‘Everything except bodies’: In Russian prisons, fellow inmates torture each other to win booze, parole, and lighter sentences. Here’s how the system works.

A new project from Tayga.info, titled "An Encyclopedia of Violence in the Prisons and Pretrial Detention Centers of the Irkutsk Region," examines a protest by inmates at Prison Number 15 in April 2020 and its consequences. That incident began when several prisoners slit their own wrists in a demonstration against alleged abuse by administrators. Several maintenance buildings and the prison's front office soon went up in flames. The protests continued for roughly a day until the Federal Penitentiary Service dispatched special forces who brutally suppressed the uprising. According to Tayga.info, hundreds of inmates may have been raped and beaten at detention facilities throughout the region in the protest's aftermath. One of the felony investigations into these assaults became the most sweeping criminal case in Russian history, encompassing at least 18 victims. That probe is still underway. Original Article: https://meduza.io/en/feature/2021/10/27/everything-except-bodies