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Ministers'
Deputies
Written Question No. 392 from Mrs Wohlwend, concerning the Clemency Commission of the Russian Federation Presidential Administration, was transmitted to the Committee of Ministers on 13 February 2001.
Following their exchange of views at their 743rd meeting (28 February 2001, item 4.5), the Deputies decided to instruct the Secretariat to prepare elements for a draft reply to the Written Question No. 392 concerning the Clemency Commission of the Russian Federation Presidential Administration in the light of the exchange of views on this matter and agreed to resume consideration of this question at the present meeting.
The elements prepared by the Secretariat are contained in the appended draft decision.
DRAFT DECISION
750th meeting – 18 April 2001
Item 4.1
Clemency Commission of the Russian Federation
Presidential Administration
Decision
The Deputies adopted the following reply to Written Question No. 392 to the Committee of Ministers by Mrs Wohlwend
“The Committee of Ministers is aware of the important contribution that the Presidential Clemency Commission has made in launching a public debate on crime and the way offenders are treated in the Russian Federation.
It is also aware of the fact that its principled support for abolishing the death penalty facilitated the commutation of all outstanding death sentences in 1999. In view of this position of the Commission, the Council of Europe has provided active support for two major conferences organised jointly with the Secretariat in 1999 and 2000, on the abolition of the death penalty and clemency in the Russian Federation.
The Committee of Ministers notes that the work conducted by Mr Anatoly Pristavkin and his colleagues on the Clemency Commission over the past decade has resulted in the early release of many prisoners, in view of the problems of the existing parole mechanism. As the reduction of overcrowding is one of the priorities of the Council of Europe's cooperation programme on prison reform in the Russian Federation, the Commission's contribution in this regard is to be welcomed.
The Committee of Ministers is aware that the Presidential Clemency Commission has launched a three-year campaign starting in 2001 with a view to raising awareness within the public about the need to humanise the penal system in the Russian Federation, including abolition of the death penalty. It notes in this context that the programme addresses among other things the situation of offenders convicted of most serious crimes and serving life sentences in difficult conditions after commutation of their death sentences. It notes further that the media, non-governmental organisations, and the general public are being enlisted in this campaign along with prison staff and legal experts. The Committee of Ministers wishes to inform the Parliamentary Assembly that Council of Europe support for this programme (both financial and substantive) is being provided notably in the framework of a Joint Programme with the European Commission aimed at fostering awareness among the public about the need to abolish the death penalty. Indeed, in line with the objectives of the Committee of Ministers' Declaration “For a European death penalty-free area” adopted at its 107th Session (9 November 2000), the Committee of Ministers hopes that this campaign will, inter alia, facilitate the revision of the Criminal Code by which the death penalty is abolished and the ratification of Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the same vein, the Committee of Ministers encourages the ongoing cooperation between the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the Russian Federation which is an important means of promoting the reform of the criminal justice and penitentiary systems in this country.” |