NCJ Number
130048
Journal
Federal Prisons Journal Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1991) Pages: 10-23
Date Published
1991
Length
14 pages
Annotation
A U.S. delegation traveled to the Soviet Union in 1991 for a 1-week tour of that country's penal institutions and established a working dialogue with Soviet criminal justice officials.
Abstract
The delegation toured five correctional institutions and discussed the Soviet penal system and prison administration with high-ranking officials from the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Office of the Procurator General. The delegation found that about 761,000 inmates in the Soviet criminal justice system are held in 2,100 labor camps or prisons throughout the country. In addition, about 200,000 pretrial and unsentenced prisoners are in detention facilities, and 160,000 alcoholics are committed to 250 treatment facilities. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is restructuring its penal system to balance the rights of prisoners and the rights of victims. The Ministry is also working with the Soviet Parliament to reform criminal and penal laws. The Soviet Union has a centralized legal system, and all law is national law. Prisoners are assigned to labor camps and prisons according to ordinary, strengthened, strict, and special classification categories. The court determines a prisoner's classification, while the Office of the Procurator General serves as the oversight authority. The delegation discovered that living conditions at many of the penal facilities would be considered substandard in the United States, that 82 percent of Soviet prisoners are employed in prison industries, and that the trend toward greater oversight of prison administration is growing. The delegation also found that punishment cells are harsh, that prisoners and prisons have a high degree of discipline, that medical care is rudimentary, and that Soviet officials are experimenting with some bold reforms in women's prisons.