"Nevolia" issues archive

No. 27-2011
In this new issue, we would recommend paying your attention to Lev Levinson’s analysis of the latest amendments to criminal legislation. Also, be sure to read the section “Behind the Wall” featuring Alexander Avgust’s description of everyday routine in psycho-isolation prison cells as seen by the author’s own eyes, and a story by prisoner Eduard Mikhailov. As usual, the new issue features official penitentiary statistics and more excerpts from the Prisoner Rights Defence Foundation chronicles about developments and incidents in correctional facilities.

No. 26-2011
In the new issue, we would recommend paying your attention to the section “The Boundaries of Incomprehension”, where N. Khananashvili cites cogent arguments in defence of juvenile justice – a fragile, actually non-existent legal institution in Russia – against frenzied attacks by judiciary officials. Be sure to read the final part of prisoner Eduard Mikhailov’s autobiographic novel “The Chui Valley”. As usual, you will find official penitentiary statistics and traditional chronicles of the Foundation in Defence of Prisoner Rights (FDPR) about developments and incidents within the penitentiary system.

No. 25-2011
In this issue, we would recommend paying your attention to the section “Behind the Wall” which describes psychiatric maltreatment of prison inmates, and not missing the beginning of prisoner Eduard Mikhailov’s autobiographic novel “The Chui Valley”. As usual, we cite official statistical reports by the Penitentiary Department and feature traditional chronicles of the Foundation in Defence of Prisoners’ Rights (FDPR) about developments and incidents within the penitentiary system.

No. 24-2011
We would recommend paying your attention to Alexei Mokrousov’s review of Primo Levi’s book “The Drowned and the Saved”, with an excerpt from the original text. Hopefully, the reader will be interested in reading the whole of the book. The section “Behind the Wall” describes the state of things in Russia’s psychiatric clinics and features a story by prisoner Eduard Mikhailov, “Snow and Coal”.

No. 23-2010
The new issue’s main features include in-depth analysis of the government-proposed Police Law by a Public Verdict specialist and an article by Leonid Golovko on the questionable character of the prison reform initiated by the new command of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FPS). As usual, we cite official statistical reports by the Penitentiary Department, and feature traditional chronicles of the Foundation in Defence of Prisoners’ Rights (FDPR) about developments and incidents within the penitentiary system. We would recommend paying your attention to the section “The Boundaries of Incomprehension” featuring a lecture by, and an interview with, Nils Christie. The “History” section offers more of Sergey Stepanov’s absorbing chronicles of the history of Nizhny Novgorod.

No. 22-2010
The new issue’s main stories discuss the clearly unhealthy situation in the Russian judiciary. As usual, we cite official statistical reports by the Penitentiary Department, and feature traditional chronicles of the Foundation in Defence of Prisoners’ Rights (FDPR) about developments and incidents within the penitentiary system. Be sure to pay attention to an excerpt from a new book by Nils Christie and to Alexei Mokrousov’s review of the book “Enemies of the Nation Beyond the Arctic Circle” accompanying an excerpt from that book.

No. 21-2010
We would recommend paying your attention to Sergey Stepanov’s absorbing historical chronicles in the “History” section and to Alexander Mulenko and Sergey Laryagin’s stories under the heading “Russia: A Nationwide Pre-Trial Facility”. The new issue also features official statistical reports by the Penitentiary Department, traditional chronicles of the Foundation in Defense of Prisoners’ Rights about incidents within the penitentiary system, and Alexei Mokrousov’s review of Xavier Emmanuelli’s book “OUT: L’exclusion peut-elleêtre vaincue?”.

No. 20-2009
In this issue we draw the readers’ attention to documentary Reds and Blacks by Dmitri Morachevski. It describes the «interior» wars among prisoners that rage in Russian colonies. These conflicts are usually provoked by so-called activists who accept rewards and benefits from the prison administration to serve as tough and brutal supervisors of fellow inmates. In December 2009, the Order of RF Ministry of Justice abolished the most notorious organization of inmates, the so-called Section of Discipline and Order, but it is doubtful whether the confrontation described in the documentary can be stopped just by this order. We also continue publishing sketches by Aleksandr Khnykov, offering a new selection called The Men of Zone-2, as well as recent statistics, reviews, and legal advice to prisoners.

No. 19-2009
This issue presents a selection of short stories by Alexandr Khnykov under a common title of "The Inmates". Khnykov's every story is a sketch of a small event or a portrait of a person, but their entirety is a surprising and precise representation of what life feels like in a penitentiary camp. The "Behind the Wall" section of the magazine is about violations of human rights disguised as psychiatric treatment. As usual, the issue contains recent statistical data, reviews and legal advice to inmates.

No. 18-2008
The new issue of the magazine presents “Izvestki”, a documentary by Dmitry Morachevsky. From his personal experience, the author tells the story of a boy brought up at a special school and describes internal rules and regulations of that unique institution. The importance of such eyewitness story can only compare to that of the prosaic publication by Ruben Galiego who reveals the truth about what really goes on in government-run nursing homes for handicapped children. As always, the issue contains new statistics, critical reviews and legal advice to inmates. It also features “The Barrack” - an essay commemorating Aleksander Solzhenitsyn by Oleg Pavlov, a well-known writer and recipient of the Booker award in literature.

No. 17-2008
In the new issue you can find documentary and artistic evidence of the situation in the penitentiary system, on the work of law-enforcement agencies, on the use of torture in the questioning and punishment of inmates., widely spread in today's Russia.. The issue discusses relations between law-enforcement entities and Human Rights organizations. We also offer legal consultations and clarification of actual problems of law and legislation. We hope that the prose by Oleg Pavlov and Andrei Rubanov as well as the historical essay by Rostislav Gorchakov will be read with interest. We also publish most recent statistics on penitentiary system and criminal situation in Russia and publish the list of Protest Acts of Inmates.

No. 16-2008
The issue is dedicated to the problems of persons with limited possibilities. We publish many articles on the social aspects of this problems, on rehabilitation and the situation with medicines after the adoption of so called Law #122. Various authors (among them many personally involved in the situation) analyze and give their own propositions on improvement of life for these categories of Russian population. We publish also materials and essays by courageous people who found forces not only to inscribe themselves in social life but to help others. We give also materials about the history of invalid movements in Soviet Union and United States.

No. 15-2008
The new issue contains many informational materials (statistics of penitentiary system, analysis of prison industry in USA, monitor Protest Actions of Prisoners, an absract from the Report of Commissioner on Human Rights on the Human Rights situation in the places of confinement, etc.). We published also materials useful for prisoners (Yu. Aleksandrov Juridical Training and B. Panteleev Help yourself), give reports on the well-known case of the former head of Penitentiary system in Archanguelsk and events in January 2008 in the colony #15 in the region of Amur. In the part The Writers on the Prison we present interesting texts by Oleg Pavlov and Aleksandr Mulenko.

No. 14-2007
The new issue is dedicated to the 2 main themes. We publish the discussion on the keen for today penitentiary system question of the lawfulness and results of activities of so called sections of the discipline and order. Their opinion express well-known lawyers and Human Rights activists Valeri Abramkin, Mara Poliakova, Tamara Morschakova, Serguei Kovalev, Liudmila Alekseeva, Henri Reznik and also Evgueni Ihlov, Boris Panteleev and the psycologist Serguei Yenikolopov. We present also the official opinion of the reperesentative of the penitentiary service. The second theme of the issue is the situation of the children in children’s homes. The materials of Marina Ternovskaya, Albina Skripnik and Galina Semia are dedicated to the theme. As usual we publish the official statistics and the monitor Protest actions of prisoners. The literary texts are published in the last part of the issue.

No. 13-2007
In this issue the central are two themes: new significant growth of the prison population in Russia and psychitric repressions in today Russia. The trend of the growth of the prison population analyzes a well-known sociologist and criminologist Yakov Guilinski. His article contens variuos statistic data illustrating the theme. The understanding of a new case of psychiatric repression gives the recent case of the Human Rights activist Larisa Arap from Murmansk (materials by Yuri Savenko, Elena Vasilieva, Albina Skripnik). Also we can't put no attention to the today serious situation in Russian prisons: the scale of problem we can understand in the monitor of protest actions of prisoners and the comments of Valerii Abramkin. Among other materials we underline the problem article of the psycologist Valeria Muhina on the role of the prison psycologist and twa materials by Maksim Prytkov on the experience of the Human Rights control and investigations of the cases on the violence of Yuman Rights be law-enforcing bodies. In the issue we publish also two fiction pieces by Aleksandr Mulenko and Oleg Pavlov and the memoirs of the well-known head of the Solzhenitsyn Foundation for the help to prisoners about volonteers of the Foundation in the past. The last part Post Mortem is dedicated to the 80 anniversary of the prison poet Valentin Sokolov.

No. 12-2007
The main theme chosen by the Editorial for this issue is the problems of the sick children on the charge of the State. It is harmful to read these texts, the readers can't change the situation, but all have to know it. Here we publish texts by Aleksandr Melihov, Nina Glazkova and Ruben Gallego. Also we publish information of human rights activists and their organizations: Andrei Babushkin and the Committee For the Civil Rights, Nikolai Schur and the fund "The helping hand", Irina Protasova and organization "Man and Law". The Editorial recomends the texts by Allexandr Mulenko and Aleksandr Sidorov under the heading "Stories". Besides, the reader will find in the issue stsistical data, advices by the advocate Boris Palgov, material on the juvenal justice in Italy, an abstract of the Annual Report of the Commisioner on the Human Rights in Russia and information on the books recomended by the Editorial.

No. 11-2007
The issue contains the materials on European Penitentiary Regulations and their destiny in Russian reality, with this theme correlate articles on the problems of preserving human dignity in prison. We also consider problems of co-operation of NGOs with executive power in the field. The informational and statistical materials are useful for researchers and practice advices can be applied by those who came in contact with law-enforcing bodies.

No. 10-2006
The central theme of the issue is the International Conference "Prison Question: Research as an Instrument of Struggle" that took place in Moscow in October 2006. We publish the brief version of reports of the participants who consider the problems of Human Rights movements in Russia and France in 1970ies - 2000. We also publish an article of the famous Norwegian criminologist Nils Christie on the restorative justice and a material of the well-known Russian sociologist Yakov Guilinski on tortures in modern Russia, literary work, informational material, etc.

No. 9-2006
The issue contains the central block where problems of the death penalty and discussion with various opinions on the theme are considered. We publish materials on the everyday of prison life, the article of the famous criminologist Nils Christie on the policy criminal justice and its influence on the health of prisoners. The teacher of prison school in the colony for minor criminals tells about his experience. We publish also some historical materials.