Gulagu.net - The project against corruption and Torture in Russia, which unites more than 19 thousand independent human rights defenders, volunteers and participants

Gulagu.net — Projekt gegen Korruption und Folter in Russland, die mehr als 19 000 Verteidiger und freiwilligen vereint

Dear members of the Association of Independent Human Rights Defenders and Relatives of Prisoners! Dear coordinators and experts of the Committee against Corruption and Torture Gulagu.net, bloggers and volunteers, journalists and lawyers, and all the people with an active civic position!

September 2021 marks 10 years since the founding of our association Gulagu.net, which unites many thousands of caring and sincere people. We have always acted and are acting openly and within the legal framework, speaking in solidarity against torture and corruption and in defense of human rights in places of forced detention.

During this period, more than 7,500,000 people visited Gulagu.net more than 20,500,000 times, having read more than 43,000,000 pages (data as of 01.11.2021). These figures speak for themselves. Gulagu.net, including thanks to your participation and support, has become the undisputed leader of the Russian segment of the Internet in the field of human rights protection and the fight against corruption in the penal system and the investigative and judicial system, together with you we have achieved publicity of many facts of corruption and torture, initiating thousands of checks and investigations and encouraging authorities to respond appropriately and prosecute sadists, corrupt officials and traitors to the interests of the public service.

Our mission:

- To expose specific facts of corruption and torture in the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and other law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation;

- To initiate official investigations into specific facts of torture and corruption;

- To identify systemic problems and draw the attention of the authorities to the need for reforms;

- To provide legal, media and material support to those who expose the facts of torture and corruption;

- To help the world learn more about what is happening in Russian prisons;

- To expose fakes and lies of unscrupulous employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and other law enforcement agencies;

- To provide free legal assistance and help pay for the services of lawyers to victims of torture and families of people tortured in prisons;

- To send reports on identified specific facts of torture and systematic violations of rights to the UN, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the European Court of Human Rights;

- To provide prisoners and their relatives, former prisoners and human rights defenders with the opportunity to write and talk about their experiences related to the detention of people in pre-trial detention facilities and colonies, as well as their experience of interaction with the courts and the law enforcement system;

- To unite people and help them exchange experience, create mutual support teams in the regions of the Russian Federation and groups of like-minded people, develop civil society;

- To promote the humanization of penitentiary policy and practice by creating a discussion on the situation in Russian prisons and on the progress of the reform of the penal and correctional system;

- Actively develop independent public control and conduct independent investigations into the facts of torture and corruption;

- To help people convey public and private opinion about the realities of imprisonment in Russia to experts, the media, the authorities and the international community;

- To act in the public interest, remaining a non-profit and free from public and private influence, a human rights project;

- To promote educational conversations among prisoners, students, scientists, employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and the general public;

- Recognize the historical value of the criminal press/media and maintain a line of communication between a free society and those who are deprived of their freedom;

- To help people protect their rights and human rights, to achieve the realization of the principle of the inevitability of punishment for torture, humiliation and violation of human rights, to assist in ensuring personal safety and inviolability of all those who find themselves in places of forced detention.

 The hot line Gulagu.net [email protected] receives daily reports of violations of the rights of citizens, they trust us and they expect from us emergency legal aid and support.  By our own efforts and the efforts of like–minded colleagues, we managed to sort out, highlight and bring to the "public court" almost all the thousands of reports received about torture and inhuman treatment of prisoners by government officials, about the facts of corruption and arbitrariness of unscrupulous employees and their agents from among the criminals. Many publications on Gulagu.net with the results of our own investigations and their publicity in the media, they became the reason for initiating a number of criminal cases against unscrupulous employees of state structures and related criminals.

  We were the first to talk about the vicious practice of merging the heads of administrations of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia institutions and bandits. Only after the intervention of the coordinators of Gulagu.net and our independent public inquiry, all those responsible for the massacre of the investigatively arrested Kenan Dzhalilov in the Novosibirsk pre-trial detention facility were identified, and the head of the pre-trial detention facility Ruslan Robakidze and his deputy V. Nabok, as well as criminal leaders and their accomplices, were subsequently convicted. We were the first to publicly in the media in the summer of 2012 who called the Kopeisk Correctional facility-6 of the Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Chelyabinsk region a "torture", supported publicly and morally prisoners during a protest in November of the same year, uncovered and exposed the corrupt administration, and made the generals of the Federal Penitentiary Service refuse to enter special forces for the violent suppression of the protest action, the arrival of a human rights commission in Correctional facility-6 and the subsequent removal and conviction of the head of the “torture” Correctional facility-6 corrupt official and sadist Denis Mekhanov, facilitated the investigation and subsequent conviction of the ex-head of torture of Correctional facility-6.

  We were the first to tell the public about the torture in Saratov colony No 13 and pointed out the involvement of colony employees in the massacre of Artem Sotnikov, having caught the press service and the head of the Saratov Main Directorate of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, General Gnezdilov, in a lie, together with you, we followed the investigation and sent dozens of appeals, eventually achieving the conviction to real terms of imprisonment of 5 employees of the Correctional facility-13 (terms of imprisonment from 8 to 13 years in a strict regime correctional facility) for murder and 2 employees for perjury.

   We have also consistently, since 2013, exposed the facts of mass violations of human rights in the Federal state-owned medical and preventive institution Regional tuberculosis hospital-1 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Saratov region, announced the torture conveyor in this institution of the Federal Penitentiary Service, we shot and published at the beginning of 2021 the documentary "Torture conveyor in Regional tuberculosis hospital-1", achieved by the summer of 2021 the initiation of 5 criminal cases on the facts of extortion and rape, and by 01.11.2021, with the participation of our informant and colleague Sergey Savelyev, the entire leadership of the torture Regional tuberculosis hospital-1 was dismissed and 12 criminal cases were initiated on the facts of extortion, torture and rape. As a result of our publications and materials, reports, materials, stories and videos about terrible tortures and the torture conveyor were published in more than 200 media outlets around the world, and the Russian authorities were forced to react and take exceptional measures.

We were the first to openly declare the murder of the convicted Vladimir Bulkov in the Bryansk Correctional facility-6 and pointed out the involvement of the institution's employees in this, less than a year later, the ex-employee of Correctional facility-6 Yakubov was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in a high-security colony for this crime. For more than 1.5 years, in response to unsubscriptions and unjustified refusals to initiate criminal proceedings on the murder of Sergei Lazko in Bashkir Correctional facility-4, we have claimed involvement in the massacre of the institution's employees, demanding proper investigation, and as a result, following the appeals of our coordinators, a criminal case against the killer was initiated and brought to court.

  After the murder of the convicted Roman Sarychev in the Federal state institution Correctional facility-6 of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in the Bryansk region, we provided all possible material and legal assistance to the family of the murdered prisoner, sent two fellow lawyers to the region, filmed and released two documentaries based on the materials of an independent investigation, and initiated 4 criminal cases against the head of Correctional facility-6 Lyovin, duty assistant to the head of the colony Dobroserdov, deputy head of the Security Department Shevtsov, etc.

Founder of Gulagu.net Vladimir Osechkin was the only Russian human rights activist in 2012 who reported crimes and frauds of then Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Director Alexander Reimer, sent relevant appeals to the investigating committee, the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Office of Russia. And while everyone was silent, it was Vladimir Osechkin who was the first to publicly declare in the media that Reimer was involved in the embezzlement of hundreds of millions of rubles from the budget of the Russian Federation, when he had not yet been brought to criminal responsibility and was not taken into custody. Now, after A. Reimer's conviction to 8 years in a colony, only a lazy person does not kick the convicted Reimer and does not brand him, but it is important to know and remember - it is Vladimir Osechkin and the coordinators of Gulagu.net who were not afraid and exposed this rogue general. Similarly, the founder of Gulagu.net Vladimir Osechkin and members of our Team exposed the facts of Grand corruption in the central office of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, declared corruption schemes of the deputy directors of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia Oleg Korshunov and Valery Maksimenko, one of whom has already been convicted twice, and the other in a pre-trial detention facility awaiting sentencing on charges of embezzlement and abuse of authority.

It is also important to understand that the resignations and arrests of the corrupt leadership of the Main Directorate for Economic Safety and Counteracting Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia (Generals Sugrobov, Kolesnikov and others) in 2014 took place after the Gulagu.net Team in 2013 presented the first evidence of corruption in the Main Directorate for Economic Safety and Counteracting Corruption and initiated a number of official checks and investigations into the facts of the OPS, which massively falsified evidence and sent innocent people to jail.

Unlike many who today pose as human rights defenders and anti-corruption fighters and at the same time engage in self-promotion and cooperate with the authorities, we have always consistently opposed torture and corruption, regardless of the status and position of the object of investigation, acted objectively and reasoned. We never sought favor and support in high offices, did not ask for grants and did not exchange our integrity for some guarantees of inviolability and well-being. We are the first and only ones who, since 2014, have consistently uncovered criminal scams and machinations of the top leadership of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, exposed "schemes" with Federal State Unitary Enterprises and state procurement, gave concrete arguments and tried to protect the rights of thousands of convicts, declaring OPS on Zhitnaya and Lubyanka and "schemes" of corrupt colonels and generals of special services.

It does not make sense to list all the facts of our active participation in the disclosure of corruption schemes and torture, assistance to the state and voluntary assistance to those in need of protection, but one fact should be told. Over these more than 10 years, we have assisted more than 5,500 people whose lives and health were insured against torture and accidents, we have gratuitously helped the relatives of prisoners and the insured themselves with support and consultations, and not a single person from the "Register of Safety and Concerns" was killed or maimed. We have taken an active part in the creation and development of life and health insurance programs for prisoners and will continue to consistently seek from the authorities the introduction of compulsory insurance at the expense of the state for the life and health of all citizens from the moment of detention until release, a widespread dramatic reduction in the level of aggression and violence towards prisoners, and also contribute to the humanization of the penal and correctional system of the Russian Federation.

Since the launch of the social network Gulagu.net more than 7,500 statements and open letters against torture and corruption have been published, many thousands of appeals have been sent to state bodies demanding to protect the legitimate rights of prisoners and their relatives, more than 2,500 publications have been published in the media mentioning materials of gulagu.net and the comments of our coordinators and experts. It is important to note that not a single Gulagu.net coordinator or volunteer has ever been prosecuted for libel, false denunciation and perjury, and this is an obvious confirmation of our competence, efficiency and integrity.

Over the years, coordinators and volunteers of Gulagu.net have been invited as experts to the European Parliament, the Federation Council and the State Duma, the Presidential Council for Human Rights and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, the Expert Council of the Presidential Directorate for Combating Corruption, as well as to participate in the most famous TV and radio programs not only in Russia, but also in the USA and Europe. Our conclusions and opinions are in demand in the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, we are carefully read and taken into account by our experts and courts in Europe, and our interim reports and materials are taken into account by staff members and members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and members of the UN Committee against Torture. The founder of the social network Gulagu.net, Vladimir Osechkin, on a voluntary basis during 2013-2014 headed the working group on the protection of prisoners' rights under the State Duma, participated in the development of a number of draft federal laws aimed at developing public control and countering torture and corruption, from the tribunes of both chambers of parliament boldly spoke in the face of the authorities about massive violations of prisoners' rights and the need for cardinal reforms in Russia.

Recent years have become a serious test for many of us, which almost all of us have passed with dignity. Despite pressure and provocations, the founder of Gulagu.net, Vladimir Osechkin, and the team managed to preserve the project, its independence and efficiency.

And yes, we were really lucky. We have a unique, large and friendly team, we have already made history together, laying the foundation for important reforms and transformations that will forever leave the rudiments of the GULAG and the NKVD of the USSR in the past, significantly reduce the level of violence and corruption, put an end to the incarceration of the innocent and change the attitude towards convicts in such a way that a person in the colony does not become embittered, becomes better, and returns to freedom with a positive attitude and prospects.

We express our gratitude to all those who today find the strength and time to help other people, who are not indifferent and brave, who create open letters and statements in defense of people's rights and support colleagues and like-minded people, who are not afraid to have their point of view and are ready to openly express their opinion, post links to Gulagu.net on forums and social networks, expressing their civic position and helping us to help those who need protection and support in difficult times.

We can do everything, because we are together! Everything will be fine, but NO more GULAG! No more GULAG!

 Best regards, Gulagu.net project team

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to our official Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/MrGulagunet

Our Youtube channel is the most popular human rights channel in the entire post-Soviet space, with more than 344,000 subscribers, more than 1,300 videos (including from pre-trial detention facilities and colonies), 20 episodes of our documentary series "Chronicles of the GULAG of the 21st Century" and investigative films "Matroska", "Bloody IT" and much more.  Subscribe to our channel https://www.youtube.com/user/MrGulagunet and put likes, recommend our videos for viewing and express your opinion in the comments under the video, it is important for us to know what you think.

We recommend you to get acquainted with the Committee against Corruption and Torture Gulagu.net, whose coordinators and experts have been exposing corruption schemes and sadists in the investigative and judicial system and the Federal Penitentiary Service for the 10th year. Founder of Gulagu.net Vladimir Osechkin publishes unique documents on the official Youtube channel every day, recordings from surveillance cameras and video recorders from pre-trial detention facilities and colonies, testimony not only of victims of torture, but also of the employees of the system and their agents from among the prisoners. If you want to know more about the situation in Russian prisons and understand what is really going on, then you cannot do without the resource of this powerful team of independent investigators, human rights defenders and experts.

Official YouTube Channel Gulagu.net with more than 1,200 videos https://www.youtube.com/c/Гулагунетофициальныйканал/videos

You can discuss the latest news about the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia and the Federal Security Service in the Community Gulagu.net https://www.youtube.com/c/Гулагунетофициальныйканал/community

You can support the project with a donation here https://gulagu.net/donate

Gulagu.net on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/gulagu.net

Gulagu.net in Telegram - https://t.me/NetGulagu