Two years with the right to register

Human rights activists summed up the results of public monitoring of correctional institutions

The normal functioning of the system of public supervisory commissions for the control of correctional institutions (POC), created at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, is hampered by opposition to the work of supervisors from prison authorities and regional officials. Where local authorities and colony administrations facilitate the activities of commissions, this institution for protecting the rights of prisoners has proven its effectiveness. Such results of two years of work of a unified system of prison human rights protection were outlined yesterday by members of the OP - the chairman of the public council under the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Maria Kannabikh and the secretary of the chamber Sergei Katyrin. Human rights activists involved in protecting the rights of prisoners generally agree with social activists, but insist on increasing the legal status of controllers and more serious work with prison authorities.

“We are now preparing for a new cycle of work of the commissions - for another three years,” said Mr. Katyrin. The new cycle, according to the secretary of the OP, involves rotation of personnel of commissions operating in 77 regions of the country. According to the secretary of the OP, the institution of public commissions, “despite the difficulties,” has proven itself to be the best and “now the main goal is not to lose the accumulated experience, which will help improve the established mechanisms for protecting the rights of prisoners.”

Let us recall that POCs appeared in 2008, after human rights activists and members of the Public Chamber insisted on the adoption of the law “On public control over the provision of human rights in places of forced detention” (Federal Law No. 76). The main achievement of the PMC in two years, according to Mr. Katyrin, is that the work of the commissions has not turned into a formality. “Prisoners trust the commissions. The number of requests is only growing,” he noted.

However, the words of the OP secretary seem strange, given that by the time Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and businessman Vera Trifonova tragically died in Moscow, the Moscow supervisory commission, which, due to its geographical location, includes the best human rights activists in the country, was already operating almost a year. At the same time, prisoners or defendants in prisons or pre-trial detention centers are still dying. Another tragic case became known on Tuesday - seriously ill Natalya Khokhlova died in the Matrosskaya Tishina pre-trial detention center.

Nevertheless, the depressing situation of Russian prisoners, of whom there are about 860 thousand people in Russia, according to statistics from the Federal Penitentiary Service, should not stop the work of the POC and the development of this institution for protecting the rights of prisoners, Maria Kannabikh is sure. “There are difficulties. But public commissions have existed for only two years, they need to be given time,” she believes. Ms. Kannabikh stated that not everything depends on the work of the controllers, since the situation of prisoners should be monitored primarily by prison governors and heads of the Federal Penitentiary Service. And with this, the chairman of the public council at the FSIN made it clear, things are not always good. “There are still quite a few regions where local authorities and prison administrations, to put it mildly, do not show sufficient interest in the work of the commissions,” Ms. Kannabikh noted, without specifying which regions we are talking about.

Director of the Institute of Human Rights Valentin Gefter suggests that Ms. Kannabikh meant subsidized regions, and in particular the republics of the North Caucasus. “There is a traditionally ambiguous attitude towards human rights protection. And it’s very difficult for local controllers to do their job,” Mr. Gefter told Vremya Novostei. The human rights activist generally agrees with social activists who call not to make hasty conclusions regarding the work of the commissions. According to the director of the Institute of Human Rights, it is necessary to increase the legislative status of public commissions and inspectors, “so that the heads of the colonies get used to the fact that a third party - human rights activists - has intervened in their relations with prisoners.” According to him, “it is necessary to develop a mechanism that would facilitate the implementation of what the inspectors checked.” Finally, the human rights activist noted, “controllers must have a normal material base so as not to depend on the same FSIN or the authorities.”

Vyacheslav KOZLOV