The Federal Prison Service has excluded from the draft new version of the document regulating the actions of PMC members the obligation to notify a visit to a remand center and other institutions 48 hours in advance. Interfax has drawn attention to this point.
The new version indicates that the commission must notify the territorial office of the service or directly the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia about its visit (depending on who is subordinate to the remand center), but the deadlines for submitting such notification are not indicated. The same rule applies today.
Commenting on the changes, Olga Druzhinina, vice president of the Moscow PMC, said the commission supports the decision of the Federal Prison Service.
In the previous version of the document, presented in early April, the Federal Prison Service proposed to make it mandatory for members of the PMC to notify 48 hours before a visit to a remand center. The ministry claimed this was done to “arrange the personal security” of PMC members.
Human rights campaigners have strongly criticized the Federal Penitentiary Service’s proposal, saying that if accepted, it will be the “beginning of the end” of the oversight boards.
Now, POC officials must notify the Federal Prison Service of their visit to the remand center, but they may do so immediately before entering the detention center. This enables the commission to respond to urgent reports of violations of prisoners’ rights.