Minister condemns state of Russian prisons-reports

MOSCOW, Mar 18 (Reuters) The human rights situation of inmates in Russia's jails is worsening and mass protests by prisoners over misconduct by prison staff are on the rise, the Russian justice minister was quoted as saying.

Yuri Chaika, quoted by Russian news agencies yesterday said the dire situation in Russia's prisons and pre-trial centres, which house about 1.3 million people, was seriously undermining public trust in the state as a whole.

The penitentiary system was made a full-blown state service under the auspices of the Justice Ministry last year which rights campaigners saw as a chance to reform the successor of the dreaded Soviet-era GULAG system.

But Chaika, who is seeking reforms to raise the prison system to European standards, said hopes that this would lead to rapid improvements had not materialised.

''Certain negative trends have emerged, including the ones concerning human rights, since the penitentiary system became a federal service in 2005,'' Interfax quoted him as telling ministry officials.

Russia is notorious for its overcrowded pre-trial centres and jails, where inmates have little legal protection from abuse of power by administrations.

''Unfortunately, progress achieved in the past few years is being lost,'' Chaika said, according to RIA news agency.

He said the numbers of prison staff charged with crimes grew by 87 per cent over the past year, while the number of crimes committed in prisons grew by 24 per cent.

''Mass disturbances launched by inmates, some of which have been triggered by unlawful actions by prison administrations, are on the rise,'' Chaika added.

The minister said that in a country with one of the biggest prison populations in the world, the state of the penitentiary system had a direct impact on the political situation.

Chaika said more than 1.3 million people are behind bars in prisons and pre-trial centres. About 3.5 million Russians spend at least some time in pre-trial centres each year.

''Taking into account relatives of the inmates, the prison situation concerns tens of millions of people,'' he said. ''The prison situation has strong impact on the public attitude to state institutions in general.'' Chaika did not specify the reasons behind the worsening jail situation, but he blamed the national prison administration -- in theory, his subordinates -- for refusing to cooperate.

''It sometimes starts looking absurd,'' he said. ''The justice minister, who nominates top officials in the national prison administration, has no right to visit a prison without an agreement from its director,'' he complained.

REUTERS CS RK0840