Tearing Down Russia's Prisons

by Matt Kelley · 2010-01-12 05:52:00 UTC
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Reforms that took effect on Sunday could lead to a reduction of more than 10% in Russia's prison population -- currently at more than 1 million.

Activists and observers say the conditions in Russia's prisons are deplorable, and even President Dmitry Medvedev said in a live television interview that Russia's "system of the execution of punishment has not changed for decades" and needs reform.

Medvedev fired top prison officials and pushed for systemic changes after a prominent 37-year-old attorney died of heart failure in a detention facility in November, after complaining repeatedly that he was being denied access to health care.

It's a shame that it takes the death of a wealthy prisoner to get the establishment to take notice of unacceptable prison conditions, but that's the way it is. The rules that took effect this week include alternatives to incarceration like house arrest for non-violent crimes.

Medvedev said in his recent interview that pre-trial detention and sentencing for minor crimes in Russia are too harsh.

"We have to understand that there is no need whatsoever to slam people into prison at the stage of preliminary investigation for some types of economic crimes, crimes related to tax activities," he said. "An individual stole a 500-ruble (17-dollar) hat -- immediately he gets two years in jail. What for? What, he will come out a better person?"

Not everyone agrees that the new rule will bring change, however.

Human rights activists expressed doubt that the reforms would materialize and criticized the government for not putting them forward for public discussion.

“They sound nice, but they are unreal,” Lev Ponomaryov, a prominent rights activist, told The Moscow Times.

Ponomaryov, who has visited many prisons and pretrial detention centers, described the situation there as “medieval,” saying prison authorities often try to silence prisoners who complain about the facilities.

Detention centers have harsher conditions than prisons because investigators often send prisoners there to pressure them into cooperating or, in the case of high-profile businessmen, to help business rivals snatch their companies, Ponomaryov said.

Photo:Mostafa Saeednejad

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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