PUTIN´S RUSSIA: Russia must provide ‘urgent & comprehensive’ care to Navalny – UN on GEO´
PUTINS RUSSIA: Russia must provide ‘urgent & comprehensive’ care to Navalny – UN on GEO´
Syndicated By: GEO´ PRWire Team – Gibraltar
12th May 2023
The Russian government must provide the jailed opposition politician, Alexei Navalny, with urgent and comprehensive medical care in light of his gravely deteriorating health, the UN-appointed independent expert on torture cases.
Alice Edwards, who is officially known as the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, said she was “distressed by the deteriorating state of Mr. Navalny’s health and the apparent lack of satisfactory diagnosis and medical treatment”.
‘A form of torture’
In a statement also backed by six of her fellow Human Rights Council-appointed experts, she said that the alleged placement of the Russian politician, lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner in isolation on 11 separate occasions, amounting to 114 days in solitary confinement over seven months, “appears disproportionate” and would amount to a form of torture, if confirmed.
“Mr. Navalny is reportedly suffering from serious ill-health, including chronic spinal disease and problems related to neurological damage,” Ms. Edwards said.
The jailed leader returned to Russia in 2021 from receiving extensive medical treatment in Germany, after what laboratory tests indicated had been an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent, while in Siberia in August 2020. He was immediately arrested after resolving to fly home to Russia, from Germany.
Jailed
The 46-year-old is serving concurrent sentences of 11.5 years for fraud and contempt of court – on charges which he said were trumped up to remove him from public life.
Russia has denied all previous allegations that any prison employees have mistreated Mr. Navalny, saying that he has been given access to medical treatment when needed.
Immediate care needed
“He must immediately and continuously be provided with adequate care, including comprehensive medical check-ups, treatment and monitoring of his health situation in a civil hospital.” She also raised the cases of three of his political supporters, who are also being held in Russian jails – Liliya Chanysheva, Vadim Ostanin and Daniel Kholodny.
The Special Rapporteur said their cases should be “promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated. Learn More /…
Image Credit: Evgeny Feldman
About Dr. Alice Jill Edwards
Dr. Alice Jill Edwards (Australia) is the seventh – and first woman – UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. Her appointment was announced on 8 July 2022 and her tenure begins on 1 August. A highly skilled lawyer, scholar and negotiator, Dr. Edwards has an established record of sustained engagement on behalf of victims of human rights violations and of critical contributions to the development of standards in international law. Learn More /…
