Prisoners with Serious Disabilities a Growing Problem in Russia, Lawyers and Activists Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 23 – Despite laws and regulations calling either for applying different kinds of punishment than incarceration to people with disabilities and for establishing special regimes within prisons and camps to help such people, courts continue to sentence the disabled to prison and the prison system fails to provide needed help, lawyers and activists say.

            At the present time, there are almost 18,000 people incarcerated in the Russian penal system, 400 of whom are considered especially seriously disabled. But in most places of confinement, there are no provisions being made to meet their special needs. (ng.ru/politics/2022-10-23/3_8572_prison.html).

            In many prisons, there are no elevators those in wheelchairs can use or special facilities for amputees or those who are deaf or blind. And as a result, all existing laws and regulations saying that such things must be present are effectively a dead letter, something that leads to human suffering and even death.

            But the existence of such laws and regulations does have one continuing impact, lawyers and activist say. These measures are repeatedly cited by members of the Duma in response to any call for improving conditions in prison for the disable or for not sending them there in the first place, an effective “Catch-22” arrangement that leaves them with little help.

            Given the likely consequence of Putin’s war in Ukraine will be the return of combat veterans with war-related disabilities who may find it difficult to reintegrate into the economy and thus may turn to crime, the number of disabled in prison in Russia seems certain to grow and become an ever more serious problem for all concerned.