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This paper examines the tools available to the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for promoting Russian compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights regarding pre-trial detention conditions. As cases regarding the poor treatment of prisoners in Russian pretrial detention centers continue to burden the ECHR, the Court has begun implementing alternative methods of curbing what it views as a systemic problem within the Russian prison system. Mechanisms considered include the awarding of financial damages, which has thus far been difficult to enforce, as well as the newly adopted mechanism of the pilot judgment procedure. The pilot judgment procedure presents a strong tool for the ECHR in gaining compliance from the Russian government and affecting reform within the pretrial detention system, as long as the ECHR treats Russia as an equal partner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that Russian researcher Igor Sutyagin and two of his colleagues were detained on October 27, 1999 by the Russian Federal Security Service. Searching of Sutyagin's apartment in Obninsk, Russia; Removal of papers and computers; Work nature of Sutyagin and colleague Joshua Handler.