Amnesty International Condemns Abductions, Torture in Ex-Soviet Asian States

The security agencies in Russia and other former Soviet republics have been involved in abductions, illegal extradition and the torture of thousands of citizens of Central Asian states falsely accused of Islamic radicalism, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International said this week. Amnesty said the governments of Central Asian states can easily extradite their nationals from Russia and other former Soviet republics under regional cooperation deals designed to combat terrorism and jihadist groups. With a common institutional culture dating back to the Soviet times, the security forces of the former Soviet republics have a shared perception of Islamist radicalism and extradite wanted individuals “with a regularity that amounts to a region-wide renditions program,” Amnesty said in a report published Wednesday. When human rights groups and the European Court of Human Rights intervene to prevent such handovers, “cynical subversions of international law” such as disappearances and abductions are employed to secure transfers, it said.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130705/182073501/Amnesty-Condemns-Abductions-Torture-in-Ex-Soviet-Asian-States.html