Since the start of this year, Russia’s police force has been beset by claims of violence, which have came to the foregroun following the death of a man in custody in Kazan who had been raped with champagne bottle.  Today it was announced by Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin that a new department to investigate police crimes will be created.  Russia’s Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev meanwhile has called for the introduction of a system to protect the police from unsubstantiated claims and, ‘often unfair’ attacks by the media.  Russia Profile’s Andrew Roth describes the many obstacles to overcoming the very real issue of unbridled police brutality in the context of competing Kremlin factions: