Another penitentiary torture video surfaces in Russia, but officials say those responsible have already been punished

The human rights project Gulagu.net (“No to the Gulag”) has posted a video that allegedly shows defendants being tortured in the Kemerovo region’s Pretrial Detention Center 4. The video, titled “Everyday Sadism,” was sent to Gulagu.net’s hotline.

The organization sent messages about the video to Russia’s Prosecutor General and Justice Minister as well as the heads of its Investigative Committee and Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). The messages indicated that “pretrial detention center employees yell at, scream at, and insult defendants under investigation, humiliate them, beat them while leading them to routine checks, threaten them, and baselessly apply physical force.”

Warning: This video depicts physical violence.

The human rights advocates asked investigators to open a criminal case against the FSIN employees involved in the video, arguing that their actions violate the European Convention on Human Rights and the Russian Constitution.

Representatives of the regional FSIN headquarters told TASS that the officials involved in the rights abuses recorded in the video have already been severely disciplined. According to FSIN, the incident in question took place in 2017 and was subject to an internal investigation at the time.