Charging torture

In maximum security correctional colony No. 15 in Angarsk, prisoners cut their wrists, the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Irkutsk Region reported. According to the department, this was done as a sign of protest by eleven people from among the worst violators of the regime, who disagreed with the exercise and other cultural events, and now the conflict has been settled. According to human rights activists, the veins of about 50-60 prisoners were cut as a sign of protest against torture. The inmates' cuts were minor and they were treated. Information about the protest action by prisoners in Angarsk has already been sent by local human rights activists to the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Vladimir Lukin.

Human rights activists and members of the Public Monitoring Commission (POC) working in places of detention told PublicPost that prisoners commit self-harm, often due to torture. For prisoners, this is the only chance to bring their complaints about the conditions of detention to the prosecutor’s office and, with its help, weaken the regime of detention, and sometimes stop torture. In colonies, such protests occur frequently; for example, in 2012 alone there were 9 such cases (read more below).

Irina Sutyrina, journalist, member of the Public Monitoring Commission in the Irkutsk region for control in places of detention :
“Regarding those who were discovered in colony No. 15, I have information from two sources, according to one there are 50 people who were discovered there, according to the second there are more, about 60. But this is not accurate data, which I cannot verify in any way, because the GUFSIN system has been pushing me out all those years that I worked in the PSC. For the last two months I have not been involved in the affairs of the POC, because I am not allowed into the territory of the colonies.

There are five colonies in Angarsk, which is a lot for a city with a population of 250 thousand. Many convicts then remain to live here, which is why our city is so dysfunctional. Ugly things are happening in the colonies, I have seen a lot over the past two years myself, plus I have read complaints. Torture is used in the colonies, for example, a year ago in the same colony No. 15 they tried to break a person, stripped him naked on the street at the end of October and doused him with cold water from a fire hose. We reported all the facts to the media and the Commissioner for Human Rights. After that, the Federal Penitentiary Service began to fight with us, for example, we come to check, and they immediately set up a military alarm and kick everyone out. Now the work of the commission is paralyzed.”

Valery Borshchev, human rights activist of the Moscow Helsinki Group (has been involved in the rights of prisoners since Soviet times):
“Prisoners cut their wrists because there is a position that if 50 people inflicted cuts, then the prosecutor’s office is obliged to react, but if 48, it may not. For example, I was in the Lgov colony in 2005, where there was a mass riot, at first 36 people were cut, the prosecutor’s office did not pay attention, after that the veins of 800 people were already cut. Only then did the prosecutor's office pay attention. This is a way of attracting the attention of law enforcement agencies to problems in colonies, only then can they be listened to and their complaints dealt with.

Statistics on such protests are most likely kept by the Federal Penitentiary Service, but this is classified information. It is not possible for us human rights activists to track all the protests in the colonies; indeed, there are many of them. Cutting the wrists is, of course, not the only form of reporting complaints about the conditions of detention; it is rather a cry of despair. When not only the administration does not listen to complaints, but the prosecutor’s office does not listen either. that’s the thing.”

Press service of the GUFSIN for the Irkutsk region :
“On October 18, in the maximum security correctional colony No. 15 in Angarsk, eleven convicts from among the worst violators of the regime expressed disagreement with the daily routine of the institution - getting up, doing exercises, going to work and cultural events. Expressing disagreement, they used blades from disposable machines to inflict cuts on their forearms. All convicts received medical care; none of them required hospitalization.

The conflict has already been settled; the convicts were explained the procedure for serving their sentences and the legality of the administration’s demands. No physical force was used against them.”

Such stories have already happened in the Irkutsk zones. For example, on January 23, 2011, in the Angarsk colony, 65 prisoners opened their veins on their stomachs and forearms on the night of January 22-23. The reason is illegal, in their opinion, pressure on convicts from the deputy head of IK-14 for security, Babeev. He, according to the prisoners, threatened to send them to other correctional centers through the Irkutsk pre-trial detention center. Prisoners in SIZO-1 are afraid like hell; in their words, they don’t just beat them, but “mock, humiliate, put them down, and use torture.” And on February 21, 2011 at the Museum and Community Center named after. Sakharov there was a demonstration of the documentary film “ Irkutsk Pre-trial Detention Center. Territory of torture " and public discussion about the possibility of eliminating the torture system in the penitentiary system.

In almost all cases of cutting prisoners, the FSIN’s explanations are approximately the same: “What happened was not of a massive, organized nature. The wounds were superficial, and those serving their sentences received medical care in the colony - there was no need for hospitalization.” The reasons for the protest action by the FSIN are either not mentioned or are very unusual, for example , “sudden emotional disturbance.”