Islamist Radicals, Some of Whom are Migrants from Central Asia, have Become ‘Third Force’ in Russian Prisons, CSPCI Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 20 – Until recently, inmates in Russian penal institutions were divided between those controlled by criminal authorities known as “thieves in law” and those controlled by the camp administration. The first controlled what has come to be called the “black zones” in prisons and camps while the second what is usually labelled “red,” a survival from Soviet times.

            But now, according to a new study by the Center for Support of Public and Civil Initiatives (CSPCI), a third “green” zone has emerged consisting of Muslim prisoners who are increasing led by Islamist radicals, many of whom are migrants from Central Asia (akcent.site/eksklyuziv/43568).

            Concern about the ways in which Islamists are recruiting other Muslims in prison has existed for some time (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2012/12/window-on-eurasia-incarcerated.html and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/02/central-asians-in-russian-prison-said.html).

            But as the number of Muslims and Muslim migrant workers has increased, it appears to have assumed new and more threatening dimensions, a problem exacerbated by corruption of Russian jailors and Moscow’s problems in employing enough of the latter to control the prison population and especially its Muslim component.