The Public Monitoring Commission for monitoring the human rights observance in the penal institutions of the Nizhny Novgorod region (PMC) received an answer from Deputy Prosecutor of the Sukhobezvodnenskaya Prosecutor’s Office for monitoring the law observance in the penal institutions Mr.Navolokin. In his letter the law-enforcement officer informed human rights defenders that based on the results of the Prosecutor’s check of Penal Colony No.14 (Sukhobezvodnoye settlement) the facts of violations of penal legislation of the Russian Federation were revealed.
«I inform you that in August-September 2015 the Sukhobezvodnenskaya Prosecutor’s Office for monitoring the law observance in the penal institutions performed a comprehensive check of the Federal Government Institution Penal Colony No.14, in the course of which violations of convicts labor rights, convicts rights to qualified medical assistance in the medical unit of the institution, and other violations of the penal legislation of the Russian Federation were revealed», – Mr.Navolokin states in his letter.
He also mentions that the Prosecutor’s Office, basing on the results of the check, prepared a petition to the Head of the Chief Directorate of the Federal Service for Execution of Punishment of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod region on inadmissibility of violations of the Russian Federation penal legislation.
As to the evidence of the number of convicts, serving sentence in Penal Colony No.14, on unlawful actions of the convicts of this institution, who had regulatory and executive authority from the colony’s administration, it was handed over to the head of the local police department for performing check and making a procedural decision – said the law-enforcement officer in his official answer.
Member of PMC for the Nizhny Novgorod region Dmitry Utukin: «We hope that the reaction of the Prosecutor’s Office will help to improve the situation in the colony. As far as I understand, even now the current administration of the colony is trying to bring the situation back to normal. A part of the convicts has been provided medical assistance in the Semenovskaya district hospital, the colony is provided with call boxes, labor contracts with previously unemployed convicts are being concluded. However, the reaction of the supervisory authority to reports on convicts battery is still not clear. Indeed, this element of crime is in jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior bodies. However, the assumed crimes were committed in the territory of the colony, and in the labor hours. In addition, the convicts were beaten up, according to their words, not because of a pack of tea of cigarettes, but for non-fulfillment of internal regulation rules. This is not a street row, and in our opinion, the Investigative Committee of Russia must organize the check of the colony’s officials actions, at least, concerning negligence».