In the Siberian city of Angarsk, several prisoners in the high-security Correctional Colony No. 2 went on hunger strike on September 13, to protest abuse and torture at the hands of prison officials.
The hunger strike was reported by the human rights initiative Gulagu.net (No to the Gulag), citing sources in the regional branch of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN). The prisoners’ relatives also confirmed these reports to RFE/RL’s Siberian service (Sibir.Realii).
“On formal pretexts, the prisoners are humiliated, stripped naked, beaten, handcuffed, dragged across the floor, and beaten in the commissary,” human rights activists said.
What’s more, according to Gulagu.net, at least two prisoners have died in Correctional Colony No. 2 since the beginning of September. According to FSIN documents obtained by Sibir.realii, the first prisoner — a man by the last name of Zhdanov — died on September 7; his cause of death remains unknown. The second prisoner — a man by the last name Osipov — died of acute heart failure on September 9.
Human rights activists accused the prison’s staff of “swamping” the FSIN central office and state prosecutors with cookie-cutter reports “with the aim of legalizing official misconduct, committed with the use of special equipment and violence.” According to the FSIN’s special reports to the attorney general’s office obtained by Sibir.Realii, at least 10 cases involving the use of force against prisoners in Correctional Colony No. 2 have been recorded since the start of September. At least six of these reports are dated September 8.
The press office for the FSIN’s headquarters in the Irkutsk region said that at least five prisoners in Correctional Colony No. 2 are refusing to eat, describing the hunger strike as “defiant blackmail.” Prison officials noted that the health of the prisoners participating in the hunger strike is being monitored by medical workers and psychological service staff.
In April 2020, a riot broke out in Angarsk’s Correctional Colony No. 15, as prisoners staged a protest against the use of torture in the prison. Special forces suppressed the riot and hundreds of people were injured. Afterwards, a number of prisoners were transferred to Correctional Colony No. 6 and Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 1 in Irkutsk, where they were reportedly tortured. State investigators have launched several criminal cases in connection with torture allegations in prisons and jails in the region.
Gulagu.net says that the head of Angarsk’s Correctional Colony No. 2, Roman Skorobogatov, previously worked at Correctional Colony No. 15, where he “honed his sadistic inclinations,” alongside two other operatives who were also transferred to Correctional Colony No. 2.