A report released June 26 by Amnesty International accused Russian authorities of systematically denying Russian political prisoners and government critics access to their families to ensure their cooperation and “inflict further suffering on them and their families.”
“For detainees facing investigation or trial, denial of contact with the outside world is an effective retaliatory tactic used by authorities to extract confessions and guilty pleas,” said the report, which compiled interviews with family and friends of 13 detainees, lawyers and human rights activists.
According to the report, Russian authorities use a variety of tactics, including legal loopholes and trumped-up pretexts, to isolate political prisoners from contact with their families.
Isolationist tactics include designating family members as witnesses in their cases and barring them from contact, transferring prisoners to other prisons the night before their families are allowed to visit, and arbitrarily placing prisoners in punishment cells where visits and phone calls are prohibited.
Amnesty International noted that even in cases where political prisoners are able to contact their families through letters, correspondence is often withheld for weeks or even months.
Although the law regarding regular contact with detainees is currently in place, administrative discretion is broad and highly arbitrary.
“Russia’s laws not only fall short of[international]standards, they enable authorities to continue to harass and persecute dissidents behind bars,” the report said. “Moreover, Russia’s practices today often do not comply with domestic laws.”
Russian authorities forced Amnesty International to leave the country shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, meaning it was unable to interview political prisoners for its report.
In one of Russia’s most high-profile cases, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny lost contact with his team and family for nearly three weeks before his body was found in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Russia’s far north, before dying in exile.
Navalny’s lawyers sent 618 requests for his whereabouts before finally finding him.
Trial of jailed American journalist Gershkovich begins in Russia
Russia has formally accused Evan Gershkovich of being a CIA spy, and announced that it will finalize the indictment and ultimately bring him to trial on June 13. Russian authorities have not released any evidence to support the accusations.
