TODAY: Torture in prison system will be ignored by government say human rights activists; Magnitsky supporters turn up heat on Interior Ministry with new tactics; jailed businessman fears Magnitsky’s fate; Caucasus troubles. Medvedev gives talk to Stanford University, suggests political reform to come from within; sees no future in relations with Saakashvili; vague on 2012 election.  Kyrgyzstan referendum approaching; polio; etiquette; skyscraper to be trimmed?

The Other Russia reports that the government is ‘not interested’ in addressing the apparently endemic use of torture within police and penitentiary systems in Russia.  Friends and colleagues of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky have started a website, ‘Russian-untouchables.com’, on which they have information regarding property gained by one of the Interior Ministry officials accused of trying to take down Hermitage Capital.  The Moscow Times reports that businessman Yury Fink, who is currently jailed for fraud and for a Youtube video in which he accused the Interior Ministry of trying to take over his company, says he fears the same fate as the deceased Hermitage Capital lawyer.  The Federal Mass Media Inspection Service is, according to this report, overruling a Supreme Court decision to not punish websites for comments that are placed on their forums.  The New York Times has an op-ed which addresses the gravity of the human rights situation in the North Caucasus, arguing that ‘as long as the Russian state relies on proxies, proconsuls, and force to ensure order’, the situation will remain inflammatory.  The United States has designated Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov, who claimed responsibility for the Moscow metro bombings, as a terrorist.