The Council of Europe said on Tuesday a considerable number of Chechens detained by the Russian police and army since the start of the conflict in the breakaway republic have been ill-treated.
In a rare public statement, the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), said information it had gathered during visits to Chechnya in 2000 indicated "a considerable number of people deprived of their liberty in the Chechen Republic since the outset of the conflict had been physically ill-treated by members of the Russian armed forces or law enforcement agencies".
At 53 people had died after being detained, it said – STRASBOURG (AFP)
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