Denis Valentinovich Manturov Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian ...
MedNovosti spoke with Aleksey Kozlov, the co-founder of the Russia Sitting Foundation for helping convicts and their families. as a method to achieve recognition.
Before jail: teeth and chronic diseases
If you think that you can be put in jail (for example, the case has already been brought, but for some reason you were not put in a pre-trial detention center, but were released on recognizance not to leave, on bail or to house arrest), then the first step is to get your teeth done. They will not be treated in the colony, although there are cases when it was possible to do it - for separate money and after complicated bureaucratic agreements. This is the minimum program for a healthy person. With the unhealthy, everything is much worse. “We have encountered many people who ended up in prison with the first stage of cancer, absolutely operable and treatable, and after six months they simply burned out. We sat in Moscow, in remand prison... It's just that the investigator did not give them the opportunity to undergo treatment, the tests were done every other time, in the end it was already the fourth stage and that was all ”.
In a pre-trial detention center: torture with illness and loss of sight
The conditions of detention in the remand prison are appalling and similar to special treatment, on which the murderers-recidivists are serving their sentence. The most important thing is the terrible overcrowding. The previous head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Alexander Reimer, who himself is now serving a sentence in a colony, tried to carry out a "reform", that is, simply bring prison life in accordance with its own old standards. First of all, to reduce the number of prisoners in the cell. But after his resounding resignation and landing, the situation worsened again. “The filling in Moscow pre-trial detention centers is 160%. "Russia Sitting" here in the Matrosskaya Tishina they took folding beds, there is simply nothing to sleep on. " “Almost not a single large Russian pre-trial detention center complies with the rules for the lighting of premises. You will lose your sight if you try to read and write something. Of course, we now have about 70% of all sentences passed in a special order, admission of guilt before the investigation, where in fact the court session is formal, but nevertheless, 30% are fighting, they read documents, read books. This is a lot of people. And 2/3 of them, I think, are losing their sight. " In addition, they smoke in the cells and do not sleep at night. “Just at night, all the main“ movement ”, conversations,“ roads ”(that is, illegal inter-camera communication - MedPortal)… The light is on. You still need to sleep in these conditions, because in the morning the court will meet with lawyers. We have to adapt to this ”.
If you feel bad in the jail cell, this can help the investigation quite a lot. “At the stage of preliminary detention, only the investigator makes a decision whether to transfer a person to a hospital or not. Of course, this leads to a fairly large number of violations and is used as a direct instrument of pressure - that is, torture. "
If you have a chronic illness, it’s really bad. “Let's say you have some kind of therapy that you are taking. You have a doctor in charge somewhere, a wonderful medical luminary. So, on the basis of his conclusion, nothing can be conveyed to you. You need to go to the prison doctor (having received a referral from the investigator) and that doctor must confirm that you need this drug. And only then will he be allowed to pass. Or they won't: the doctor won't take responsibility and will prescribe paracetamol.
Prison food: vitamins and fat
The food in the prison is very poor, and there is a very simple explanation for this. “On average, 80 rubles are allocated for three meals a day per convict. What can you cook for this money? Even for a large number of people, even if nothing is stolen. There is a specific diet for people with HIV. But what does it give them? A glass of milk and an egg. "
People try to survive by receiving transmissions from relatives. At the same time, it is considered normal to share these programs - not necessarily for the whole cell or barracks, people unite in "families", small groups of mutual support. It should be understood that this is a violation prison rules internal regulations for which a penalty can be obtained (which will then affect the possibility of parole and can cost several years of life).
“I was helped by experienced prisoners who had previously been serving time on a special regime. In general, people who have gone through a special regime will give Fedor Konyukhov a hundred points ahead. Very good prevention - vitamins and fat. They sent me fish oil, and if they didn't let it through for some reason, then I just ate bacon, tried every day. "
In the colony: SARS and colds
An important health threat in the colony is the terrible quality of work clothes and footwear. “When you work on the street and your feet are constantly wet, it’s clear that you get sick. It happens that out of the 1,500 population of the colony, several hundred people are sick at the same time. A temperature of 39-40 in dozens of people. But according to the law, doctors cannot give them medicines - antipyretic drugs, for example - in the barracks. According to the internal regulations, a prisoner must be summoned to the medical unit three times a day to take pills there. " Oddly enough, this is a very difficult problem: the premises of the medical unit are usually very small, they are brought there one at a time and under escort, and sick people stand in line for hours on the street in the cold. "In terms of harm to health or the convention on the prohibition of torture, how is it?"
Formally, a prisoner receives the same compulsory medical insurance policy as any other citizen. In practice, the prison outpatient clinic is rather poorly equipped: there are antipyretic and pain relievers, simple antibiotics, iodine, bandages, Activated carbon... But here are complex drugs from, say, increased blood pressure will not.
Tuberculosis and HIV
The situation with tuberculosis, which used to be very easy to get sick in prison, improved significantly after Reimer's reforms, which reduced the overcrowding in cells. In addition, FSIN officers separate the sick from the healthy. Theoretically, a patient with an open form of tuberculosis cannot be in the same room with "healthy" people. “In my practice there was a story when a person with an open form of tuberculosis was transported in the same paddy wagon with me. He knocked, shouted to be taken separately, so as not to infect anyone. And to him - "get out of here." That is, theoretically - they cannot, but in fact - in different ways. "
The situation with HIV is much worse. “I was given therapy and treatment. But they say that over the past year and a half due to the general crisis in the country, there have been serious interruptions. The Federal Penitentiary Service for 80 regions where there are prisons has only 20 laboratories where you can conduct research in order to prescribe a course and control it. We have partner friends, the AIDS Center of Anton Krasovsky, and there, accordingly, we talked with doctors who work in the Moscow region. They have a state laboratory, an institution for the care of patients with HIV and tuberculosis. And the FSIN constantly turns to them, threatens, begs, asks them to conduct research for them. And this is a government organization. But they, as a state budgetary organization, will do the analysis without payment, then they will find themselves on the other side of the grid. But the Federal Penitentiary Service has no budget for these studies. "
It would be logical to assume that the convict should have a note in his personal file that he is sick, for example, with HIV, and he should be transferred only to those colonies that have a laboratory and therapy. But in practice, the operative who forms the stage is guided by completely different considerations. First, he must do it quickly: according to the law, a convict must be sent to a colony in ten calendar days. Secondly, the opera thinks about the environment in which the prisoner will find himself, and not about the staffing of the hospital. “I think that medicine does not play any role here. Oper knows: there is a layman sitting there (a prisoner acting as a thief in law in prison, but who is not - MedNews), there is a thief in law, this prisoner cannot be sent there. He doesn't know exactly where which clinic is. "
Drugs: no cure
Despite the fact that there are a lot of people convicted under Article 228 (distribution of drugs) in places of detention, and there are a lot of drug users among them, there is no treatment for addiction in the FSIN system.
Women and children in prison ( tells the employee of the fund Ekaterina Shutova)
“There are women in the prison, both pregnant and with children. In the pre-trial detention center, pregnant women and women with small children have a separate cell, where you can stay until the child is three years old. We cooperate with SIZO-6 in Moscow, and they do not have enough diapers, no baby food, and what they have is not suitable for children. To be with a child in a pre-trial detention center is, I think, awful.
There are those who have no one to support, who do not have parents, relatives, to whom the child can be given. Some girls who are in prison for drugs are completely frostbitten, they think that it will be easier for them with a child. It won't be easier.
The colony is simpler. Such convicts are sent to a colony where there is a child's home. Children live separately, mothers are allowed to come there twice a day for two hours - for a walk. The child, in fact, is also in prison. And after three years he is either given to relatives, or there is already guardianship, a child's home, an orphanage.
Therefore, if there is an opportunity, it is better not to give birth there, and if it happens, give the child to her husband, mom, dad, anyone else. For a child, this is such a stress that you will never cure later in your life.
After three years, if you have no relatives, the child should be sent to an orphanage. But there he can be taken under guardianship. You have not been deprived of your parental rights, you go out - and you have to give it to you. And a family with this child can decide that this is their child - and evaporate. And search activities then last for years. The family taking care of the child dissolved, they moved, the guardianship services shrug their shoulders and say: but we were not warned about anything! "
In the life of every prisoner, there comes a moment when everything around turns upside down, you want to scream with happiness and it seems as if the worst is behind - this moment is called liberation. Someone has it faster, someone is waiting for it for decades. Today we decided to talk with psychologist Inna Vutkarev about how to mentally prepare for release, what to do after and why 60% of prisoners in our country return to prison again.
Inna, to people who have never faced a prison, it seems that the release of a prisoner is such a celebration of life. Please tell me what is going on in the soul of a person who is preparing for release and is this stage stressful?
Any major life change is stressful. Despite the fact that the release in the understanding of people who had no experience of imprisonment is perceived as a very positive event, in fact, the convicts themselves call the period before release one of the most difficult for the entire period of detention. This feeling is associated with an understanding of how difficult it will be to start rebuilding your life. Having spent even a fairly short period of time in prison, a person realizes that in freedom, changes are constantly taking place - social, economic, political, cultural - to which he will have to adapt again. And the worst thing in all this is the uncertainty that is inherent in changes in the life of anyone. That is why, in 99% of cases, a person who is preparing for release experiences the greatest stress.
How to relieve this stress yourself and is it worth resorting to the help of professionals?
For guys who are waiting for release, I recommend making a clear plan of action. To do this, you just need to take a piece of paper and write on it in stages all the actions that you will carry out on the first day, month, six months after your release. This should be done while still in prison. For example, a person has six months left before release, which means it's time to check whether his documents are in order, whether he has any connections at large, whether he knows where to go immediately after leaving and what to do. Planning helps a person to feel stable, to pull together, not to panic, and just to act according to a certain plan.
One of my heroines told me that during the first months after her release, she all the time thought that everyone around her was looking at her, what does this mean and how will she cope with it?
In fact, this is normal, as far as it can be considered normal. The painful moments that accompany the process of adaptation to freedom are associated with the fact that in prison a person was always under the general gaze. There is such a concept that is very vividly observed in prison - loneliness in the crowd. That is, a person is surrounded by a bunch of people, he is always in sight, but in fact he is very lonely. The feeling that you are always in sight persists long after being released, as do some of the habits that are acquired in prison. Over time, this will pass, so there is no need to condemn yourself or try to drive yourself into some kind of framework.
Inna, in a situation where a person after his release decided to get a job, should he himself say that he was in prison, or is it better to get around this topic?
There are such vacancies where a police clearance certificate is required. As a rule, these are government agencies, security agencies, etc. It is impossible to hide your criminal record here, the employer demands and the certificate must be shown. But there are places of work where such a certificate is not needed at all. Therefore, if you have not been asked, it is not worth talking about it. But if you were asked, and you lied, believe me, when the truth is revealed, you may have problems.
For example, a person was asked head-on whether he had been tried. What should he answer if he really was in prison?
Try to teach it this way: yes, it happened in your life, but you paid for it and you hope that you will be given a chance to prove yourself with better side... Many economic agents who are ready to hire former prisoners are satisfied with their work. It is very important to understand that the former prisoner, by his behavior in a new place of work, forms the attitude of society towards those who are like him.
The well-known businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who served 10 years in prison, admitted in one of his interviews that the first time after his release he did not know at all how to behave with his own children. The question is: really, how?
There is no unequivocal advice in this case, I will only say that the longer the separation was, the more painful the return will be. previous relationship with child. A parent who has been released from prison must understand that a child needs time to let him in his personal space. You cannot win a child's love by force, suppressing him with authority, setting conditions. There is no need to immediately get involved in the educational process, make comments, correct. The child needs to be conquered with love, not overprotectiveness, but precisely with love. You need to spend a lot of time together, you need to try to get to know your children better, but not to question them obsessively, but simply to be interested in their life, offer help, go somewhere together, do something, arrange joint holidays, spend weekends together. The child should feel that a parent has reappeared in his life, who needs to be given a place. It is very important for a parent to be patient and not be offended if the child does not immediately accept him.
Inna, consider a situation when a person used drugs before imprisonment, then stopped while in prison. How can he not break free?
In this case, it is very important to find moral support. Very lucky for those who are at large waiting for relatives, family. After being freed, a person becomes very vulnerable, he seems to be without skin, and in any difficult situation, the old methods of behavior work for him. Family and relatives are the resource that can help a person return to normal life. If there is no such resource, it is best to contact an NGO, church, social services, communities that can support at first.
Should a released person keep in touch with prisoners who are still serving their sentences?
In this case, a person must decide for himself why he needs these relationships and how they affect his life. If this influence is negative, then it is better to end such a relationship.
Why do some people, after being released, commit crimes again?
There is a percentage of people who give birth with a propensity to crime, to an antisocial lifestyle. There are people for whom the position that they occupied while in prison is important and for which they are ready to sacrifice freedom. There are those who are simply not given the opportunity to adapt and reintegrate socially and professionally, in this connection, they are forced to commit a crime again, so that later, after being imprisoned, they simply have a roof over their heads and food. In Moldova, now 60% of relapses, that is, out of 100 people who served a prison term, 60 return for the second, third time. And this is worth thinking about.
Are we the society to blame for this?
Definitely. What happens: a person gets out of prison, he has no home, no job, no support, where should he go?
Outside.
Yes, and the street is drugs, alcohol, and a criminal lifestyle. Therefore, each of us should think about the fact that there is such a category of people and they need our support and understanding, and in some cases, real help.
From your experience, is it true that the longer the term that a person needs to serve, the more calmly he treats him?
A person gets used to everything, to life in prison as well. Therefore, when, for example, another 10 years of imprisonment awaits him ahead of him, he tries to live for the present. Because you can go crazy realizing how many more days you will have to wake up in jail. When a person faces liberation, consciousness begins to work in a different way. Many say that the last two or three months before liberation lasted forever, every day for a lifetime. These sensations must be experienced, because after liberation, a completely different life begins, and it depends only on the person whether it will be better or worse than the previous one.
Remember: healthy people in prisons does not happen. A couple of months spent in the pre-trial detention center is already leaving an imprint on the prisoner's physical and mental health. What can we say about longer terms ?! Therefore, I will try at the same time to give advice to everyone for whom there is at least a minimal opportunity to be imprisoned, and in the most detail, to the extent possible, to note the obstacles that stand in the way of the full-fledged physical and spiritual development of a person, as well as ways to overcome them.
I believe that everyone is responsible for their own health, regardless of the costs associated with being in isolation. No one will take care of you in prison, so a lot depends on your decisions.
First of all, try to get rid of addictions, be it smoking cigarettes, addiction to alcohol or drugs. Believe me, you will not only save your wallet, but also relieve yourself of the burden of responsibility and problems associated with the unpleasant features of acquiring all this in prison. And, of course, you will feel better over time in every sense. I have the right to assert this, since I witnessed how people who used hashish, amphetamine and heroin in the wild began to exercise, take care of themselves and after their release, swore to indulge in their old "hobbies".
The second point, also very important, is nutrition. Due to a decrease in motor activity and muscle loads in conditions of isolation, a far from free choice of food and its frank inferiority in a pre-trial detention center, there are risks of a number of diseases. internal organs(pancreas and liver). Therefore, I advise you to strictly monitor your own diet, exclude from it - to reduce the risk of disease - spicy and sour, as well as smoked foods, canned food, fatty foods, carbonated drinks. Someone may have to go for tougher restrictions.
Third point. To keep the body in good shape, to reduce the possibility of "earning" obesity, high pressure, heart problems, as well as just for the brain and Have a good mood training needed muscular system and the musculoskeletal system. Go for walks, try to move around more, study and do exercises that do not involve sports equipment. Not every pre-trial detention center has a gym (and if there is, then with a very meager set of exercise equipment) and crossbars in exercise yards, but everywhere there are beds ("bins"), floors and walls - they should be used for training. Prisoners, for the sake of striving to exercise, resort to very extraordinary solutions: they fill the bottles with salt and water, tie them with ropes - dumbbells and weights are obtained. Buckets, tanks and other household items are also sometimes used.
Yet important point... Due to the fact that you are in prison, and relatives, friends, colleagues do not see you for months, you should not let yourself go. Continue to maintain good hygiene: brush your teeth, shower as often as conditions permit, wash your clothes, change your underwear, underwear and bedding. There will be no harm from this, but the benefit, first of all, for yourself is enormous - prove that you are not going to live "the devil" and respect yourself.
Move on. Mental health is also very important, and even more dependent on you than physical health. Maintain normal, good-natured relationships with everyone, especially those you come in contact with frequently. Do not go to extremes - there is no real friendship in prison, so you should not open up to anyone unnecessarily. But you shouldn't go into conflict with those with whom you have worldview or ideological contradictions. It will also be bad if you begin to allow others too much in their treatment - respond politely to such people for their ill-considered actions. There are as normal people in prisons as our society as a whole is normal, so you should neither demonize nor idealize the environment in which you find yourself.
And finally. Remember about self-development - you need it for spiritual health and creative potential. Try to read newspapers and magazines from time to time, study the books you are interested in, remember the lyrics of songs and poems, scroll your favorite tunes in your brain. In general, think of prison as a place where you have a chance to expand your horizons and erudition.
After what I have just outlined, I, however, want to say one important thing: no cage, even a gold one, can replace freedom, but once you get into this cage, try to concentrate on improving your knowledge and skills with the expectation that they you will need it in the future.
In my past I talked about a curious and revealing incident at work and shared my thoughts on "respect in the zone."
Who has not read - first read the text of that article - this will help you better understand today's one. After the publication, I received several questions from friends, of which the most interesting seemed to be this: "I am interested in the reasons why these very" concepts "began to be appreciated by the prisoners, and why does life in the zone change a person so quickly and strongly?" This is what I want to dwell on today.
It has long been established that staying in custody for more than 5-7 years is ineffective for correction. Rather, it is effective in anchoring the person in the prison mindset. Do you know why? Because it is after 5-7 years of continuous stay in a correctional institution that irreversible changes occur in the prisoner's psyche (any appropriate textbook will confirm): prison values from those imposed by the situation become truly "ours", accepted by man... This is due to the monstrous aggressiveness of the prison environment, its ability to "penetrate the subcortex." In one article I read the opinion that a prison for a psychologist is the same as a hadron collider for a physicist: human relations reach extreme values. Any new prisoner experiences tremendous stress from a state of lack of freedom, a sharp reduction in personal space and the need to build relationships with people whom he did not choose in his environment. Pass laws or you will be punished, humiliated or even killed: by warders or prisoners like you. The psychology of the group subordinates the individual entering into it, he has no choice but to accept local values, and the sooner he does this, the more chances he will remain safe and sound. This is neither bad nor good - elementary survival has no time for moral questions.
About the reasons why certain values prevail in prison.
In correctional institutions, a caste system reigns, almost like in classical India, which we were told about in history lessons: there are leaders (thieves, lads), there are workers (men) and there are untouchables (roosters, offended). It is relatively easy to slip from leaders or workers into untouchable, but to become untouchable, even a simple worker, is almost impossible. Hence the increased prison caution, prudence, politeness, pedantry - after all, just one mistake, even in a careless phrase, can cost a lot. Any experienced prisoner knows that if people placed together in a confined space begin to conflict, then absolutely everyone will suffer, therefore conflicts are nipped in the bud, and politeness and calmness are used. What is not forgiven is any hint of homosexuality, even the simple phrase "Come on ..." is a reason for severe punishment, because it is understood literally, namely, as a proposal for an unconventional sexual act.
Well, my friends, I hope I answered a couple more questions about the psychology of prisoners. I encourage you to comment and ask any questions on the topic. Perhaps I will write a few more posts in the sequel, if you are interested.
Well, you seem to have settled down a little. And then sad thoughts, longing for family, for home begin to prevail. What can be said here? Yes, it's hard, but take comfort: it's easier for your family than for you. Be content with little. Now the rules of the game have simply changed. After all, what does a person need? Warmth, food, sleep, air. The rest: spirituality, love, etiquette, art and everything else is invented. Just do not argue that this is what distinguishes us from animals and savages. By reading Schopenhauer, visiting the Hermitage, listening to classical music at the Philharmonic.
Of course, if you have lived like this since childhood, you will not understand.
You realize a lot when you are fed for years with rotten cabbage, filled with boiling water. When you sit in a punishment cell, where there are no windows in winter. When your cellmate was beaten by drunken cops, and you yourself were kicked so that the blood went out in your throat. Then you clearly understand how little, in fact, a person needs.
Well, on the loose I am also a boggy esthete with intelligent manners, I adore Schubert. But I easily accept the changes of the cool thing called life. I do not feel sorry for myself and do not seek justice, which exists only in novels, and even then it is very relative.
The most harmful to the nerves both in the wild and behind bars is secondary experiences. It seems to be an unpleasant event, insult, humiliation has passed, and you have been winding yourself up for months, harassing yourself. Understand: the past is gone, the future has not come - live in the present, but, of course, dream of good things.
Each has its own margin of safety. It happens that a person immediately after the arrest or during the term will wind himself up so that a state of emotional stupidity sets in. From here - just one step to nervous breakdown... How can you feel sorry for yourself! ..
Shake it up! From my own experience I will say: it is worth sitting in prison only for the sake of subsequent release. How then do you begin to enjoy life! Appreciate things that you didn’t notice before: hot water tap, beautiful table setting, soft and clean bed, loneliness. And with a woman just from communication you almost lose consciousness, not to mention sex.
From the very first days in captivity, the main thing is to maintain health. Do not console yourself with the fact that you are here for a little while and you will soon be released. This "soon" can be expected for several years. Be sure to go for daily walks. Just don't stand there against the wall - stretch your legs.
Read, it distracts from heavy thoughts. Don't drink chifir. Although they say that it contains vitamins, it is controversial, but it definitely kills the stomach and spoils the teeth. The one who has caries drove the mug in a circle, which means that you will catch it. In addition, chifir artificially invigorates. You get used to it, and in the absence of tea, ailments will begin, headache, depression.
Quit smoking, but only gradually. Explain simple language, without scientific overtones. When you smoke, your body produces an antidote that is poisonous in itself. But, reacting with tobacco filth, it neutralizes it and itself. With a sharp throw, the antidote is initially produced in the usual amount. But neutralization does not occur, and it poisons the person. There may be deaths as well. In the case of a gradual decrease in smoked, the antidote also decreases.
By the way, stories about the dangers of secondhand smoke are greatly exaggerated.
Don't tattoo yourself. By and large, they are incompatible with Christianity. The Church refers to the 19th chapter of the book of Leviticus: "Do not cut your body, and do not inject the letters I am the Lord on you." Only God has the right to sign on bodies created in his image and likeness.
The beauty of cyanotic, artisanal tattoos is very relative. And most of the time you live in freedom. Even if you prick yourself from head to toe, you still will not pass for your own in the underworld. The main thing here is behavior.
In addition, immunity after tattoo procedures is greatly reduced, and it is already weakened by stress, poor nutrition and lack of air.
Don't experiment with your penis. Convicts often insert balls, sleepers, mustaches under the skin of the penis. Make a "rose" - cutting the head of the penis into four parts, drive into it up to twenty cubes of petroleum jelly and getracycline ointment. Like, then all the women will be "theirs"! .. Eternal complexes of men about the size of the penis.
Believe me, even with a small "device" you can caress a woman so that she loses her head. At the same time, after the manipulations described above, infection often develops, which leads to amputation. I know of cases when petroleum jelly under the skin was torn away after eight years. I do not argue, you can be a "giant of great sex", skillfully acting only with your hands and tongue, but with a member, albeit a small one, is somehow more familiar and better - give yourself more pleasure.
Try to sleep at night. After all, during the day you doze in fits and starts - then a walk, then a detour, then other movements. The body, in fact, does not fully rest.
I noticed for a long time: those who in prisons led a normal lifestyle, slept from lights out until they got up, ate in moderation, did not drink chifir and alcohol, they look very young and are absolutely healthy. On the contrary, their peers who violate the regime look and feel like the Kolyma goners.
I do not recommend swinging in huts for another reason. Alcoholics, drug addicts and other rickets, often seizing a dominant position in prison, hate athletes. You can be "run over": like, you are not at the stadium. In principle, they will be right. It is better to remember that in a few months you will find yourself either in the zone or free. In both cases, you will be able to successfully continue your sports practice. Wait out, do not ruin yourself, driving tobacco smoke, dust, vapors of unwashed bodies and parasha into the lungs and blood during rapid breathing.
And don't fall prey to advertising: don't financially support pharmaceutical scammers. I mean: don't order expensive vitamins for your relatives. Better - garlic, dried fruits, citrus fruits. On occasion, drop by the St. Petersburg Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic. The guide will tell you that in the first expeditions to the Far North they tried to take different concentrated vitamins. But what happened to them, that without them, scurvy began equally quickly. The polar explorers are bringing with them dried, canned vegetables and fruits.
