Prison Conditions in the Soviet Union: A Report of Facilities in Russia and Azerbaidzhan |
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administrative Amnesty International Argumenty i fakty arrestees Azerbaidzhan Bailovskaia barracks beds Butyrskaia chief closed prisons colonies we visited colony in Baku colony in Mordovia colony-settlements commissary Correctional Labor Code crimes dizo facilities factory feet Fundamentals of Criminal guards Guliaev Helsinki Watch Human Rights Human Rights Watch hunger strike incarceration inmates Krasnopresnenskaia Kresty labor colonies living conditions months Moscow officer Orville Schell overcrowded packages percent Petersburg police station Pravda pregnant women Preliminary Confinement pretrial centers pretrial detainees pretrial detention centers pretrial prisons prison authorities prison population Prison Project prison system Prisoner complaints Prisoner Violence privileges problem procurator punishment cells reform Regulation on Preliminary released republics RSFSR Correctional Labor rubles sentenced prisoners serious shizo shower Shusha Soviet penal system Soviet Prisons Spaskov special regime colony spoke Staff Abuse strict regime Supreme Soviet toilet told USSR ventilation violations walk winter women's colony wooden
Popular passages
Page 9 - ... and regeneration becomes almost impossible. Moreover, the example, the possibility of such despotism has a perverting influence on the whole of society : such power is a temptation. Society, which looks indifferently on such a phenomenon, is already contaminated to its very foundations. In short, the right of corporal punishment given to one man over another is one of the sores of social life, one of the strongest forces destructive of every germ, every effort in society towards civic feeling,...
Page 37 - Decreasing the number of prisoners sentenced to labor colonies, decreasing their sentences, increasing their pay or emphasizing rehabilitation in the labor system all run counter to the goals of production and profit. Upsetting the economics of the labor colonies means upsetting the economy as a whole, adding more severe stress to an economy that is contracting and on the brink of hyperinflation. Reform of the work system thus requires serious political committment at the highest level.
Page 37 - Timber, furniture-making, metalworking, and simple electronics are some of the industries found in the colonies. Prison production is sold to the general public and was until recently exported to "fraternal socialist countries.
Page 37 - Prisoners receive a wage from which is deducted money to pay for their upkeep. They can perform services for the colony, such as cleaning, cooking, maintenance or providing medical care (if they are properly qualified) or else they can work in the production facility of the camp.
Page 15 - Since 10-15 percent of a prison's cells are usually under repair or used for other than regular housing, the actual capacity is closer to 3,000. It is prominently featured in Anna Akhmatova's famous poem of the Stalinist terror period, "Requiem.
Page 45 - Peterson, The Zone, 1989: The Soviet Penal System under Perestroika," Radio Liberty Report on the USSR (Sep.
Page 22 - Detainee complaints: poor ventilation, inadequate medical care, limited food in commisary, harsh treatment by guards. • August 1990 -- Krasnodarskii krai, Armavirskii pretrial detention center no. 2 - 200 participate in hunger strike. Detainee complaints: poor food, lack of cigarettes, poor health care, overcrowded cells. • June 1990 -- Dnepropetrovskaia pretrial detention...
Page 15 - Krasnopresnenskaia, with a capacity of 2,000, always has 2,200-2,300; when we visited it had 2,264. "Two hundred sixty-four have no place to sleep," the prison chief told us, "and must sleep either sideways or on the floor.
Page 49 - I've come to the conclusion that ours is the hardest. Up to this day GULAG traditions are still well alive in prison camps in certain regions of the country, where prisoners are totally dependent on the administration."46 45 "Polozhenie -- Slozhnoe" (The Situation Is Complex), Pravda, May 30, 1991, p.2, col.
Page 44 - There were no prisoners in dizo at the time of our visit, and we were told that there had been none for the past five days.