Convict from Mazyr: prison rules are established in open facility
Belarusian prison
80 convicts of open correctional facility No. 20 in Mazyr filed a collective complaint to the Department of Corrections at the Ministry of Interior.
They complain about the inadequate treatment by the staff of the open correctional facilities, including insults, humiliation and bullying.
"Some employees”, reports one of the convicts, “try to establish prison rules there. They burst into our cells, point pocket flashlights in our faces, throw our belongings down from the shelves, almost tramping them, and throw cooked pasta and cereals out in the window if they find any, though we don't have royal meals here, to put it mildly. There are convicts who have to eat just dry pasta for months, there were cases when people were losing consciousness during the checks.”
However, the main concern is the lack of work. The convicts themselves have no right to seek employment, this is the duty of the administration. However, the authorities of the correctional facility ignore the rules, according to which the convicted persons must be employed without one month. As a result, the convicted persons may spend months without work and money, having to hope only on their friends, relatives or fellow convicts. Even those who work often receive just 150,000 – 200,000 rubles for their work, whereas they have to pay 150,000 rubles for housing during the warm season, and 300,000 rubles during the cold season, have to buy clothes and food, as well as the tickets to get to the places of work. They can be also placed in solitary confinement for the failure to pay for the housing expenses.
