Russian prisons and concentration camps worse than Abu Ghraib

2 September 2011

A well-known Moscow human rights activist Lev Ponomarev published an article on the situation of inmates in Russian prisons and concentration camps. In it, he notes in particular:

"The information on the events in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison became known. It got the whole world talking. Putin said to Americans: you are demanding openness and disclosures from us - and look what is going on in your own back yard. Medvedev also said something similar.

Yes, it was the outright humiliation of prisoners. But they were not killed, they were not even tortured. They were simply photographed without clothes. This is undoubtedly bad and humiliating.

But in Russia, it is a norm to strip prisoners and keep them naked. Several times a day. Then they force you on your knees and look for something in your anus. Supposedly, a mobile phone. Several times a day! In some Russian prisons and concentration camps, it is just a norm.

Not to mention, for example, of a threat of real rape. The prisoner, who writes a complaint and threatens to expose the GULAG atrocities, is told: either you stop or ... silence. Then (I have many such testimonies) they get the biggest, ugliest beast out of criminals to come to you. The beast undresses and masturbates as if preparing for a rape.. And the prisoners break down and sign any papers.

I know that there are cases of real rape, but such complaints never reach higher authorities. Because if a person was raped, neither he nor his family would ever admit it. I know a case where a young man, eighteen or even sixteen years old, I don't remember exactly, was thrown into a cell to most ugly criminals, naked. And afterwards, he hung himself. What happened to him in the cell, we can only guess. The case was not investigated. That's what is scary.

Most terrible are so called torture zones. For instance, in Russian Investigation Prison # 1. A documentary film was made about it. Lawyer Belyak was shot on for it, just a few days ago, there was an attempt on his life. Luckily, it failed. The film is available online, and we distribute it. And there are published reports about tortures in Prison # 1. They name the criminal who tortures and kills for Russian police and the KGB there. That man is finished. He cannot get out. He cannot live outside the prison. As they say, he is a waking corpse. He lives there, in Prison # 1.

But he is provided with comfortable luxurious hotel-type environment. He lives in a separate room, it has a TV set. And (again from the information that we have) he is ordered to carry out the killings in other prisons and camps. If Russian authorities need somebody to get killed, -he is transported to another GULAG zone. He does the killing, and is returned to his home Detention Center # 1.

There are reports on a man who participated in beatings, and possibly murders. He repented and gave testimony. The testimony was recorded by a lawyer. It is on the Internet. We held a press conference about it. The lawyers read the testimony of this man. But Russian authorities never investigated the case".

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/09/02/15054.shtml.