Much of the abuse is driven by the need for confessions or testimony to support prosecutions that are otherwise lacking in evidence, human rights activists said. "Our estimate, based on interviewing judges who hear cases, is that at least one-third of all convictions, and probably more, are based on evidence that was extracted using physical force," said Kalyapin. "Police can beat suspects in any country, but in Russia the problem is simply massive."
The crackdown in Blagoveshchensk was organized by the Interior Ministry after five policemen were allegedly assaulted in the center of town as they tried to arrest some local businessmen. Sharafutdinov, the ministry spokesman, said there was no order to use violence or wear masks, but that the police on the ground lost control.
"You can't rule out a Chechnya syndrome," he said, noting that the 17 Interior Ministry troops who took part in the operation, along with 130 local police, were veterans of the conflict in the Caucasus.
Around 8 p.m. on Dec. 11, Alexander Kosov, 29, was grabbed as he stood outside a store with his year-old child, who was in a stroller. The baby, he said, was left behind on the street by the police despite his protests. Kosov's wife was shopping nearby and happened to return to the child within minutes of Kosov's departure.
Another man, Alexander Shabanov, 27, slashed his wrists at the police station on Dec. 12 after he was arrested for a second time. A third man, Sergei Fedoseyev, 19, said he was forced to shout "I love the police!" as he was struck with a baton.
Over four days, 388 people were swept off the streets and taken to the police station, where officials acknowledge many were beaten with batons. About 170 of those arrested were initially charged with minor offenses, including public drunkenness, according to the Interior Ministry.
On March 1, the republic's Supreme Court rescinded all the charges.
"They behaved like fascists," said Alexei Raschyoskov, 29, who had surgery for internal bleeding and a ruptured bladder after he was struck with a rifle butt when arrested in the center of town on Dec. 11.
