Human rights defenders consider coercion to shave heads as violation of Rostov prisoners’ rights

The arrestees kept in a SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Rostov-in-Don were forced to shave their heads after an incident with hostage-taking. A spokesperson for the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (known as FSIN) explained the above as “educational work” and internal regulations of the SIZO. Coercion of the arrestees to shave their heads violated their rights, human rights defenders pointed out.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 16, prisoners in the Rostov SIZO took two warders hostage. During the assault by law enforcers, the prisoners who took hostages were killed. One of the hostage-taking participants survived. He stays in a resuscitation ward, sources report.

The prisoners in the Rostov SIZO were shaved bald after the hostage-taking incident, but FSIN spokesperson Dina Tatarenkova explained the shaving by the SIZO internal regulations, the “Bloknot-Rostov” portal reported.

Persons under investigation and arrestees are not obliged to maintain a certain hair length, human rights defender Anna Karetnikova emphasizes. “They are not obliged to maintain a certain length of their hair. They are required to maintain a 'neat appearance.' Therefore, forced shaving violates their rights," the human rights defender said.

It will be difficult to achieve compensation for such a violation of the prisoners’ rights, Anna Karetnikova notes.

Forcing prisoners to shave their heads violates their rights, agrees Valentin Bogdan, the executive director of the “Foundation for the Defence of Prisoners’ Rights”*. “Many arrestees and prisoners decide to shave their hair, because it’s easier for them to live in a SIZO or a penal colony with their heads shaved. But forcing a person to shave his hair against his will is a violation of his rights,” the human rights defender emphasized.

The hostage-taking incident in the Rostov SIZO will not lead to the fact that in the eyes of society all those arrested will be associated with terrorists, the Rostov human rights defender believes.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.