CAT/C/RUS/CO/6 reports that allegations of torture rarely resulted in criminal prosecutions and that, even when prosecuted, the perpetrators were charged with simple assault or abuse of authority. In the light of its previous recommendation (see CAT/C/RUS/CO/5, para. 6), the Committee regrets the absence of a public statement by the State party’s high-level authorities reaffirming the absolute prohibition of torture (arts. 2, 4, 12 and 16). 13. The Committee urges the State party to combat impunity in torture and illtreatment cases, including by ensuring that high-level government officials publicly and unambiguously affirm that torture will not be tolerated and that anyone committing acts of torture or complicit in or acquiescent to torture, including those with command responsibility, will be criminally prosecuted for torture. Investigation of acts of torture and ill-treatment 14. While noting the delegation’s replies that prosecutors are informed about each case of torture or ill-treatment of detainees within one day, with supporting documentation, the Committee remains concerned at consistent and numerous reports indicating the lack of prompt, impartial and effective investigation into allegations of torture or ill-treatment. It is further concerned about information that many such allegations are dismissed by investigators during the pre-investigative verification stage and thus do not lead to the opening of a formal criminal proceeding. The Committee also regrets the absence of disaggregated information on the number of complaints received alleging torture and illtreatment by public officials, the number of complaints investigated and any prosecutions brought against the perpetrators. The Committee is also concerned about reports of insufficient human and financial resources provided to the subdivision of the Investigative Committee that investigates criminal acts by law enforcement officials and the subdivision’s limited access to evidence of torture or ill-treatment located in detention facilities (arts. 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16). 15. The State party should: (a) Promptly, effectively and impartially investigate all incidents and allegations of torture and ill-treatment, prosecute all those found to be responsible and report publicly on the outcome of such prosecutions; (b) Refrain from dismissing complaints of torture and ill-treatment during the pre-investigative verification phase and ensure that investigators immediately open a formal and effective criminal investigation for all allegations of torture and illtreatment, including in the case of Sergei Magnitsky; (c) Strengthen the capacity of the subdivision of the Investigative Committee tasked with investigating crimes committed by law enforcement officials, including by ensuring unimpeded access to all places of detention as well as to evidence, and providing sufficient human and financial resources to enable the subdivision to effectively operate in all constituent entities of the State party; (d) Collect and provide the Committee with disaggregated statistical data on the number of complaints received alleging torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement and other public officials, the number of complaints investigated by the State party and any prosecutions brought. Case of Yevgeny Makarov 16. The Committee notes the delegation’s replies that, following the investigation into the recently released video showing the torture of Yevgeny Makarov by prison guards in Yaroslavl in 2017, 17 officials were dismissed, 7 imprisoned and 5 arrested, and that protection measures would be guaranteed to Mr. Makarov’s lawyer, Irina Biryukova, who released the video and fled the country after receiving death threats. The Committee remains concerned, however, that in this case, video surveillance proved to be ineffective in preventing acts of torture, that the video recording was suppressed by officials for almost one year and that an investigation was undertaken only after the video recording was leaked to media and attracted wide attention (arts. 2, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16). 4