MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, upheld the president-proposed bill on police reform with 134 "pros" and two "cons."
Russia's police, known as "militia" will change their name to "police" officially on March 1. The change of the name is part of a deep police reform, which aims to make Russian law enforcement services more effective.
The structure of the police and the job of forming, reorganizing and liquidating its units are the prerogative of the president, the bill says.
Police personnel will have to comply with tighter requirements. Their rights and duties are worded in more detail, and so are their legal, social and health care guarantees.
The bill also lists limitations and bans related to police service and the code of conduct, sets the limits on the use of physical force, special gear and fire arms, and non-lethal weapons. Individual provisions list rules of applying measures of state compulsion.
Police personnel shall have no right to resort to torture, violence or other harsh or humiliating ways of treating individuals.
Nor will they have the right to use special gear, including truncheons, against peaceful demonstrators, including in unauthorized rallies. This ban does not apply to handling mass disturbances.