MOSCOW, July 13 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree making Federal Security Service (FSB) detention centers part of the country's penitentiary system, the Kremlin press office reported. The move is designed to ensure the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of suspects and convicts in line with the recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The decree will be in force until a relevant federal law in passed.
The FSB has several detention centers in Russia, including the Lefortovo detention center in Moscow.
Justice Minister Yury Chaika said earlier the move had been planned for January 2006 and that the law had to be amended.
Chaika had informed Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Alvaro Gil-Robles in late May of the impending change.
"Thereby, Russia will fulfill one of the obligations given by it before joining the Council of Europe in 1996," he said.
