DEMARCHE ON RUSSIAN INCARCERATION POLICIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000461 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2018 TAGS: PHUM PREL PINR KJUS RS SUBJECT: DEMARCHE ON RUSSIAN INCARCERATION POLICIES DELIVERED REF: STATE 15778 Classified By: Pol Minister Counselor Alice Wells. Reasons: 1.4 (B) & (D) ¶1. (C) In addition to previous discussions with MFA North America Director Igor Neverov and to the concerns raised by the Ambassador with Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin and Presidential Human Rights Advisor Ella Pamfilova, on February 19 we passed reftel points on USG concern over harsh incarceration conditions and treatment of specific prisoners in Russian jails and psychiatric hospitals to Artem Kudoyarov, Deputy Director in the MFA's North America Department. Kudoyarov promised to inquire with the Ministry of Internal Affairs about the details of the incarceration in psychiatric hospitals of opposition activists Larissa Arap, Artem Basyrov, and Roman Nikolaychik. (Arap and Basyrov have both been released, but Nikolaychik remains in a psychiatric hospital in Tver.) He agreed that living conditions in Russian prisons are poor, pointing to the recent annual report of Russia's Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, which includes a section on the conditions of incarceration in Russian prisons. ¶2. (C) Kudoyarov took issue with the characterization of former Yukos Vice President Vasiliy Aleksanyan's treatment as "politically motivated" and stated that it was the defense counsel -- not the prosecutor in the case -- that disclosed Aleksanyan's health condition (he has HIV/AIDS) in the hopes of getting him released. We replied that we understood that while Aleksanyan's lawyers had made reference to his "life threatening" illness, it was the prosecutor who disclosed publicly that he was HIV-positive. He questioned why the USG was so interested in Aleksanyan's case since he is a Russian citizen. We noted there was international interest in this case, as well as international concern over whether the GOR was meeting its human rights obligations -- as evidenced by four appeals from the European Court of Human Rights. Noting the efforts of leading Russian human rights activists, including Ombudsman Lukin and Putin's own human rights advisor Ella Pamfilova, to push the GOR to provide appropriate medical care to Aleksanyan, we urged the MFA to convey our similar concerns to the appropriate authorities. While welcoming recent news reports that Aleksanyan has been transferred to a Moscow hospital and has been allowed to meet with his defense lawyers, we noted that he apparently remains handcuffed to his hospital bed. Kudoyarov did not provide any substantive response. BURNS