Two Georgian citizens go on hunger strike in special detention facility of Archangelsk

Citizens of Georgia N. B. Nikoleishvili and D. S. Khubaniya, who are kept in the special detention facility for serving minor punishments in the city of Archangelsk, awaiting their deportation outside Russia, have gone on hunger strike with a demand to address the problem on their deportation and create proper conditions for those who wait their deportation for long.

The statement sent by Nikoleishvili to the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" runs that he is kept in the special facility for the fifth month; and his cell "has little difference from a dungeon."

"The total floor area is less than six square meters; it's twilight in the cell, since the natural light never passes through window leaves blocked by glass units; the walls are coated with the so-called 'indelible fur coat' full of dust and bacteria. The toilet of the 'direct fall' principle, that is, just a hole in the floor, located 80 centimetres from a dining table," writes the citizen of Georgia.

Nikoleishvili notes that the court ruling prescribed to deport them within a month. "We have a feeling of lifelong prisoners. We think that our presence here is illegal and contrary to all existing international norms and standards," writes the author.

In the opinion of Svetlana Gannushkina, chair of the Committee "Civil Assistance", the custody conditions, as described in the statement, can be equated to torture. She is going to request the Russian MIA on the facts stated in the detainee's letter.