HRC members demand to close IVS in Kislovodsk

Members of the Presidential Human Rights Council (HRC) have completed their visit to the North-Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) with the inspection of public agencies, IVS, and SIZO (pre-trial prison) in the Stavropol Territory. The human rights defenders insist that the IVS (temporary detention facility) in Kislovodsk should be closed immediately after the opening of a new temporary detention facility in Yessentuki.

"The Kislovodsk IVS is the worst penitentiary facility in Northern Caucasus. It was closed after my visit in 2014. However, it was reopened, and we saw people being kept in cells without windows, in so-called 'stone bags'," human rights defender Andrei Babushkin told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to him, the HRC members recommended the authorities "to ultimately close the Kislovodsk IVS after the opening of the IVS in Yessentuki."

Besides, the group of the HRC members visited the IVS located in the Cossack village of Yessentukskaya of the Predgorny District. "Conditions in the Yessentukskaya IVS are better than in the Kislovodsk IVS," said Andrei Babushkin.

"We also visited the IVS in Pyatigorsk. There, some cells are also deprived of windows, and if cells are with windows, then they are of 20 centimetres. Meanwhile, IVS administration follows our recommendations, and they tend to keep people in cells with windows," noted the HRC member.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.