The leaked videos show widespread abuse. Photo / Gulagu.net
The leaked videos show widespread abuse. Photo / Gulagu.net
Warning: Distressing content
Disturbing, leaked footage has revealed the systematic torture, sexual abuse and degradation of prisoners inside a brutal Russian jail.
The new video, which was obtained by an ex-prisoner and sent to human rights platform Gulagu.net, was shared online by activists in the hope of exposing the alleged inhumane, commonplace practices in the notorious OTB-1 prison hospital in Saratov, which is near Russia's border with Kazakhstan.
It comes after the NGO leaked other videos in October, with one claiming to show an inmate being sexually assaulted with a pole at the same prison.
Gulagu.net claimed it had received hundreds of allegations of torture within various prisons across the nation.
The prison hospital in Saratov. Photo / Getty Images
Posting on the Gulagu.net site, Vladimir Osechkin described the alleged abuse of male inmates within institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service as a "conveyor belt of torture", and said the torture was overseen by Russia's Federal Prison Service (FSIN) and FSB spy agency.
He said the latest footage revealed "more than 10 grave violent crimes" by officers at the Saratov prison, which subjected victims to "torture and humiliation".
The footage allegedly shows prisoners stripped naked and tied down. Photo / Gulagu.net
The alleged practices were described as a 'conveyor belt of torture'. Photo / Gulagu.net
Osechkin claimed the torture was carried out "on the instructions of high-ranking officers" due to prisoners' alleged "snitching" and refusal to "co-operate", and that the "torture and rape" of at least eight men were filmed on "official video recorders", with the abuse carried out in a prison hospital "in which sadists were officially employed as orderlies and caretakers as an operational cover".
The victims included Russians, Chechens, Dagestanis, Georgians, Azerbaijanis and "representatives of other peoples inhabiting the Russian Federation".
Osechkin claimed the abuse was part of a systemic, organised operation designed to blackmail or force prisoners into incriminating themselves, providing false information or even being recruited as undercover agents.
Gulagu.net claims the crimes have been carried out over more than a decade. Photo / Gulagu.net
"It is obvious that an organised criminal community has been operating in the services of the (prison system) for a long period of more than 10 years, which paralysed the normal activities of the penitentiary system and turned a number of … institutions into torture centres, where they massively beat and tortured prisoners, forcing them to self-incriminate, to give 'necessary' testimony, to co-operate and work as undercover agents," he said.
"This is the most massive crime in which high-ranking officers of the Federal Penitentiary Service and the FSB are involved.
"We call on all those who are not indifferent to co-operation and participation in countering this mafia of sodomites and sadists."
The video shows many male prisoners allegedly being abused. Photo / Gulagu.net
According to EuroNews, 18 prison officers have now been fired in relation to the distressing videos released previously in October.
This week, the acting director of the Saratov region's prison service, Anton Efarkin, confirmed the news, and added that a further 11 were being prosecuted for the "most serious" disciplinary violations.
"We are doing everything to get to the bottom of it and come to the necessary conclusions," he told local media.
"I am sure that this will not happen again in the future."
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111. If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on: • Text 4334 and they will respond • Email support@safetotalk.nz • Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list. If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.
