DESPITE OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE that torture is an integral part of police practice, the Russian government and law enforcement agencies generally--with some notable exceptions--deny that torture or ill- treatment is a problem, and are not taking any measures to end these abusive practices.

Russian government agencies are generally willing to discuss torture but fail either to acknowledge the nature and extent of the problem or to support institutional reforms required to end it. In April 1998, the Presidential Human Rights Chamber initiated some important public discussions of torture in which both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the procuracy admitted that torture was a problem. However, none of the government agencies were willing to go beyond these initial discussions of the problem, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the procuracy even dismissed torture as an issue in subsequent discussions.
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