Convicts are poured up with water for their complaints in the correctional medical facility

On 8 January 2015 as a part of the project «Public service for penitentiary control» there was a human rights trip of members of the Sverdlovsk Public Monitoring Committee -Sergey Kirillov and Larisa Zakharova into Langur where there is well-known the medical correctional facility № 58.

Those who are familiar with penitentiary system know what Langur is, in particular they know Ivdel LAG. We have been visiting this colony for almost one year and there are plenty petitions from convicts.

We’ve checked whole squad, seen many inmates whom we hadn’t seen before.

At one squads there are not enough wash-basin. At another one living space doesn’t meet standards.

At solitaries and ward-type rooms there is also a squad under strict conditions which is three cells with night and day sections. This is violation of Provision on squad.

Cells are very cold, convicts tell about poor food which is given by «convicts-activist» to them. Bowl with liquid, two potatoes, spoon of cereal, no hot tea and that’s all. «Convicts-activists» have decided this way because other inmates ask defenders and members of Committee for help.

Convicts are allowed to smoke only one cigarette a day.

A convict told us that on 29 December 2014 he was beaten by jailer in front of «convicts-activists» who threatened him with sexual violence towards him if he doesn’t fulfill their orders.

Another convicts told that after he’d addressed to members of Committee — to Olga Dianova and Vasily Rybakov, jailers put a pipe in window for food in cell and turned cold water, flooded floor.

Totally we spoke to ten inmates.

Questions were different, beginning with court decisions, detainment conditions, inappropriate delivery health care to problems with visits of representatives of religious confessions.

Administration was playing for time when it comes to convicts who want to make video appeal. But we were patient and persistent.

We left the facility after 8 pm. We thank a driver that he was waiting for us, because we thought we would sleep at cold house for visitors. It was 40 degrees below zero, sometimes even -47 outside.

We cut through 70 km road along gas route from which out car from time to time was being thrown away and happened to be in Ivdel. There we tried to thaw out for 40 minutes under hot shower.

To be continued…

Larisa Zakharova, member of the Sverdlovsk Public Monitoring Committee.