16.1.          Having read the 3^rd Periodical Report of the Russian Federation, the Committee expressed concern about the terrible conditions in the pre-trial detention centers. The conditions are made even worse by the fact that the cells windows are protected by the metal blinds that prevent the natural light and the fresh air from getting into the cells, making ventilation impossible. The Committee recommended improving the conditions in pre-trial establishments so that they comply with the Convention requirements.

 

16.2.          The authorities of the Russian Federation recognized the problem of inhuman conditions in the pre-trial establishments as the most acute one, and during the last four years have taken a number of measures to improve the situation. It must be noted that the efforts made to reduce the number of people kept in custody before trial, the building of the new pre-trial establishments and the repairs of the old ones together with the increase in budget funding for mentioned purposed have brought notable result. Human rights organization visiting penitentiary institutions noted the improvement of the conditions of detention republics of Komi, Marii El, Mordovia and Tatarstan, in Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Perm Krais and in Irkytsk and Orlov Regions.

 

 

 

16.3.          Taking into consideration all the above, it must be noted however, that the flow of information from the authorities, human rights organizations visiting penitentiary institutions, prisoners, their relatives and advocates, testifies that on many parameters the conditions in pre-trial detention centers still do not fully comply with the principles of humanity and respect to human dignity. 

 

 

16.4.          Despite all the efforts made that were aimed at reduction of the number of the prisoners and building new pre-trial centers, they remain overcrowded and this problem has not yet been completely solved. The authorities themselves point this problem out. Thus, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation in his report on the Prosecution System activity in 2004 mentioned that in republics Buryatia, Chuvashia and Tuva, in Nizhniy Novgorod, Moscow and Chita regions as well as in Moscow and St. Petersburg, some SIZOs and cells are still two times overcrowded.

 

16.5.          It is clear that the further actions must be taken to solve the problem of overcrowded pre-trial establishments. On March 17, 2006, Mr. Kalinin, the Director of the Federal Penitentiary Service in annual report[1], said that Service plans further programs on building new SIZOs and reconstructing the old ones. At the same time Mr. Kalinin reported that in the year 2005 the number of people put in SIZO considerably exceeded the forecasted figures and that by the end of the year the number had increased by 15 thousands people. According to his information, the intensive growth of the number of prisoners in SIZO will continue into 2006 – during January and February of 2006 it increased by 5-6 thousand people. Mr. Kalinin expressed his concern about the existing judicial practice when a person is sent to custody for minor crimes. This shows that in order to improve the situation in SIZOs, the Russian authorities must take measures in order to change the existing practices of arrest.

 

16.6.          In general, when evaluating the results of programs on renovating of old SIZOs and building new ones, one can call them positive, while keeping in mind that they do not solve all the problems of making the pre-trial institutions comply with the health and dignity requirements. All the projects on building new SIZOs and renovating of old ones are carried out in accordance with the current legal norms that state that a sanitary spatial norm per person should be 4 square meters, while the European Committee against Torture maintains that the area per person in pre-trial establishment should be no less than 6 meters. Moreover, the norm existing in Russia is unacceptable because the prisoner spends 24 hours in the cell, except 1,5 hours when they are out for a walk, and the term that the person spends in SIZO may exceed one year.

16.7.          However, even the Russian legal standard was not always taken into consideration when renovating the SIZO premises.

In February 2004, the delegation of the International Helsinki Federation examined the newly renovated cell in Moscow SIZO No.2 (Butyrki). While noting the sufficient natural light availability, good ventilation, heating and new furniture, the delegation also noticed that while the area of the room was about 45-50 square meters, there were 22 bunk beds. The size of the room is obviously not sufficient for such a number of prisoners – it will be about 2 meters per person.^[2] Besides, despite the fact that the today’s procedure requires separating the toilet from the living area by a partition, the toilet nevertheless was still not isolated from the living space. 

 

16.8.          It must also be mentioned that not all the premises of SIZO have been renovated. In the older quarters where prisoners are also kept one can see dirt, cram, lack of fresh air and natural light. This, in particular, was witnessed by a Human Rights Commissar of the Council of Europe during his visit of the Russian Federation in July and September 2004.[3]

 

16.9.          The problems connected with complying with sanitary standards, providing bed sheets, food, medical care still exist in SIZOs.

 

 

 

 

16.10.       Here is a conditions of pre-trial detention described by Pavel Lyzakov, a journalist and chief editor of Svobodnoe Slovo (Free Word) who had recently been arrested and had to spend some time in Moscow SIZO No.5.:

 

16.11.       Anna Stavitskaya, the advocate, reports:

«In Lefortovo SIZO (Moscow) there is no dentist. He comes to SIZO once a month. He can come, drill the hole and then – just leave. And come back in a month to fill the hole up. My client Igor Sytyagin found himself in such situation. How else can you call such treatment if not torture? In SIZO No. 4 in Medvedkovo (Moscow) there is no doctor who can do fluorography. During six months the prisoners were taken to Matrosskaya Tishina [another Moscow pre-trial detention center] to do fluorography. It is done like this. In five o’clock in the evening of the previous day the prisoners are put in a closet where they spend the whole night, then in the early morning they are taken to Matrosskaya Tishina. The whole procedure takes about 15 minutes, but they are brought back only late at night. This means that they spend more than 24 hours without food. It is very difficult to get to visit a doctor. And if you do, the doctor has the one medicine only – a painkiller”.

 

 

16.12.       Human rights organizations note that the Federal Penitentiary Service efforts on improving the condition in correction institutions have brought evident positive results. However the penitentiary system of Russia is huge. It includes more than 800 correctional facilities where more than 600 000 people are kept. The organizational efforts and financial resources spent by the Federal Penitentiary Service were not enough in order to make the conditions in all correctional facilities comply with principals of dignity retaining. The Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation in his report about the Prosecution system Activity during the year 2004 mentioned that prosecutors discovered bad conditions in correctional institutions and gave specific examples. 

 

16.13.       The representatives of NGOs that visit correctional institutions note a certain improvement in the conditions of detention and treatment of prisoners. However they simultaneously state that the big number of problems connected with improving sanitary and hygienic conditions, labor conditions, level of medical treatment and food quality still exists and requires further measures to be taken.

 

 

16.14.       Human rights organizations visiting correctional institutions, testify that in some of them repairs have been made during the last couple years.

 

 

16.15.       However in a number of institutions premises where the convicts live are kept in a very poor condition.

 

 

 

16.16.       The article 11 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation together with the “Internal Rules of correctional institutions of the penitentiary system” expect the prisoners to keep to sanitary and hygienic rules. However there is no statement in the law that obliges administration of the correctional institutions to provide the necessary conditions for prisoners to maintain the hygiene.

 

16.17.       According to reports of human rights organization it is a common practice when in correctional institutions the toilets are situated on special premises separated from the living quarters. They are however very often insufficiently equipped to ensure the prisoners take care of their natural needs without impediment. The norms demand that there should be at least one tap with running water per ten prisoners, but these norms are not always complied with. In some colonies there was not enough taps from the beginning, in some they were broken from heavy use and since that have not been repaired. 

 

16.18.       It is very seldom that in penitentiary institution the location and design of toilets comply with the decency and minimal comfort standards. Very often they have toilets of so-called “Asian-type”. The number of actual “holes” is very often less than prescribed by regulations. The “holes” are located opposite each other and do not have any partitions. The toilets are very often located far from the living quarters and are not heated in wintertime. It is inconvenient and can be rather hazardous for prisoners’ health especially in the regions with severe climate.

 

 

16.19.       According to the approved norms of prisoners’ diet, each month the prisoner is supposed to get: 7,5 kg of bread (white and rye), about 4 kg of different cereals, 1,4 kg of sugar, 3 kg meat and fish, 15 kg of potatoes, 0,5 kg butter. In 2005 the norm for meat consumption was increased to 100 grams per 24 hours.

 

16.20.       Federal Penitentiary Service standards presuppose special norms of diet for those suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases that require following specific diet regulations. However the current norms do not presuppose any specific diet norms for those who follow a specific diet because of religious reasons.

 

16.21.       In general the situation with prisoners’ diet have improved during the recent years. In some institutions the improvement in the prisoners’ diet comes not only from the increase of funding into penal system but also with the active work of the administration of those institutions.

 

16.22.       However despite the introduction of more adequate dietary norms, the quality of food for prisoners leaves a lot to be desired. According to the statements of some prisoners they would not have been able to survive without additional food, that they receive from home or that they buy with their own money in the shops of penitentiary institutions.

 

 

16.23.       Legal norms that regulate the labor of prisoners have been improved and became more in accordance with international standards in this area. However the representatives of human rights organizations note that there are still certain contradictions in those legal norms.

 

16.24.       The Article 103 in the Penal Code of the Russian Federation states “each prisoner is entitled to work at the places designated by the administration of the correctional institutions”. It also states “the work activity of prisoners must not interfere with their main task of correctional institutions – to reclaim the prisoners”. Having stated all this, the Penal Code does not presuppose that the prisoner may be given a choice of what work to do. The Codex also does not mention that that it is a duty of the administration of the correction institution to organize labor in such a way that prisoners may get useful skill or qualification.

 

16.25.       Part 6 of the Article 103 of the Penal Code states that

 

16.26.       This means that the right of prisoners to defend their rights to have acceptable work conditions or fair pay is limited by the possibility of penalties that may be applied to them.

 

16.27.       According to article 106 of the Penal Code, the prisoners can work without pay for two hours a week in order to improve of the correctional institution facilities. In all other cases the labor of prisoners must be paid for. Article 105 of the Penal Code states that the wage of a prisoner cannot be less than a minimum wage in the country, if the prisoner keeps up with the norms of labor productivity. These productivity norms are set by the administration of penal institutions itself. In practice it leads to understatement of remuneration of labor. The wages of prisoners are considerably lower than those on the market. It is in many ways caused by the fact that the manufacturing units of penal institutions are heavily taxed, do not have necessary state support and are forced to compete with commercial structures, despite the fact, that unlike usual commercial structures they perform important social functions – that of social adaptation and training of prisoners.

 

16.28.       In accordance with the article 107 of the Penal Code, the means that prisoners earned are spent on their liability payments (children alimony, damage payments caused by the crime). After this the means for keeping the prisoner in a correctional institution are deducted from the wage. The Codex states the limit of such deductions. However big the deductions are, no less than 25% of the wage, pension or other income must be put to the prisoner’s personal account. If the prisoner is a male older than 60, a woman older than 55, a disabled of first of second degree, a mother with children in the children institutions of the correctional establishment, than no less than 50 % of the wage, pension or other income must be put into prisoner’s personal account.

 

16.29.       As a result the real income of prisoners from their work is laughingly small in a number of regions and institutions:

 

16.30.       In practice the current taxation system of penal institutions and lack of state support of such manufacturing units does not allow to upgrade their equipment and make the working conditions in accordance with current regulations. Human rights organizations receive complaints of unsanitary working conditions and employment injuries in correctional institutions.

 

 

 

16.31.       The medical aid to prisoners is given first of all by the medical staff of correctional institutions and specialized medical institutions under the jurisdiction of penal system. The Federal Penitentiary Service has been making efforts to provide correctional institutions with medical equipment and medicines that increased the level of medical treatment. The considerable progress was made in the battle with tuberculosis. According to the Federal Penitentiary Service data during the past 5 year the number of people sick with active form of tuberculosis decreases twice – from 100 to 48 thousand people. 

 

16.32.       Human rights organizations testify that in Krasnoyarsk and Krasnodar Krais, in the republics of Tartarstan and Mordovia, and Orel Region the situation with medical treatment of prisoners is satisfactory.

 

16.33.       At the same time in a number of regions, the level of medical care provided for prisoners is considerably lower than the standards existing outside correctional institutions.

 

16.34.       The Memorial Human Rights Commission of Komi Republic, which representatives visit penal institutions in the Republic give the following characteristic of the medical treatment of prisoners in their region:

 

 

16.35.       Due to the shortage of medical staff, prisoners cannot always get medical help in time.

 

16.36.       It is obvious that most problems connected with medical treatment of detainees stem from under-financing, including under-payment of doctors, which makes the job unattractive for more qualified professionals. Part of the problem is that medical personnel of detention facilities are under direct supervision of penitentiary administration. During the 2002 national monitoring carried out by Moscow Helsinki Group and partner organizations, cases of intervening in the work of medical personnel, which in some instances lead to the refusal from medical assistance, were identified.[5]

 

16.37.       The convicted in Russia have the right to call for civilian doctors. However, the civilian specialist can only be invited with the permission of detention ward administration officers.

 

16.38.       Moreover, prisoners are to pay for the services of civilian specialists from their own budgets. Naturally, only a small number of prisoners are able to afford that.

 

 

16.39.       The penitentiary authorities have been paying much attention to implementing various measures of social adaptation of the convicts - particularly of the underage inmates.

 

16.40.       Thus, the access to education (including higher education) for convicts has improved significantly. At the same time, the penitentiary facilities try to increasingly engage the inmates in cultural and educational activities – various contests, competitions, performances, sport tournaments – which help to develop the creative potential of the detainees.

 

16.41.       Within the penitentiary system there were introduced the psychological office and social workers’ office. Both units serve to minimize current internal conflicts within detention facilities and to prevent from further outbreaks. At the same time, according to the Federal Penitentiary Service reports, in 2005 the penitentiary employed the total of 1300 social workers and 2252 psychologists against the total of 600000 inmates, which gave 460 inmates per one social worker and about 230 inmates per one psychologist. It thus seems unlikely that the current number of social workers and psychologists is sufficient to satisfy the existing demand.

 

16.42.       Unfortunately, the significant efforts of penitentiary administration officers to prepare the inmates for the release and for the re-entering normal life lack support from other public authorities. There are no national projects on re-socialization of the released from correction facilities. Individual humanitarian initiatives tend to cover one aspect of a problem at a time (support in obtaining necessary documents, assistance in looking for work and place to live, support in setting up relationships with the relatives, etc.) are far too scarce for the problem of such a scale. The absence of large and efficient projects of social adaptation for the released increases the risk of recurrent offences.

 

16.43.       While the majority of prisoners experience conditions that can hardly be called ‘humane’, some specific groups of prisoners are even worse off. Among those groups there are disabled and persons with HIV.

 

16.44.       The “Social Partnership Foundation” reports that no specific facilities are arranged at correction facilities for better handling of disabled persons. While penitentiary authorities have gone a long way to ensure better employment possibilities for the inmates, employment of disabled persons is still a large problem.

 

Table 4. The number of HIV-infected in detention wards is quite high.

 

16.45.       The identification of the HIV-infected is highly efficient in the penitentiary system. Each new detainee is examined for HIV, and in case the virus is found, the new inmate is prescribed vitamins and special diet. However, the sentence is served in regular conditions, no preferential treatment is practiced in relation to HIV-infected inmates.

 

16.46.       The development of HIV into AIDS is also monitored: the examinations are held every six months. If an inmate is diagnosed with AIDS, they receive the status of ‘patients’. In case of severe clinical presentations a prisoner can be transferred to prison hospital. In case of the most severe clinical cases it is possible to apply to court and ask for release. The court then takes into account all clinical data and makes a decision. In practice it often happens that court underestimate the severity of disease.

 

16.47.       Antivirus therapy of HIV-infected inmates is not always carried out, because financial authorities do not allocate necessary funds for purchasing specific medicines.

 

16.48.       According to the law, HIV-infected detainees should be serving their sentences together with other, non-infected inmates - a principle, which had not come into practice until 2005. To avoid discrimination of HIV-infected individuals, the penitentiary authorities are now taking measures to ensure that the HIV-infected detainees are not separated from other inmates. Human rights protection organizations confirm that this is true about Marii El republic, in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Krasnodar and Perm Krais. In Komi and Tatarstan republics, however, the authorities prefer to gather transfer all HIV-infected prisoners to one or two facilities.

 

16.49.       The lack of medical equipment also affects the condition in which HIV-infected inmates find themselves. At some facilities, it is impossible to provide them medical assistance due to the lack of syringes, medical gloves, etc.

 

16.50.       In some cases, the situation of HIV-infected in worsened due to the prejudices carried by other inmates and detention officers.

 

 

16.51.       Apart from pre-trial detention centers (SIZO) operating under the supervision of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice, those apprehended and awaiting trial can be confined in temporary detention isolators (IVS) run by Ministry of Interior. According to the law, those detainees can be held in IVS for up to 10 days until they are transferred to pre-trial detention centers. After the transfer has been carried out, the suspects and the accused can be sent back to IVS in case investigation procedures or participation in trial are taken out of town where pre-trial detention centers situated. However term of such removal should not last more than a total of 10 days per months.

 

16.52.       While the authorities recognized the problem of poor confinement conditions in SIZO, and relevant relief measures were launched, the IVS confinement conditions have just recently become the focus of public attention. Partly this stems from a fact that no independent inspectors were admitted to IVS up until 2005.

 

16.53.       According to the authorities and human rights activists, the confinement conditions in IVS are far from humane and are sometimes even worse than those in SIZO. Human Rights Ombudsman is Sverdlovsk Region, Tatyana Merzlyakova, writes in her report “On Violation of Rights of Suspects and the Accused Held in Custody at IVS”:

 

 

 

16.54.       The Memorial Human Rights Commission of Komi Republic reports about the confinement condition at IVS of Korterossky police department of Komi Republic:

 

16.55.       Similar problems were revealed during the visit of 10 IVS of Perm Region by the workers of the Perm Regional Human Rights Defender Center.

 

 

 

 

16.56.       Russia has two types of institutions for immigrants: temporary accommodation centers for those whose status is pending, and detention centers where immigrants await expulsion.

 

 

16.57.       There are only three institutions termed temporary accommodation centers for immigrants and controlled by the Federal Migration Service: "Ocher” (the city of Ocher, Perm Oblast); “Goryachy Klyuch” (the city of Goryachy Kluych, Krasnodar Krai); and “Don” (the city of Sinyavskoye, Neklinovsky District, Rostov Region).

 

16.58.       The centers were set up in 1996 pursuant to the Regulation of the State Sanitary Epidemiological Surveillance Committee of 12 January 1996 (# 1) and intended to provide temporary accommodation to foreigners, stateless persons and refugees for periods ranging between a few days and three months pending their legal status determination or their exit, if in transit.

 

16.59.       Living conditions in the centers are fairly acceptable, but they can only accommodate up to 500 people and they are almost empty anyway, because asylum seekers are not referred to the centers – a trend consistent with the overall policy of denying asylum.

 

16.60.       The three centers currently accommodate a total of 180 people. The “Don" center was empty for a while, and is now being renovated. The only person living there is a Georgian named Maskhulia, with pending appeal against loss of status. "Goryachy Klyuch” does not have residents except a small staff. The remaining 179 whose status is pending live in “Ocher”; 15 of them appeal their loss of temporary asylum. "Ocher" can accommodate more than 300 people, but it is not used to capacity, because immigration authorities are reluctant to refer people, and some refugees refuse to go there, fearing the cold northern climate.

 

16.61.       Most asylum seekers are left to fend for themselves. They are not encouraged to go other regions, so they can spread more evenly across the country. Those who come by air usually stay in Moscow and apply to Moscow and Moscow Region immigration authorities. None of them can legally get employment, access education and health care (except emergencies); they are not entitled to pensions or childcare allowances.

 

 

16.62.       By par. 5, art. 32.10 of the Code of Administrative Offences, an immigrant can be taken into custody awaiting expulsion pursuant to a court ruling.

 

 

16.63.       As we can see, the law fails to specify the circumstances warranting detention of a person to be expelled, while the duration of custody can be unlimited pending expulsion, which in unacceptable. Some people spend years in detention.  Designed as an injunctive measure, it amounts to punishment in the form of unlimited incarceration, often far exceeding the 30 days maximum allowed for administrative arrest used as punishment for offences.

 

16.64.       We should also note that the number of judgments prescribing expulsion exceeds by 15-20% the number of people who actually get expelled. Some of those awaiting expulsion who are not arrested bribe themselves out, so their expulsion is not enforced; they stay illegally in Russia, losing all available means of legalizing their presence.

 

16.65.       Over the recent two years, Russian regions have been actively setting up new centers for immigrants awaiting deportation or expulsion. There are no formal laws or regulations defining the legal status of such detention facilities. They are established pursuant to decisions of local executive officials. There have been numerous proposals to amend the Code of Administrative Offences to provide for such centers, but the State Duma has not adopted any yet.

 

16.66.       One such center in the village of Severny near Moscow has been operational for a long while as a place of detention for people awaiting expulsion pursuant to rulings of Moscow Region courts. Living conditions in the center are abhorrent: humiliating treatment (detainees are searched at admission; they are not allowed to possess pens and paper, to make phone calls, to send and receive letters); shortage of sleeping accommodations, no bedding, and no possibility of taking a shower. Only 12 rubles per person per day is budgeted for food; the food is not only scarce, but of very poor quality. There is not enough spoons, so detainees use bread crusts instead of spoons or lap up the food with their tongues.

 

16.67.       In other regions, living conditions in holding centers are even worse, and some detainees even lack mattresses for sleeping.

 

16.68.       As their communication with the outside world is cut off, detainees find it extremely difficult to challenge their detention or complaint about conditions of detention. With rare exceptions, it is only possible in cases known to their families, NGOs or the UNHCR staff who can hire a lawyer to represent the detainee.

 

16.69.       In some cases it has been possible to appeal the unlimited detention and to get the asylum seeker released.

 

 

16.70.       Conscripts are at the disposal of the military authorities. The latter are responsible for arranging meals, medical assistance, etc. for the conscripts. According to the Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers, few draftees experience living conditions and medical support above the level that can be called ‘degrading’ and ‘inhumane’.

 

16.71.       The diet for the military is set by the Army Disciplinary Charter; by the Order # 400 issued by the Minister of Defense on July 22^nd, of 2000; and by the amended Order # 344 “On Setting the Regulations for Ratio Supply of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation in the Time of Piece” issued by the Minister of Defense on October 29^th, 2004. Those documents set the normative 60 rubles cost for the daily draftee ratio, of which 70% should be bread, vegetables and cereal. The work with draftees and their parents, who apply to the Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers, and the research, carried out by Human Rights Watch in 2001-2003 confirm that the actual ratio of the draftees does not match even the scarce requirements set by the existing regulations. A number of factors occurring within the military units have negative influence on soldiers’ ratio. According to the Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers, among such factors are stealing food from kitchens and commissary storehouses. Discrimination in military units also results in lack of food, and even in starvation of the draftees of the first year of military service.

 

 

16.72.       Lack of food, which is exceptionally severe during the first year of service, leads, along with the other factors, to the situation that the health of the conscripts seriously deteriorates. Preserving and improving the health of the servicepersons is, according to article 326 of the Army Disciplinary Charter, “…one of the prior duties of the commanding officer in line of maintaining permanent preparedness of the unit…” Article 334 of the same Disciplinary Charter imposes it on every serviceperson “to take care of their own health, not to conceal diseases and to strictly follow the rules of personal and public hygiene…”

 

16.73.       All those prescriptions are almost impossible to follow for the first-year draftee, as the conditions in which they find themselves are nothing if not impeding. While in the quarters, the newly drafted immediately looses all personal belongings they have taken from home, including the items of personal hygiene – those are taken (openly or otherwise) by the older conscripts. Such displays of discrimination against younger draftees, as restriction of bathing time (during the weekly visit to the bathhouse) also hinder the process of following strict personal hygiene requirements. The tradition in most of the military units is such that older conscripts would go first, and the remaining bathing time – about 10 minutes – has to be shared between 40-50 younger draftees. With only 4-5 bathing stalls, it gives 1 minute of bathing time per person. The applications of draftees and those parents who succeeded in taking their children out of the military unit also mention the presence of lice in underwear and uniform of the soldiers.

 

16.74.       The most widespread disease among the draftees is feet disease, caused by small blisters appearing after wearing uncomfortable boots. Given the impossibility to follow the rules of personal hygiene because of the fear to enrage the older conscripts who would, when bothered, proceed with “education” often executed in the form of severe beating, the small blisters develop into a full-scale disease, which often requires hospital treatment. According to the unwritten rules, a younger soldier can’t enter the lavatory in the evening because there are older conscripts there.

 

16.75.       Article 347-349 of Army Disciplinary Charter clearly states that in case a draftee feels ill they must immediately inform their direct supervisor, and to apply for medical assistance to the infirmary when permission is given. It needs to be noted, that according to articles 341-342 of the same Army Disciplinary Charter, the commanding officers in cooperation with the medical officers of the unit must carry out preventive measures and arrange regular medical examinations (no less than two examinations a year). In reality the examinations are either superficial or are not carried out altogether.

 

16.76.       The soldiers, especially the younger draftees, also find too many obstacles on their way should they wish to apply for medical assistance to the infirmary. Because the actual medical help is rendered unavailable, even the smallest of health distortions often develops into severe disease.

 

16.77.       The commander officers are of an opinion that those who are complaining about their health are just lazy people wanting to skip some actual service by spending time in infirmary. This is one of the major reasons for the officers to forbid the draftees to call for medical aid. If a soldier succeeded in reaching the infirmary, it doesn’t mean that the necessary aid will be provided. As a rule, the medical officers serving in the unit lack the necessary responsibility when it comes to the health of the soldiers, and, too, think that the soldiers just want to leave the quarters by any means to avoid the actual service. Sometimes it leads to severe consequences.

 

16.78.       Many servicepersons, especially those who had chronic disease at the moment of draft, don’t have faith in medical services at the unit and ask their parents to send them necessary medicine. In their letters the draftees often complain about the impossibility to receive medical aid at their military units.

 

16.79.       Complaints about poor living conditions, bad food and lack of medical assistance are registered by the Committees of Soldiers’ Mothers in almost every military districts in all types of combat arms.

 

16.80.       There is one more problem, which intensifies the already poor situation of the diseased soldiers – a long travel of medical papers necessary for commissioning through various offices. The procedure of approval of decision of the lower committee by the higher committee, the procedure of pre-term release of draftees on the account of poor health can take up from one to three months. All this time the soldier remains in the unit being an object of jealousy and dislike of other draftees.

 

16.81.       The servicepersons facing unbearable living condition or those denied of medical help have the right to file a complaint in accordance with article 10, part V of Disciplinary Regulations of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation, approved by the Presidential Order # 2140 on December 12^th 1993, and amended on June 3^rd 2002. “Every serviceman has the right to file a complaint, either by hims