On October 20, the UN Human Rights Committee responded to the individual request of Ivan Anoshkin, UnMone representative in Russia to provide urgent medical assistance to his client Andrei Artemyev. The entire process of consideration and resolution took 4 days.
“Under rule 94 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the State party has been requested to provide Mr. Andrei Artemev with immediate access to independent medical care, including a transfer to a hospital for specialized treatment, if necessary, and to ensure that his life, physical and mental integrity are safeguarded while his case is under consideration by the Committee. This request does not imply that any decision has been reached on the substance of the matter under consideration” the official response said.
Ukrainian citizen Andrey Artemyev has been illegally detained in Togliatti Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens for more than 7 months without any medical assistance. To draw the attention of the administration to their issue, Andrei and several of his friends went on a hunger strike.
“Andrey has progressive HIV-infection and a lot of concomitant diseases. The only help that is available to him is to call an ambulance: they come, give an injection of analgin and leave without leaving any drugs. We appealed to the prosecutor’s office, the Ministry of Health, the Commissioner for Human Rights…. but all this did not bring exactly any results”, said Ivan
UnMode comment:
On October 16, together with colleagues from the EPLN – European Prison Litigation Network, we applied to the UN Human Rights Committee with a request to immediately respond to the gross violations of human rights and the failure to provide proper medical care, which poses a direct threat to Andrey’s health and life. And already on the 20th we received an official answer.
The mechanism of individual appeals to the UN Committee on Human Rights proved to be an efficient and effective way to attract the attention of the world-famous international organization involved in overseeing the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Unfortunately, the official references provided by the UN Committee have only advisory values. The decision to transfer Andrei to the hospital would be provided at the local level.
“IIn correspondence with rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, a copy of the communication has been transmitted to the State party today, with the request that any information or observations in respect of both the question of admissibility and the merits of your communication should reach the Committee no later than 20 April 2023. Any reply from the State party will be communicated to you in due course to enable you to comment thereon, if you so wish”, the official respond said.
This case showed a problem all over the country: hundreds of Ukrainians have been illegally detained in numerous Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens all over Russia for more than 7 months, waiting for deportation to Ukraine. Due to the full-scale war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, deportation is impossible, thus hundreds of cases are “hanging” in the air and do not have a procedural solution until the end of hostilities.
“In practice, this means that people cannot receive even basic medical care. As for Andrey at the moment he is still in Tolyatti Temporary Detention Center for Foreign Citizens and, despite the official recommendations of the highest human rights activist, he does not receive any medical care. Of course, we will continue to fight for his rights, now I am issuing the letter of attorney to represent Andrei’s interests, and together with my colleagues I am preparing a lawsuit in court about the failure to provide medical care”, said Ivan Anoshkin