Isabel SantosCOPENHAGEN, 4 June 2015 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today condemned the 3 June attack on the office of the Committee against Torture (KPP) in Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechen Republic.

"Civil society organizations, and particularly human rights NGOs, remain under siege in Russia – not only through legal pressure, but through physical attacks, as this deplorable event in Grozny has reminded us. The atmosphere of lawlessness in the country, especially in Chechnya, must stop here with a swift and credible investigation by the authorities and accountability for those behind this incident," Santos said.

"Indeed, it is lawlessness, violations of fundamental rights and impunity that the Committee against Torture has worked to combat, and I applaud their courage as one of the few NGOs in Chechnya," the Parliamentary Assembly's human rights Chair added.

The targeting of NGOs and the use of torture are among a wide range of human-rights-related topics to be addressed at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Annual Session in Helsinki on 5-9 July.