Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Wed, 10 Jan 1996 17:30:45 -0800 (PST)
The following organizational profile was received from Colleen Halley, a
Russian area studies and human rights specialist. It is in the ISO 8859-1
character set.
Social Center for Assistance in Reforming Criminal Justice
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101000 Moscow
B. Zlatoustninskii per., 8/7, kom. 68 and 73
Tel: 095-206-84-97 or 095-206-86-84
Fax: 095-206-87-69
E-mail: [email protected]
Director: Valery Abramkin
Coordinator of Information Center and Network: Valery Sergeev
Coordinator of "Oblaka" Radio Program: Sergei Sayapin
Office: About 10 staff members and several volunteers
Mandate:
"To build in Russia an effective system of criminal justice, providing
principles of social justice, crime prevention, personal safety for
citizens, and a humane manner of imprisonment."
Principal activities:
* Structural and legal reform of the criminal justice system
* Development and support of civil society in Russia
* Construction of a system allowing for societal control of law enforcement
bodies and guardianship of the imprisoned
* Defense of the rights of the detained and imprisoned
* Legal and spiritual education of the population
* Sociological research and analysis
Group History:
The Center was first organized in 1988 under the name "Imprisonment and
Will". In 1991 the name changed to "The Social Center for Humanizing the
Penitentiary System". Finally, in August, 1993 the organization was
officially registered as the Social Center for Assistance in Reforming
Criminal Justice. The Center remains nonprofit and nonpartisan in its
work. It maintains a working relationship with numerous state bodies,
including the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, the Presidential
Commission on Judicial Reform, the State Legal Administration of the
Presidential Administration, as well as various parliamentary commissions.
Activities in the past have included presenting a report to parliament in
1992 entitled, "On Carrying Out Changes and Additions to the Corrective
Labor Code, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Justice Code of the RSFSR"
and in 1994, preparing a list of proposed federal actions in the sphere of
human rights for parliament. In 1992, the Center organized an
international conference, "Prison Reform in Former Totalitarian
Countries", held in Russia. In 1993-1994, members of the Center were
involved in preparing a manual on applying international standards of
treatment for prisoners, entitled "Putting Standards to Work".
Special Projects:
"Oblaka" ("Clouds"), weekly radio program on Radio Rossiya
This weekly hour-long radio program is aimed primarily at the prison
population, providing information on prison reforms, legal issues affecting
prison conditions and treatment, stories from prisons and labor camps
around Russia, general information on human rights work and human rights
groups in Russia, as well as other material of both practical and
entertainment value. Research surveys estimate that nearly 8% of the
population in Russia listens to "Oblaka", not counting the prison
populations. On average, the Center receives between 300-600 letters each
month from radio listeners.
Specialized Information Center: "Man in the System of Criminal Justice"
With financial assistance from the European Union (Phare/Tacis Program), the
Center has begun to develop an in-office library of materials relating to
criminal justice and issues facing the Russian penitentiary system. The
Center has also begun to publish a monthly information bulletin.
In 1996 the Center plans to publish a manual, "How to Help the
Imprisoned", for human rights activists and people actively working on
behalf of prisoners. As part of the project, the Center is also seeking to
expand their use of technology (including e-mail and the Internet) to
enhance and expand research in the field of criminal justice around the
regions of Russia.
Publications:
The Center has produced dozens of books, brochures and reports on problems
relating to criminal justice and the rights of the detained and imprisoned.
Below is a partial list of recent publications.
In Aid of Prisoners: How to Survive in a Soviet Prison
(1992, Krasnoyarsk) 192 pages.
* Over 30,000 copies of this book were distributed to prisoners and
their families at no cost.
Letters From the Zones (December 1991)
(1992, Moscow) 36 pages.
Collections of letters from prisoners describing life and conditions in
prisons and camps around Russia.
Tuberculosis in Russian Prisons and Camps
(1992, Moscow) 14 pages. In Russian and English.
Prison Reform in Former Totalitarian Countries: Papers from the
International Conference, volumes 1 & 2
(1993, Moscow) Approximately 80 pages each. In Russian and English.
Human Rights Abuses During Arrest and Detainment, Vol. 1
(1994, Moscow) 80 pages. In English and Russian.
Criminal Russia -- Prisons and Camps
A 10-volume book series.
Volume 1: "The Prison World Through the Eyes of of a Political
Prisoner" (1993, Moscow) 287 pages.
Volume 2: "Letters From the Zones (End of the 1980's)"
(1993, Moscow) 300 pages.
Colleen F. Halley
Russian Area Specialist (908) 793-4127
University of Washington [email protected]
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