A U.N. human rights body said on Friday it had received consistent allegations of torture by Russian forces, including in secret detention centres in Chechnya.
The United Nations Committee against Torture called on Russia to investigate and prosecute all allegations of torture, including "hazing" in the military which it said was carried out with widespread impunity, and report back in a year.
The committee referred to "widespread use of torture" in Russia and expressed concern at "the particularly numerous, ongoing and consistent allegations of acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment committed by law enforcement personnel, including in police custody".
It voiced concern at numerous allegations of abductions and disappearances in the turbulent region of Chechnya, mainly during anti-terrorist operations, as well as the widespread practice of detaining relatives of terrorism suspects.
The committee cited "reliable reports of unofficial places of detention in the North Caucasus and the allegations that those detained in such facilities face torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment".
The U.N. forum, composed of 10 independent experts, monitors compliance with a 1984 treaty banning torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Russia is among 142 states to have ratified the pact.
Its conclusions were issued at the end of a three-week meeting which examined the records of seven countries - Burundi, Guyana, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Tajikistan.
Hazing, or brutal bullying, and torture continues within the Russian military and victims who complain are subject to further abuse, the committee said.
Human rights groups say Russian forces and their local allies are conducting a campaign of indiscriminate violence in Chechnya under the cover of fighting an anti-Moscow insurgency.
Russian rights groups estimate there have been 3,000-5,000 disappearances in Chechnya since Russian troops moved to crush the breakaway region's self-declared independence in 1999.
Human Rights Watch, in a report submitted to the U.N. forum, said that inmates, including women and minors, were routinely tortured in both official and secret prisons across Chechnya.
Methods used to extract information from people suspected of backing rebels included beatings with cables, burning with red-hot rods and electric shocks, the New York-based group said.
The U.N. committee expressed concern at killings of journalists and human rights defenders, including the October 7 murder of the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was a fierce critic of Moscow's war in the troubled region.
Her last article, published after her murder, was an account from a Chechen man who said police passed electric shocks through his fingers until he confessed to terrorism.
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