Secret video and photo footage from behind bars – can they be trusted?

A round-table discussion with this title took place during Docudays UA on 26 March. The round table began with a viewing of photographs and video clips depicting convicts in prison cells – with signs of beatings, bruises, and cuts.

Public activists Olena Povidaychyk and Igor Garkavenko drew the participants' attention to horrific instances of prisoner beatings and the cruel treatment of convicts by institutional administration. In their view, the existence of photographic evidence has little impact on the situation – the administration and the Prosecutor's Office most often claim that they have investigated the reports but found no violations linked to the photographic evidence.

Igor Andrushko, an advisor to the head of the State Penitentiary Service, spoke about the difficulties of prison staff work, the interest of journalists in scandalous issues, and their indifference to many positive things happening in the system. Regarding the photos from behind bars, he said that they should not be trusted without verification and clarification of the circumstances under which the injuries were sustained.

After viewing a fragment of the Russian film ‘Torture Factory’, which features footage of arbitrary and brutal beatings of prisoners by individuals in camouflage who were not offering any resistance, the round-table participants were able to speak with the film’s author, Aleksey Sokolov from Yekaterinburg.

Prosecutor General's Office representative Igor Yushan began by stating that all such filming is illegal. The law does not permit it. He assured the group that the Prosecutor General's Office investigates all facts for which it receives complaints.

However, the reaction of many participants at the meeting suggested that they do not place much trust in the words of state officials. To a large extent, this is because life experience indicates otherwise – cruel treatment behind bars exists, and civil servants should investigate such cases, but how can one be sure that an investigation is truly diligent and thorough? The public cannot do this – the necessary mechanisms do not exist, so the public is left to only believe in the integrity of the inspections by the department itself. But it is precisely this trust that is lacking. There are numerous examples of superficial investigations by the Prosecutor's Office. Moreover, many good deeds performed by penitentiary service staff do not cancel out instances of cruel treatment.

At times, the emotional intensity of the discussion escalated, but it was important that the points of view of the different sides were heard. A difficult and important dialogue took place. And although the parties did not find understanding on all issues, it was clear to everyone that it is precisely through dialogue that ways must be sought to solve the painful problem of torture and how to counter it.