The phone call to Putin (Russian: звонок Путину) is a slang term used by some Russian police departments for torture method which consists of administering electric shocks to the person's earlobes, nose, and/or genitals.[1][2][3][4] According to Amnesty International, torture with electric shocks by security forces and prison, jail, and penal colony guards is common in Russia.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

This method was profiled in publications describing a case of Aleksei Mikheyev who was falsely accused in 2006 of murder while his alleged victim was alive and well.[1] After surviving the alleged "phone call" torture, he jumped out of a third-floor window to escape his tormentors. The fall resulted in a spinal cord injury that rendered Mikheyev a paraplegic.[11] His case was taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France and became notable as "the first serious victory in a case of torture" brought to the Court against Russian government.[3][12]

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 there have been many reports of torture by Russian forces with the use of electric shocks.[13][14][15][16][17][18] Oksana Minenko from Kherson reported that Russian soldiers tortured her with electric shocks and called the torture ‘a phone call to Zelensky’.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Nemtsova, Anna (March 13, 2006). "A Phone Call to Putin. How do Kremlin authorities deal with whistle-blowers? Silence them". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-01-19. In one recent landmark ruling, the court awarded €250,000 to Aleksei Mikheyev of Nizhny Novgorod, falsely accused of rape and murder in 1998. Investigators had extracted a written confession by administering electric shocks to Mikheyev's earlobes, a torture method widely known as 'a phone call to Putin.'
  2. ↑ "My Only Thought Was To Escape The Torture". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2009-01-21. Torture is so common in Russian police stations that the method used on Mikheyev even has a name: the "phone call to Putin." It consists of inflicting electric shocks through wires attached to the victim's earlobes.
  3. 1 2 Yulia Latynina "Phone Call to Putin: A new method that the cops love. In the war against your own people, all tactics are good." (Russian) Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Novaya Gazeta 9 August 2004
  4. ↑ "Putin reveals his need for G8". United Press International. January 31, 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-19. The first was that when Russian police torture a suspect these days, they attach electric wires to the victim's earlobes, turn on the current and call it a "zvonok Putinu," a phone call to Putin.
  5. ↑ Amnesty International report Archived 2002-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ "Justice Report by Amnesty International" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
  7. ↑ Torture and ill-treatment Archived 2002-11-04 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "UN Committee against Torture Must Get Commitments From Russia to Stop Torture". Archived from the original on 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2009-02-01.
  9. ↑ Torture in Russia "This man-made Hell" Archived 2007-03-08 at the Wayback Machine - by Amnesty International, 3 April 1997
  10. ↑ "Russian intelligence agency FSB accused of torturing suspects with electric shocks".
  11. ↑ Russia Report: February 6, 2006 by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
  12. ↑ Police Are at War With the Russian People by Yulia Latynina "In Nizhny Novgorod, Alexei Mikheyev gave a ride to a young woman he knew. When she didn't come home that evening, Mikheyev was arrested. He was tortured in the usual way -- the way Indians tortured white settlers and Chechen fighters torture Russian contract soldiers. Among other things the cops attached electric wires to Mikheyev's earlobes, a technique they like to call zvonok Putinu, or 'a phone call to Putin.' Mikheyev confessed to rape and murder." "Russia, Human Rights Atrocities, Police Lawlessness - JRL 8-11-04". Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. ↑ "Russian forces launch full-scale invasion of Ukraine". Al Jazeera. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Chilling account of Radio France fixer who was kidnapped and tortured by Russian soldiers in Ukraine | Reporters without borders". RSF. 21 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  15. ↑ Ott, Haley (22 March 2022). "Journalist reportedly kidnapped and tortured by Russian soldiers in Ukraine". CBS News. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  16. ↑ "Le récit glaçant de ce fixeur ukrainien de Radio France arrêté par les Russes". Le HuffPost (in French). 21 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "Ukraine: Executions, Torture During Russian Occupation Apparent War Crimes in Kyiv, Chernihiv Regions". Human Rights Watch. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  18. ↑ "'I Would Not Have Kidneys Left': Ukrainian Village Deputy Speaks About Russian Torture, Threat". International Business Times. June 2022.
  19. ↑ "'Russians put me next to my husband's fresh grave and amused themselves by shooting over my head'". Texty.org.ua. 12 January 2023.
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