CPT: 12TH GENERAL REPORT 37 II. Quite apart from the specific question of the detention facility at Chernokozovo, the information gathered by the CPT's delegation in the course of its February/March and April 2000 visits indicated that a considerable number of persons deprived of their liberty in the Chechen Republic since the outset of the conflict had been physically ill-treated by members of the Russian armed forces or law enforcement agencies. In the report on those two visits, the CPT recommended that the Russian authorities redouble their efforts to uncover and prosecute all cases of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the Chechen Republic in the course of the conflict. The Committee made a number of remarks of a practical nature intended to clarify the precise form those efforts might take. More generally, the CPT stressed that it was essential for the Russian authorities to adopt a proactive approach in this area. The response of the Russian authorities to this key recommendation was very unsatisfactory. No concrete information was provided as regards the action taken by the Russian authorities - and in particular by the prosecutorial services - to step up inquiries into the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by members of the Russian armed forces or law enforcement agencies and to bring to justice those responsible for ill-treatment. As was stressed in a letter sent to the Russian authorities on 10 May 2001, the CPT's concerns in this regard are all the greater given that in the course of the Committee's most recent visit to the Chechen Republic, in March 2001, numerous credible and consistent allegations were once again received of severe ill-treatment by Federal forces; in a number of cases, those allegations were supported by medical evidence. The CPT's delegation found a palpable climate of fear; many people who had been ill-treated and others who knew about such offences were reluctant to file complaints to the authorities. There was the fear of reprisals at local level and a general sentiment that, in any event, justice would not be done. It was emphasised to the Russian authorities that they must spare no effort to overcome this deeply disturbing state of affairs. In its letter of 10 May 2001, the CPT called upon the Russian authorities to provide a full account of action taken to implement the above-mentioned recommendation. In that connection, it requested details of measures apparently envisaged to reinforce the different prosecutorial services involved in investigating allegations of ill-treatment, to improve cooperation between those services, and to ensure a better follow-up of complaints of unlawful actions by military forces and law enforcement agencies. The CPT also made proposals designed to reinforce the support provided to the criminal justice system by the forensic medical services in the Chechen Republic. Further, the CPT requested up-to-date information from both the Chechen Republic Prosecutor's Office and the Military Prosecutor’s Office concerning cases which involve allegations of ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the Chechen Republic. More specifically, the CPT asked for a detailed account of progress made concerning the criminal investigation into the deaths of those persons (apparently 53 in number) whose bodies were found on a datcha estate not far from Khankala in February 2001. According to the information gathered during the March 2001 visit, there were clear indications on some of the bodies that the deaths were the result of summary executions; further, certain of the bodies had been identified by relatives as those of persons who had disappeared following their detention by Russian forces. The CPT underlined that this case could be seen as a test of the credibility of the criminal justice system vis-à-vis events in the Chechen Republic. In their reply forwarded on 28 June 2001, the Russian authorities indicate that they are not willing to provide the information requested or to engage in a discussion with the CPT on the matters indicated above; they assert that such matters do not fall within the Committee’s purview under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Such an approach is inconsistent with the object and purpose of the international treaty establishing the CPT and can only be qualified as a failure to cooperate with the Committee.