 February at 4am, because he
was reportedly experiencing respiratory problems, he
was taken to Sf. Pantelimon hospital where he died
shortly afterwards. Hospital sources reportedly
revealed that Valentin Carolin Stanciu had been
suffering from drug dependency. AI is concerned that
the death of Valentin Carolin Stanciu might have
resulted from lack of adequate medical treatment
following his arrest and has asked the Romanian
authorities for a full report of the investigation which
is currently under way. The organization also urged
the authorities to ensure that this investigation
determines whether Valentin Carolin Stanciu had
been examined by a doctor following his arrest, and if
so what medical treatment had been prescribed for his
drug dependency; and whether the conditions in the
police station were adequate for the administration of
the prescribed treatment.
Reports of use of firearms by police officers
in violation of international principles
There were several new reports of police shooting in
circumstances which are at variance with international
principles. In one case the victim died as a result of the
shooting. In the afternoon of 26 April 2001,
Alexandru Mihai Dombi, accompanied by two other
men, was driving a car on the outskirts of Oradea.
When they were stopped by a traffic police patrol
Alexandru Mihai Dombi failed to present his driving
licence and was asked to leave with the officers his
identity card, which he could later collect from the
police station. The men then continued the journey
into town but after the car engine stalled they
proceeded on foot to the nearby railway station where
they arrived at around 7.30pm. Among the crowd at
the station, they saw a large number of police officers.
Alexandru Mihai Dombi started to run along the
railway tracks. A police officer who was later
identified as Lieutenant S. reportedly shouted: “Stop
or I will shoot”. He and another officer then shot
Alexandru Mihai Dombi, hitting him in the head.
Other police officers on the crowded platform
reportedly also fired shots. At the time of the incident
the railway station was reportedly surrounded by the
police and the tracks along which Dombi had been
running terminated at a very tall wall. According to
the police version of the incident the officers who
stopped the car driven by Alexandru Mihai Domba
subsequently realized that he was a wanted person, in
order to serve the remainder of a suspended sentence
for fraud.
On 28 June the Chamber of Deputies adopted a
draft law on the organization and functioning of the
Romanian police. This draft which will be considered
by the Senate later in the year failed to bring the
provision on the use of firearms into line with UN
Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms.
R U S S I A N
F E D E R A T I O N
Prisoners of conscience
The case of Grigory Pasko
(update to AI Index: EUR 01/01/2001)
The re-trial of Grigory Pasko began on 11 July in the
Military Court of the Pacific Fleet. Public access to the
courtroom was only allowed for the first few minutes,
on the grounds of national security. The trial had been
scheduled to start on 22 March, but on that day Pasko
and his lawyers waited for 40 minutes before finding
out that their request to postpone the trial had been
accepted. The trial was postponed to 4 June, then 20
June
(because
of
the
procurator's
"family
obligations"), then 11 July (no explanation was
given).
The new trial is a result of the November 2000
decision of the Military Collegium of Russia’s
Supreme Court to order the Military Court of the
Pacific Fleet to reconsider Grigory Pasko’s case. The
decision was taken after a treason charge against him
was dismissed and he was released, under an amnesty,
from a three-year sentence handed down for the lesser
offence of abuse of office. Grigory Pasko’s appeal
against the latter sentence was turned down.
The case of Dik Altemirov
Russian federal forces detained Dik Altemirov, former
Minister for Tourism and Sport in the Chechen
government, and a former Vice-President of the
Chechen Republic, in Grozny on 24 May and held him
for about two days. The official reason for his arrest
was suspected involvement in the activities of
Chechen armed groups. However, AI believed that
Dik Altemirov was being held solely for the peaceful