Prisons in Russia

The FSIN's main responsibilities are to ensure the completion of criminal penalties by convicted persons as well as hold detainees accused of crimes.

Funds dropped to nothing in the three months prior to the Russian Federation's Ministry of Justice taking over responsibility of the corrections system.

[5] In 2011, under the presidency of Dimitri Medvedev the reform of criminal law was implemented which reduced minimal prison terms for significant number of crimes to two months.

[7] In 2013 the Pussy Riot activist Nadezhda Tolokonnikova wrote a public letter which drew international attention to prison conditions in Russia.

[8] Ilya Shablinsky, a member of the presidential human-rights council who audited her prison, found conditions close to those of "slave labour".

Infectious disease researchers Nachega & Chaisson estimate that of the 10% of Russian prisoners with active TB (roughly 100,000 people), 40% of new cases are multi-drug resistant.

[15] Furthermore, in an International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease article, Kimerling et al. point out that arrested Russians cannot be transferred to TB colonies unless they are convicted, which allows them to potentially infect fellow cellmates before release or prosecution.

[17] In addition to overcrowded and inadequately isolated conditions, many prisons lack sufficient ventilation, which increases likelihood of transmission.

[20] In Kimerling’s article within the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, he notes that the rise of TB and MDR-TB within Russia is a recent phenomenon.

[21] The previous TB control program was marked by actions such as annual chest radiographies to screen the Russian population, an emphasis on isolation of patients within long-term hospital settings, and mandatory BCG vaccination.