56 Europe and Central Asia Summary of Amnesty International’s Concerns in the Region, January – June 2007 imprisonment in order to put an end to the cruel and inhuman treatment of those who have been kept on death row for years in a state of uncertainty as to their ultimate fate”. Alan Parastaev allegedly ill-treated in detention in South Ossetia Alan Parastaev, who in the past occupied senior posts as de facto Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Justice, and Chairman of the Supreme Court of South Ossetia, was reportedly detained by armed men on 11 November 2006, who took him to the office of the security services of South Ossetia. Reportedly, the same evening he gave a statement on a local radio station confessing that he had attempted to find someone willing to assassinate Eduard Kokoity, the President of the internationally unrecognized region. Alan Parastaev alleged that he was tortured, and otherwise pressurized to “confess” to the crime while he was being detained by the security services. Alan Parastaev alleged that he was forced to kneel down for hours, being beaten with truncheons on his torso, especially in the region of his kidneys; and that he was blindfolded and subjected to a mock execution. AI viewed photos of Alan Parastaev reportedly taken on 20 November that show his body covered in bruises. Reportedly, a medical doctor, who managed to see Alan Parastaev on 23 November despite the lack of official permission, later told his relatives that his body was covered in bruises, that his legs were reportedly swollen, and that he may have had internal bleeding. Reportedly, it was only on 4 December that a lawyer was allowed to see him in prison colony UIK no. 1 in the town of Tskhinvali/Tskhinval. AI was concerned that this may have constituted a violation of his right to a fair trial. Alan Parastaev’s family alleged that he did not receive necessary medical treatment and that the reported beatings and ill- Amnesty International treatment of their relative had seriously damaged his health. The family repeatedly approached the authorities of South Ossetia and urged those in charge of the prison facilities in Tskhinvali/Tskhinval to provide immediate necessary treatment to him. However, it was only on 4 May that he was seen again by a medical doctor who was given official permission to visit him. Reportedly, the medical doctor who saw him on that date came to the interim conclusion that he should be hospitalized as he was suffering from damage to his kidneys and possibly other health problems. To AI’s knowledge, he had not been hospitalized by the end of the period under review. In June AI wrote to the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia expressing concern about the case of Alan Parastaev, who is a citizen of the Russian Federation. GREECE Police ill-treatment In June the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in the case of Karagiannopoulos v. Greece. The case concerned an incident in January 1998 in which a Romani man, then aged 17, was left disabled after being shot in the head by a police officer after arrest. The Court found that “it appeared that the applicant’s arrest was followed by events which could have been avoided if the policemen responsible for taking him to the police station had not taken senseless initiatives and if the police officer had had better control of his weapon. Further, the Court considered that the fact that the situation degenerated as it did is all the more inexcusable in that it took place in the context of a police operation planned in advance, which the police officers involved were able to plan carefully, AI Index: EUR 01/010/2007