The human rights project Department One reports that on March 8, 2022, Vladimir Putin authorized security officials to place Russian citizens and foreigners in pretrial detention centers without a court order for “opposing” the war in Ukraine.
Putin’s “decision” had not previously been reported, and the document itself was never made publicly available. Department One learned of it from a document issued by Russia’s Investigative Committee, which found no violations in one such detention despite a complaint filed by the human rights activists.
It is not entirely clear from Department One’s publication how the organization obtained the Investigative Committee document. The human rights activists were apparently attempting to challenge one of the detentions carried out on grounds of “opposing” the war.
According to the Investigative Committee document, Russia’s Federal Security Service placed a Russian citizen in a detention facility, citing a “decision by the President of the Russian Federation dated March 8, 2022, on organizing the reception and housing of persons opposing” the war. No criminal case had even been opened against the detainee, the human rights activists said.
Under Putin’s “decision,” people deemed to be “opposing” the war can be “transferred and placed” in facilities operating in the mode of pretrial detention centers. Representatives of Russia’s Armed Forces, the FSB, the Interior Ministry, and the Federal Protective Service are authorized to send people to these facilities.
The Investigative Committee document also references a “temporary instruction” governing how these facilities operate in this mode. That instruction, like Putin’s March 8, 2022 “decision,” has not been published. Whether either document remains in effect is unclear.
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