On April 13, Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow Tatiana Potyaeva signed an agreement on cooperation with the Moscow Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service (UFSIN) of Russia represented by head of the department Sergei Moroz.

The main objective of the document is the coordinated activity of the parties in respect of observance and protection of the rights and freedoms of suspects and accused persons held in pre-trial detention centers, as well as those sentenced to punishments not related to deprivation of liberty, registered in interdistrict criminal executive inspectorates, as well as to Penal correction system’s officers.

Tatiana Potyaeva noted: «We have really developed a very constructive and effective cooperation with the UFSIN in Moscow, and I consider, this is a priority task, since it is the most difficult for a person when he is in conditions of restriction of freedom.»

According to Cergei Moroz, the work of the Commissioner for Human Rights is very important for those, who are detained, because people are restricted in access to information.

"The right to medical care, to protection are those freedoms that they have, and they must be respected, and those issues that are dealt with by the Commissioner’s Office are very important for our wards," he noted.

The Ombudswoman called the reduction in the level of overcrowding in the Pretrial Detention Centers for three years one of the main results of the joint work.

"When three years ago I began to work on this job, overcrowding was accounted for 42.7%, today it is 19.8%. I believe that this is our common achievement. Moscow occupies the first place in the country in the use of house arrest, and we insisted on it," Tatiana Potyaeva said.

Among the examples of solved problems, she called the opening of a dairy kitchen for women with infants in women’s Pretrial Detention Center No.6 in Pechatniki, additional steps in prisoner transport vehicles for pregnant women, more convenient route developed for transporting pregnant women to maternity wards of hospitals.

The Ombudswoman noted that she was paying serious attention to working with the Public Monitoring Commission of Moscow to monitor the observance of human rights in places of detention.

"Those signals about violations that come from its active members, are immediately taken into consideration, the head of the UFSIN reacts promptly to our appeals, and these problems are being resolved. This year we see the progressive changes that take place in the UFSIN." Tatiana Potyaeva said.

Adapted from the Press Service of the Commissioner for Human Rights in Moscow