Federal Penitentiary Service announces new rules for defence of human rights: members of Public Oversight Commissions to become mere onlookers

4 June 2023 by Ekaterina Trifonova  Source: Nezavisimaya gazeta The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia [FPS] has established a procedure whereby members of Public Oversight Commissions (POCs) may visit penal…

Continue ReadingFederal Penitentiary Service announces new rules for defence of human rights: members of Public Oversight Commissions to become mere onlookers

Russia plans to build multi-purpose prison camp settlements. Commentaries by Ilya Shablinsky, Valery Borshchev and Sergei Pashin [Argumenty i fakty]

14 October 2022 Sergei Pashin (pictured left) says: 'This is a bad kind of 'unification,' when innocent people, who are only under detention to await trial, are lumped in together…

Continue ReadingRussia plans to build multi-purpose prison camp settlements. Commentaries by Ilya Shablinsky, Valery Borshchev and Sergei Pashin [Argumenty i fakty]

Irina Biriukova on torture in Russian prison colonies: ‘Any complaint provokes extraordinary resistance’

28 November 2022 Irina Biriukova, a lawyer with the Public Verdict Foundation and laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group’s human rights award, in conversation with Katya Orlova of Novaya gazeta…

Continue ReadingIrina Biriukova on torture in Russian prison colonies: ‘Any complaint provokes extraordinary resistance’

Eva Merkacheva: Dismantling the Public Oversight Commissions – Torture’s supporters are now the public defenders

28 September 2022 by Eva Merkacheva, MK correspondent, laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group prize Source: Moscow Helsinki Group [original source: MK] After facts of torture in the Saratov prison tuberculosis…

Continue ReadingEva Merkacheva: Dismantling the Public Oversight Commissions – Torture’s supporters are now the public defenders

Ilya Shablinsky: “Our law enforcement structures […] no longer feel bound by any restrictions, or even the Constitution.” [Nezavisimaya gazeta]

12 May 2022 by Ekaterina Trifonova, 'Stamped “official use only,” Constitution and laws change: The Russian citizen has been transformed from a subject of the law to an object of…

Continue ReadingIlya Shablinsky: “Our law enforcement structures […] no longer feel bound by any restrictions, or even the Constitution.” [Nezavisimaya gazeta]

Valery Borshchev on the new internal rules for prisons: “The bad habits that go with the profession and the repressive mindset of prison officers are such that they are unlikely to endeavour to comply with the new rules”

Valery Borshchev 31 March 2022  by Ekaterina Trifonova, correspondent for Nezavisimaya gazeta Source: Moscow Helsinki Group [original source: Nezavisimaya gazeta, 31 March 2022] Prisoners will hope for the best where…

Continue ReadingValery Borshchev on the new internal rules for prisons: “The bad habits that go with the profession and the repressive mindset of prison officers are such that they are unlikely to endeavour to comply with the new rules”

Valery Borshchev: “Do not be afraid, we are with you.” On a project of the Social Partnership Foundation

28 May 2020 Valery Borshchev, co-chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group Source: Moscow Helsinki Group A project entitled “Do not be afraid, we are with you” is being implemented by…

Continue ReadingValery Borshchev: “Do not be afraid, we are with you.” On a project of the Social Partnership Foundation

Dmitry Bykov: In Russia, the main spiritual binding force is fear of prison

1 May 2020 Dmitry Bykov, writer Source: Moscow Helsinki Group  [original source: Echo Moskvy - the programme “One” with Dmitry Bykov] Why is it in Russian society, especially among the so-called elite,…

Continue ReadingDmitry Bykov: In Russia, the main spiritual binding force is fear of prison

Leonid Nikitinsky: It’s easy enough to jail people, but there are far too many in the cells

19 April 2020 Leonid Nikitinsky, Novaya gazeta correspondent, member of the Presidential Council on Human Rights and Civil Society, laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group Prize for Human Rights Source:…

Continue ReadingLeonid Nikitinsky: It’s easy enough to jail people, but there are far too many in the cells