Russian Prison Service (FPS) to verify info about use of torture in prison
The Russian Federation Prison Service (FPS) to verify information about the use of torture in prison
23.04.2024
Article published on the ASI website
Instances of prisoner beatings have been reported by Eva Merkacheva, a member of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC). She has been speaking about the situation in penal colony no.6 on her Telegram channel.
The FPS has sent a delegation from its central office to Orenburg Penal Colony No.6 for inmates serving life sentences to verify information about assaults on prisoners. This was announced by the Director of the Federal Prison Service Arkady Gostev during a meeting with journalists.
“Let me say right from the outset that information on what is happening in penal colony no.6 can come from a variety of sources – the prisoners themselves, lawyers, human rights activists and staff (former and current). Officially, none of the inmates in the Black Dolphin (the name of penal colony no.6 according to ASI) has made any complaints which, in itself, is a sign that all is not well. There is always someone in any institution who has a grievance – be it with their sentence or with prison conditions – that’s normal. What’s not normal is when no-one is saying anything”, said Merkacheva.
Merkacheva also said that she had submitted a number of queries to the Investigating Committee and made representations to Tatyana Moskalkova, the Federation’s Human Rights Commissioner, who, in turn, has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to verify the information and to treat this as a special investigation.
