Lev Ponomarev acсuses Russian penitentiary authorities of torture
Лев Пономарев обвиняет российские власти в пытках заключенных. Лев и возглавляемый им "Фонд в защиту заключенных" получили этот секретный видеоматериал, снятый в 2006 году тюремным охранником в Екатеринобурге. Внимание: видео содержит сцены насилия
См. также YouTube возвращает видео об издевательствах над российскими заключенными
"Preventative Actions in Yekaterinaburg Prison Camp". Attention: this video contains scenes of violence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmCdMcZz80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jCZjWUEe64 (alternative address)
Lev Ponomarev, who is now facing criminal charges in Russia after traveling to the United States to debrief activists, is one of Russia's leading defenders of the rights of prisoners.
Lev and his organization, "Foundation for the Defence of Prisoners," only very recently obtained possession of a secret video made in 2006 by a prison guard of a "Preventative Actions" exercise by the OMON (special police squad) performed at a prison camp in Yekaterinaburg.
The appalling instances of beatings, torture, inhumane treatment and excessive and arbitrary violence shown in this recording inarguably represent a fundamental violation of human rights.
Lev was dramatically successful in using the video to raise awareness of this atrocity - against all odds he was able to get a tiny portion of the tape shown on REN-TV very late night, which is a total anomaly for state-run television. Lev then provided the footage to us so that we could offer an unedited view into the horrendous reality that is the Russian penal system to the general public.
Such images should compell both Russians and the wider world to react with vocal outrage and denounce these abuses, yet I fear that we can rest assured that under today's government, no one will be doing anything about this. We are dealing with an institutional cynicism and near total lack of humanitarian inclination among today's Kremlin leadership, whose established patterns of lawlessness and impunity put the basic rights of all citizens at great risk.
In light of only this small sample of the state's abuses, it is time for the international community to change the terms of the debate over human rights in Russia.
См. также YouTube возвращает видео об издевательствах над российскими заключенными
"Preventative Actions in Yekaterinaburg Prison Camp". Attention: this video contains scenes of violence.
Click to viewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmCdMcZz80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jCZjWUEe64 (alternative address)
Lev Ponomarev, who is now facing criminal charges in Russia after traveling to the United States to debrief activists, is one of Russia's leading defenders of the rights of prisoners.
Lev and his organization, "Foundation for the Defence of Prisoners," only very recently obtained possession of a secret video made in 2006 by a prison guard of a "Preventative Actions" exercise by the OMON (special police squad) performed at a prison camp in Yekaterinaburg.
The appalling instances of beatings, torture, inhumane treatment and excessive and arbitrary violence shown in this recording inarguably represent a fundamental violation of human rights.
Lev was dramatically successful in using the video to raise awareness of this atrocity - against all odds he was able to get a tiny portion of the tape shown on REN-TV very late night, which is a total anomaly for state-run television. Lev then provided the footage to us so that we could offer an unedited view into the horrendous reality that is the Russian penal system to the general public.
Such images should compell both Russians and the wider world to react with vocal outrage and denounce these abuses, yet I fear that we can rest assured that under today's government, no one will be doing anything about this. We are dealing with an institutional cynicism and near total lack of humanitarian inclination among today's Kremlin leadership, whose established patterns of lawlessness and impunity put the basic rights of all citizens at great risk.
In light of only this small sample of the state's abuses, it is time for the international community to change the terms of the debate over human rights in Russia.