Previous 2014 seriously «shook up» penitentiary system of the Sverdlovsk region. It was connected with active work of members of Public Monitoring Committee of the third calling which began in November 2013. Such active work of Public Monitoring Committee was caused by the presence of a great number of members who are independent from the Federal Service for Execution of punishment and personal interests, members who aren’t focused on «good relations» with the Federal Service and local police and not on making profit from their activity, but they are focused on getting real results in the field of human rights observance in the correctional facilities of the Sverdlovsk region.
It’s worth to mention that in Public Monitoring Committee there are a lot of members who are directly or indirectly depend on the Federal Service for Execution of punishment; they are not interested in frank inspections and in discovering law violations and further corrections of them; quite opposite those members tend to hide violations and crimes of authorities. Some of them (in particular, the Chairman — Ashurbek Manasov) were adopted as candidates from organizations controlled by Federal Service for Execution of punishment and other law enforcement agencies.
Due to increased activity of members over the past year there has been a significant growth of actions of human rights defenders, lawyers and civilians connected with cooperate work in finding facts of law violations in the facilities, restoring violated rights.
Such growth lead to serious problem recognition in the correctional facilities (in particular, the penal colonies № 2, 5, 47, 62, 63 and medical correctional facility № 58, the pretrial detention center — 1) connected with application of refined tortures, sexual abuse, humiliations sometimes causing death of inmates. There have been found problems with failure to provide medical attention; inhuman detainment conditions in the medical correctional facility № 23, penal colony № 18, penal colony № 15 (Sosva, Sverdlovsk region), the medical correctional facility № 58 (Nadymovka, Ivdel area), which resulted in untimely death of convicts.
It’s required emergency measures to resolve these problems. For that human rights defenders and members of Public Monitoring Committee try to put all efforts and use means of Ombudsman, his assistants, Investigative Committee, prosecutor office, Federal Service for Execution of punishment and other federal, regional and public organizations.
System problem with providing convicts with legal consultations still exist; a right to help by lawyers is being constantly violated in the facilities by denial of access for lawyers and defenders to inmates, by not giving confidential meetings, by making a lot of obstructions, by not sending out letters into human rights organizations, Public Monitoring Committee, authorities etc.
Because of that we had to file claims into courts upon human rights violations connected with absence of the possibilities to provide convicts with legal help, obstructions during meetings (for instance, ban to get a pen and paper to write a complaint).
Most of such court hearings have been victorious — courts declared actions of officers to be unlawful in penal colony № 5 (Nizhny Tagil), penal colony № 62 (Ivdel), penal colony № 63 ( Ivdel), penal colony № 19 (Tavda).
In penal colony № 2 (Yekaterinburg) has been discovered a problem of complete absence of opportunity to provide inmates with legal consultations who are at prison hospital by denial of access for lawyers and defenders.
This problem has been solved on federal level as part of court procedure in Supreme Court; defenders challenged p. 119 «On procedures of medical treatment delivery for people serving sentences in the correctional facilities» ratified by Order of Ministry of Health and social development of the Russian Federation № 640 and Ministry of Justice № 190.
Upon this case there has been handed down and come into force Decision of Supreme Court from 6.06.2014 to declare this order to be invalid.
According to available information this Decision of Supreme Court is almost applied in the penal colony № 2. However, many convicts, their defenders are not aware of it. Information about execution of this judgment in other regions and in the Ural Federal District is missing. Besides, due to active efforts of members of Committee and counter efforts of the Federal Service as well as administration of colony to our actions, we had to file claims into courts upon issues connected with violations of rights of members of Public Monitoring Committee to carry out their activities in the correctional facilities (issues of photo, video recording, use of measuring means, denial of access according to Order 119 by Ministry of Health and social development № 640 and Ministry of Justice № 190 from 17.10. 2005 » On procedures of medical treatment delivery for people serving sentences in the correctional facilities»).
Many problems that members of Committee have faced during their works, were solved with help of relevant applications to Federal Service for Execution of punishment, prosecutor office, Ombudsman under Federal Law № 76.
However, there are some questions left which are being resolved with different approaches by all mentioned bodies (in particular, issues of photo, video recording, use of measuring means, denial of access etc.).
It’s worth to mention that over the past year not every time defenders could gain full understanding with administration of correctional facilities and law enforcement bodies. These bodies operate outside the law very very often. So we had to search for the truth in courthouses and it made process of restoring violated rights more difficult.
Unfortunately, law enforcement bodies are not interested in fighting against tortures, humiliations, existence of «convicts-activist» in other words convicts who are endued with duties of administration towards other inmates. Penitentiary system use them in order «solve a crime» and maintenance of fake «controllability» of inmates.
That’s why attempts of human rights society to fight against such negative stuff bump into «wall» of unconcern and sometimes straight-out disregard to defenders’ legal work.
The main problems in the correctional facilities of Sverdlovsk region in our opinion are:
— moral and physical violence towards convicts applied by officers of the facilities but most of all by hands of other convicts so-called «activists of section of discipline and order»;
— special type of torture — inmates enchained with handcuffs to grille for several days in a row (in particular, the penal colonies № 5,6 in Nizhny Tagil);
— facts of «punitory» psychiatry in the pretrial detention center -1 of Yekaterinburg (in the other ones such facts not found);
— physical and psychiatric pressure on convicts with the aim of making them to refuse legal help;
-constant facts of unlawful refusals to give meetings to lawyers and defenders who have a right to provide convicts with legal help;
— violations of rights of members of Public Monitoring Committee when they carry out public inspections in the facilities including communication in confidential mode, studying documentation like log of visits or book of bodily injuries, use of photo and video cameras, measuring tools, denial of access;
— detainment conditions which don’t meet standards, especially in the pretrial detention centers and in further areas like Sosva, Gari, Ivdel and Tavda;
— detainment conditions which don’t meet standards at squads under strict conditions which almost like solitaries;
— failure to provide convicts with medical treatment;
-numerous facts of non-sending our correspondence as a rule, complaints of actions of administration;
— persecution of convicts in the form of application of fake disciplinary fines as a punishment for their attempts to fight for rights — complaining, challenging decisions;
-absence or lack of phones in the facilities: this fact deprives convicts of rights to phone communication and makes corruptive situation in there (jailers take bribes and give inmates cell phones).
January 2014.
—the penal colony of Nizhny Tagil: found a problem of enchaining convicts for some days to grille.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/31/impunity-of-prison-officers-terrified/
— the penal colony № 5 of Nizhny Tagil: found «a secret room» — hidden place where members of Committee were not admitted. Human rights defenders think that it is a room for «convicts-activists» with all comforts specially for them.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/31/impunity-of-prison-officers-terrified/
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/25/hidden-torture-chamber-found-in-nizhny-tagil/
— Heads of the Federal Service for Execution in Sverdlovsk region of punishment deceived Russian Federal Service for Execution of punishment about presence of video cameras in the facilities what proved in written form.
— the penal colony № 63 with help of «convicts-activists» exists criminal system of tortures, beatings, humiliation and sexual abuse of inmates, as well as constant threatening towards inmates.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_xdc4czPZc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j66__kVibNo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6sXP3iVAQ
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/24/human-rights-trip-to-ivdel-correctional-facilities-tortures-dead-convicts-and-hunger-strikes/
http://pravo-ural.ru/2014/01/23/lopatkin-xvatit-pytok-i-ubijstv/
— in the correctional facilities of Sosva in particular in the penal colony № 18 there are no sanitary conditions, standards for hygiene don’t meet demands.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/27/penal-colony-18-sosva-inmates-are-freezing-there/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_630mxSqk4
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/02/06/correctional-facilities-of-sosva-are-being-wrecked/
-the pretrial detention center-1 in Yekaterinburg: juvenile convicts are tied up to beds and are injected with unknown medical drugs. It’s called «psychiatry».
-correctional facilities of the Sverdlovsk region are used for unlawful pressure on accused in framed-up case about «mass riots» in the penal colony № 6 in the Chelyabinsk region. Accused were transferred from Chelyabinsk into Yekaterinburg. Sverdlovsk human rights defenders inspected and provide them with legal help.
— the pretrial detention center-1 in Yekaterinburg: there are no sanitary conditions, standards for hygiene don’t meet demands, failure to provide medical treatment and it’s even acknowledged by courts.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/16/win-over-pre-trial-detention-center-1/
— the penal colony № 53: convicts were not allowed to keep tobacco stuff and matched in ward-type rooms and it’s proved by prosecutor inspection conducted after complaints from defenders.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/01/14/to-impose-a-ban-is-favourite-pursuit-of-prison-authorities/
— refusals of administration of facilities to provide members of Committee meetings with convicts in confidential mode and opportunity to use photo and video cameras — common problem of all the correctional facilities.
February 2014.
— injury of hairy part of head and brain concussion are main traumas in colony № 63.
-former «convict-activist » from the penal colony № 63 during court hearings told about criminal system in the facility.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/02/25/penitentiary-63-disclosure/
-members of Public Monitoring Committee found problems in the correctional medical facility № 58 (Nadymovka): beatings, humiliation, pouring with cold water, refusal to provide with medical treatment.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/02/25/public-inspection/
— «tortures with psychiatry» the pretrial detention center-1 are going on.
March 2014.
-victorious court session upon refusal to give a meeting to lawyer Roman Kachanov with convicts in the premises operating as pretrial detention center of the penal colony №5 in Nizhny Tagil.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/24/legal-literacy-for-wardens-in-turn-is-yuri-laptev/
— the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg: convicts are tortured with kids songs.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/23/penal-colony-2-tortures-with-kids-songs-video/
-the medical correctional facility № 58 in Nadymovka: beaten convict.
— the penal colony № 62 in Ivdel: upon arrival a convict was beaten.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/19/prison-62-in-ivdel-convict-is-beaten-cruelly/
— the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg members of Committee were not admitted.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/17/urgently-obstruction-of-public-control-in-penal-colony-2/
— the medical correctional facility № 23 in Sosva: convicts protesting against unlawful actions of officers refused to eat.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/17/sosva-medical-correctional-facility-23-hunger-strike/
— victorious court hearing upon denial of access for defenders and lawyers in the penal colony № 2 for legal help.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/13/legal-education-for-wardens/
— the medical correctional facility № 23 in Sosva: in the course of inspection a convict was beaten.
— the pretrial detention center-1 in Yekaterinburg: a convict died of beatings.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/03/04/in-pretrial-detention-center-of-yekaterinburg-murder-people/
April 2014.
—victorious court hearing upon refusal to give a meeting in confidential mode to lawyer Roman Kachanov with a convict in the penal colony № 62 in Ivdel.
— the penal colony № 2 of Yekaterinburg: «convicts-activists» came up to inmates in masks and put physical and psychological pressure on them.
http://pravo-ural.ru/2014/04/11/fku-ik-2-maski-shou/
— the penal colony № 5 in Nizhny Tagil a convict was beaten with baton, he addressed to defenders.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/04/15/adsress-to-public-monitoring-committee-be-beaten-video/
— the penal colony № 5 in Yekaterinburg: a convict was beaten, members of Committee were not admitted to him.
— the penal colony № 19 in Tavda: defenders were not admitted for legal help.
http://pravo-ural.ru/2014/05/12/okazanie-yuridicheskoj-pomoshhi-v-ispravitelnoj-kolonii-19-g-tavda/
May 2014.
— officers of the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg without any reasons seized a member of Public Monitoring Committee near the colony.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/05/15/public-monitoring-committee-member-is-arrested-by-jailers/
— penal settlement № 57, Ivdel: chief of the facility beat a convict.
— the penal colony № 56 in Lovvinsky: denial of access for defenders who wanted to provide convicts with legal help.
June 2014.
— the penal colony № 15 in Sosva: denial of access for a defender who wanted to provide convicts with legal help.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/06/04/legal-consultations-for-prisoners-of-ivdel-and-sosva/
— human rights defenders challenged an unlawful refusal of investigator to initiate criminal proceedings upon a fact of death of a convict in the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/06/06/case-upon-kartoyevs-death-sets-in-motion/
— human rights defenders in Supreme Court won a case about challenging p. 119 «On procedures of medical treatment delivery for people serving sentences in the correctional facilities» ratified by Order of Ministry of Health and social development of the Russian Federation № 640 and Ministry of Justice № 190.
Upon this case there has been handed down and come into force Decision of Supreme Court from 6.06.2014 to declare this order to be invalid.
— the penal colony № 62 in Ivdel: denial of access for defenders who wanted to provide convicts with legal help, despite all courts hearings upon such cases.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/06/12/new-warden-of-penal-colony-62-is-law-breaker/
— the penal colony № 5 in Nizhny Tagil: again convicts were beaten.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/06/15/correctional-facility-5-in-nizhny-tagil-beaten-convict-again/
-During court hearing upon denial of access for an attorney in the penal colony № 2 chief of special department showed up to bring testimony in favor of the facility who was earlier sentenced but somehow he still serves and has majorship.
— human rights defenders won a court case upon denial of access into the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/06/17/administration-of-colony-63-is-prosecuted-in/
— the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg: a convict died; there were numerous bruises, injuries on body.
— the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel: «convict-activist» told how he had tortured and humiliated people at the order of administration of the facility.
— mass complaints of convicts in the penal colony № 63 of Ivdel: beatings, tortures and sexual abuse by «activists».
July 2014.
— Regional TV broadcast showed what was going on in the penal colony № 63.
— the penal colony № 5 in Nizhny Tagil: in the course of excursion for kids was found a convict enchained with handcuffs to grille. This practice became norm in there.
— the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel: during inspection of members of Public Monitoring Committee convicts cut their veins protesting against tortures.
— on 29 July a judge of Verkh-Isetsky regional court of Yekaterinburg declared actions of warden of the penal colony № 2 -Korotrov to be unlawful upon denial of access for a lawyer of NGO «LEGAL BASIS» and expert of Fund «For convicts’ rights protection» — Larisa Zakharova on 12 March 2014 for providing convicts with legal help.
— the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel: convicts kept refusing from legal help what proved that they were under pressure.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/08/07/prisoners-refuse-legal-help-in-the-penal-colony-63/
August 2014.
— the penal colony № 62, Ivdel: warden of the facility -Aleksander Gusev took bribes from convicts what also proved by court.
— the penal colony № 47, Kamensk-Uralsky: found a problem of mass threatening towards inmates and application of sexual abuse to them.
— chief of the Sverdlovsk Federal Service for Execution of punishment -S. V. Khudorozhkov refused to fulfill his promises about transfer of inmates into secure place who told about riots and law violations in the penal colony № 63.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/08/25/general-khudorozhkov-deceives-everyone/
— the penal colony № 5, Nizhny Tagil: tortures of convicts by enchaining them with handcuffs to grille.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/08/17/tortures-in-the-penal-colony-63-of-nizhny-tagil/
— the penal colony № 2 of Yekaterinburg: after interference of defenders officer who had been sentenced was dismissed from his post. Official statistics said about high death rate in the facility.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/08/14/the-penal-colony-2-death-and-sentenced-jailer/
— the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel: administration obstructed defenders by any means.
— the penal colony № 62 in Ivdel: the Sverdlovsk regional court upheld a decision of Verkh-Isetsky regional courthouse that rooms for short-meetings don’t meet demands and cannot be used for meetings with inmates.
— the penal colony № 47, Kamensk-Uralsky: situation connected with tortures, threatening, sexual abuse towards inmates.
— the penal colony № 47, Kamensk-Uralsky: «convicts-activists» extorted flats from other inmates.
— the medical correctional facility № 51: members of Public Monitoring Committee found a convict in terrible condition; in other words, it was body covered with skin.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/08/30/sverdlovsk-oswiecim/
September 2014.
— Court declared detainment of convicts in the penal colony № 15 under strict conditions to be illegal.
http://pravo-ural.ru/2014/09/09/prokurory-ne-vidyat-a-sud-ustanovil/
— the pretrial detention center -1 of Yekaterinburg: juvenile convict told about violence by jailers and other inmates aimed at getting full confessions.
— Investigative Committee refused to initiate criminal proceedings upon fact of appeals from convicts about application of physical and sexual abuse in the penal colony № 63.
— the Federal Service for Execution of punishment conducted a working meeting with members of Public Monitoring Committee about situation in the penal colony № 63, however only part of members were invited there, those who didn’t investigate this case at all.
— the penal colony № 8 in Gari: jailers were convicted for beating of an inmate.
October 2014.
— the penal colony № 19 in Tavda: denial of access for defenders who wanted to provide inmates with legal help.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/10/04/region-of-secure-territories/
— the penal colony № 2, Yekaterinburg: a convict committed a suicide upon unknown reasons.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/10/04/inspection-of-the-penal-colony-2-of-yekaterinburg/
— the penal colony № 63 in Ivdel: «convicts-activists» obstructed public control during inspection and officers didn’t want to deal with it.
— the penal colony № 19, Tavda: a convicts was detained into solitary without medical inspection.
— the penal colony № 63, Ivdel: defenders won a court upon denial of access for a meeting with convicts.
— the penal colony № 63, Ivdel: convicts were on a hunger strike protesting against humiliation towards them.
November 2014.
— the penal colony № 63, Ivdel: a right to meetings with defenders and lawyers was violated. (p. 83 of Rules of Internal Conduct).
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/11/28/legal-consultations-at-the-penal-colony-63-ivdel/
— a sentence towards former warden of the correctional facility came into force; he was declared guilty in taking bribes.
— the pretrial detention center -1 of Yekaterinburg: a person was tortured in order to get full confessions from him.
— the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg: remained the most dangerous place for convicts.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/11/23/a-convict-said-to-human-rights-defenders-that-he-was-in-danger/
— the Federal Service for Execution of punishment fought against members of Public Monitoring Committee by influencing their relatives.
— the penal colony № 2 in Yekaterinburg: systematic law violations in particular, from that facility defenders received information about «suicides» of inmates.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/11/12/the-penal-colony-2-in-yekaterinburg-suicides-are-still-ongoing/
— one of the most important problems not only in the Sverdlovsk region but across all Russia — it’s very hard to prove facts of unlawful disciplinary fines.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/11/11/convicts-rights-protection-in-the-facilities-of-tavda/
— the penal colony № 63, Ivdel: situation was criminal. Even inspections of independent of members of Committee didn’t help.
— members of Committee were not admitted into cells at psychiatry of the pretrial detention center-1.
December 2014.
— A problem of illegal equipment of cells found and positive solved through courts and prosecutor offices.
— again proved that the penal colony № 2 is not secure place for convicts.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/12/20/the-penal-colony-2-secure-place-for-the-convict-ruslan-tedeyev/
— in the correctional facilities convicts work with huge law violations.
— investigative bodies and courts keep reveal authorities of the facilities for their crimes and corruptive actions.
— the penal colony № 63, Ivdel: administration keep obstructing defenders. In particular, before inspections electricity disappeared what was reason not to admit members of Committee.
— the penal colony № 6, Nizhny Tagil: a serious problem found: for 41 days a convict was enchained to a door of isolator.
— the penal colony № 19, Tavda: a convict said about beatings.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/12/15/in-the-penal-colony-19-a-convict-says-about-beatings/
— Sverdlovsk regional court stated that warden of the penal colony № 19 Nikolay Kryukov violated law by refusal to admit a defender Svetlana Malyugina to have a meeting with her defendant and didn’t make a mark about reasons.
— the pretrial detention center -1 of Yekaterinburg: arrested people are under beatings due to need of full confessions. Sanitary norms don’t meet standards.
— the penal colony № 2, Yekaterinburg: disclosure; facility as a dangerous place.
http://pravo-ural.ru/en/2014/12/09/ive-never-seen-more-terrible-place-than-the-penal-colony-2/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt69b6pB_oA
— the penal colony № 15 in Sosva: rooms for long meetings are not enough and it was a reason for court decision.
— according to independent members of Public Monitoring Committee, the penal colony № 62 remains the same dangerous place even if warden is different. Torture in the form of standing up all day long is applied.
Members of Public Monitoring Committee, human rights defenders and lawyers place huge efforts to fight against existing problems in the penitentiary system of the Sverdlovsk region.
Human rights defenders of the Urals
