How Russia sends a message by showing images of tortured terror suspects

The four suspects in Russia’s deadliest terror attack in decades appeared badly beaten in a Moscow court on Sunday evening. One came in with a partially severed ear covered in a bandage. Another sat in a wheelchair with a swollen left eye, an open hospital gown and a catheter on his lap.

Many people, including many Russians, already knew what had happened to them. Since Saturday, videos of the men being tortured during interrogations have been circulating widely on social media. Analysts say the images are evidence of apparent retaliation for Friday’s attack on the concert hall, which left at least 137 dead and 180 injured.

One of the most disturbing videos shows one of the suspects, identified as Saidakrami M. Rajabalizoda, having part of his ear cut off and stuffed into his mouth. A photo circulating online shows a battery connected to the genitals of another defendant, Shamsidin Fariduni, while he is being held.

It is not clear how the videos were distributed, but they are being shared zealously by nationalist, pro-war Telegram channels reportedly closely linked to Russian security services.

And although the most gruesome videos were not shown on state television, the brutal treatment of the suspects was also made clear there. The Russian authorities’ decision to show this so publicly in court is also intended as a sign of revenge and a warning to potential terrorists, analysts said.

In Russia’s recent history, videos of torture have not been shown on state television, says Olga Sadovskaya of the Committee Against Torture, a Russian human rights organization.

There are two reasons for circulating the videos, Sadovskaya said. “Firstly, to show potential terrorists what the consequences could be for them, and secondly, to show the general public that revenge has been taken.”

All time low

According to Sadovskaya and other analysts, the flagrant display of the tortured suspects shows something else: the extent to which Russian society has become militarized and tolerant of violence since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“This is a sign of how far we have come in accepting the new methods of waging war,” said Andrei Soldatov, an expert on Russia’s security services.

International studies have shown that societies tolerate violence against people they see as the worst offenders, including terrorists, serial killers and perpetrators of crimes against children.

Nevertheless, according to Sadovskaya, the videos broadcast on TV are a new low for the Russian state. “The state and the authorities show that violence is acceptable and that torture is normal,” it said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on the torture allegations at a press conference on Monday. But former President Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said: “Well done.”

“Should we kill them? Anyway. And we will,” he wrote on Telegram on Monday. “But it is more important to kill everyone involved. All: those who paid, those who sympathized, those who helped.”

Torture in court

Ivan Pavlov, a lawyer who previously handled national security cases before being forced to flee Russia, says torture has long been used in terrorism and murder cases. Although this usually happens out of sight. Once this news of torture reaches prisons, he says, it sends a message: “Terrorism suspects are being tortured by the special forces.” A form of prevention, says Pavlov.

Sunday’s court hearings were unusual because the torture was so brazenly on display, according to Pavlov.

“They used to hide it from the general public, but not anymore because people are ready for violence,” he says. “It is no longer something extremely unpleasant because of the war.”

Russia is no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, but the Russian Constitution prohibits torture. The country is also part of the United Nations Convention against Torture.

Since torture is a crime under international law and in many countries, lawyers would normally seek to have any testimony given under torture quashed as notoriously unreliable, said Scott Roehm, director of the US-based center for torture victims.

The legal determination that torture is a crime, a fundamental aspect of international human rights law, came under pressure in the United States after the September 11 terrorist attacks, Roehm notes. The military commissions handling the cases at Guantánamo Bay therefore had to take into account that some evidence had been tainted by torture.

“Torturers don’t spend much time thinking about the various consequences of their actions,” Roehm said, especially in the aftermath of an attack like the one in Moscow. “I think the mentality of a torturer is often a mix of a heavy dose of revenge and a completely misguided assumption that you can make someone ‘confess’ under torture and that confession can be used to convict him.”

A circus

Trials against extremists in Russia are generally closed, as were most hearings Sunday, so it is impossible to know to what extent defense lawyers have objected to the practice. Most Russian judges would probably ignore it anyway, Pavlov says, because they know in advance what is expected of them when it comes to sentencing the accused.

The judge in the case of Muhammadsobir Z. Fayzov, 19, who at times appeared barely conscious, almost completely ignored that the suspect was sitting in a wheelchair in an open hospital gown, with a plastic container containing urine from his catheter on his lap. The only time the judge acknowledged this was when he sent the two doctors accompanying Fayzov out of the courtroom as he closed the hearing.

The shameless display of the battered suspects on Sunday was very striking, Pavlov said. “These are of course sad circumstances, but they turned the process into a circus.”

Soldatov, a security services expert, said the torture and the official response to it also sent a signal to the military that horrific violence was now acceptable and encouraged.

“By releasing videos of the torture, the authorities are sending this message of intimidation to anyone who is not on the Kremlin’s side. In addition, it is also a very encouraging message to the army and security services: that they are on the same page.”

Ruslan Shaveddinov, an activist and investigative journalist affiliated with the anti-corruption fund of Alexei Navalny, the opposition figure who died in a Russian prison last month, is calling on Russians to condemn both the terrorists and the torture.

“It is important to say: torture is not normal,” he wrote on X on Sunday. “Torture as a phenomenon should not exist. The police and the state are torturing a terrorist today, they see approval for this method, and tomorrow they will torture an activist, journalist or someone else. They know no other way.”