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