UN Authority Figures

U.N. Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: Russia

"Alexander Litvinenko, shortly before his death. A Russian ex- KGB agent turns against the Kremlin and flees Moscow. He continues his attacks from exile in London, until he is poisoned with a rare radioactive isotope and dies a slow painful death." (CBS News, January 7, 2007)

Mission of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: "The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) is the United Nations body of Member States responsible for setting out global strategy to prevent crime and promote stable criminal justice systems. The 40-member UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice formulates international policies and recommends activities in the field of crime control...The Commission offers nations a forum for exchanging expertise and information on matters of crime prevention and criminal justice and to determine strategies and priorities for combatting crime at the global level....Priority areas mandated by the [Economic and Social] Council when it established the Commission in 1992 are: international action to combat national and transnational crime...and improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administration systems." (Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice web-site)

Term of office: 2006-2014

Russia's Record on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice:
"There were reports that the government or its agents committed politically motivated killings and other arbitrary killings...[T]here were credible reports that law enforcement personnel engaged in torture, abuse, and violence to coerce confessions from suspects and allegations that the government did not consistently hold officials accountable for such actions...Cases of physical abuse by police officers usually occurred within the first few hours or days of arrest. Some of the methods reportedly used included beatings with fists, batons, or other objects; asphyxiation using gas masks or bags (at times filled with mace); electric shocks; or suspension by body parts (for example, suspending a victim from the wrists, which were tied together behind the back). Allegations of abuse were difficult to substantiate because of limited access to medical professionals...Prison conditions remained extremely harsh and frequently life threatening...[T]he judicial branch did not consistently act as an effective counterweight to other branches of the government." (US State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, Russia)