8 November 2016

Source: HRO.org

Members of Russia’s Human Rights Council Pavel Chikov and Igor Kalyapin spent five hours in Karelian prison colony No. 7 with Ildar Dadin, who described to them the torture and beatings to which he had been subjected, Rosbalt reports, citing to Kommersant.

Dadin clarified that he had not previously experienced fits resembling epileptic seizures, one of which occurred during his November 2 meeting with members of the Public Oversight Commission.

According to Pavel Chikov, Dadin’s arms bore marks from handcuffs. “Such marks can appear if a person’s hands are cuffed from behind, and he is then hung by the wrists. He said there were bruises and abrasions, but after two months they have gone away,” noted Chikov.

The human rights defenders did not see the head of prison colony No. 7. “Typically when such an emergency situation occurs, the head officials return from leave or holidays. But here the head of the colony, Sergei Kossiyev, was placed on leave after the scandal erupted,” commented human rights defender Igor Kalyapin.

Political prisoner Ildar Dadin and his advocates said that prisoners in prison colony No. 7, which is located in the town of Segezha in the region of Karelia, are subjected to humiliation and torture.

In turn, prison officers declared that there was no evidence of torture on Dadin’s body.

It is unclear what happened to the video recordings on which any events should have been recorded. Prison service staff erased a part of the recordings, allegedly because the statute of limitations had expired. It is also unclear how the logs and documents related to the video recordings and their destruction were maintained, and whether these documents were bound and archived or filled out after the fact. An analysis of these questions could clear up much in this confusing situation.

Translation by Caroline Elkin