NCJ Number
88768
Date Published
1982
Length
72 pages
Annotation
Recent controversy over Soviet use of slave labor has given rise to this comparison between the 1969 'Principles of the Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on Corrective Labor' and the minimal standards for the treatment of prisoners adopted by West European nations, the United States, and Australia.
Abstract
The analysis notes little difference in the general tone and provisions of the documents compared regarding correctional labor policy and inmates' legal status. A striking feature of the Soviet correctional system, unlike anything in the West, are the corrective labor colonies, where convicts have freedom of movement and personal choice within the colony setting -- to the extent of wearing civilian clothes and living privately with their families. Restrictions in Soviet custodial facilities, however, are far harsher than comparable Western ones regarding visitors, mail, and other inmate privileges, except for slightly higher Soviet allowances of inmate spending money. Soviet inmates must labor seven 8-hour days each week, which exceeds the normal Soviet workweek as well as the working time required of Western inmates. The Soviet regulations provide no vacation time from the job and do not allow substitution of vocational training for labor. Compensation for Soviet inmate labor is commensurate with the overall wage rates although no employee insurance benefits are provided. This is similar to Western gross rate systems, but the Soviet deductions from inmates' wages are about 10 percent higher than in the West. Furthermore, the Soviet law evidences significant gaps regarding inmate medical services, facility conditions, avenues for addressing inmate grievances, limitations on the powers of custodial staff, and prohibition of inmates' disciplinary authority over peers. According to reports of ex-Soviet citizens, the absence of stipulated inmates' rights are but one shortcoming; more serious is the fact that the system operates by disregarding those stipulations which the law does contain. Tabular data and 72 references are given.