The article on Gulagu.net details a presentation given by Vladimir Osechkin, a human rights activist and founder of Gulagu.net, before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Osechkin testified about the systematic nature of torture and human rights abuses in Russian prisons and other institutions. He and his team presented over 700 gigabytes and more than 115,000 files containing evidence of systematic torture in institutions of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) and Federal Security Service (FSB). The evidence included cases of torture, humiliation, rape, murder, and inhumane treatment of detainees, defendants, and convicts.
Osechkin's personal experiences, as a former prisoner and victim of torture, were highlighted in the presentation. He recounted his own ordeal of being tortured and beaten by police officers in Samara in 2000, leading to false imprisonment and severe physical injuries. He detailed his subsequent imprisonment from 2007 to 2011, during which he faced brutal treatment by FSIN officers, who used detainees dependent on them for inflicting torture.
Gulagu.net was established by Osechkin to expose the modern GULAG system in Russia and post-Soviet countries, highlighting cases of torture, rape, and murder within the police, FSB, and prison systems. He also served as the head of a Working Group on the Protection of Prisoners' Rights at the State Duma, where he conducted independent investigations into torture and murder in prisons.
In 2013, Osechkin's group uncovered a hospital in a Saratov region prison operating as a torture concentration camp. Despite their findings, the Russian authorities shut down their working group and attempted to silence Ovechkin. After refusing attempts by FSB and FSIN officers to control Gulagu.net and subsequent threats, Osechkin fled Russia in 2015 and has since been living in France, continuing his investigations into the torture systems of the Russian special services.
Osechkin's testimony at PACE in October 2019 led to a new wave of persecution against him and Gulagu.net by Russian authorities, including the destruction of the platform's information from over 18,000 subscribers.
The report asserts that torture in Russia is systemic, a secret modus operandi of the FSB and FSIN, extending beyond prisons to orphanages, police departments, the army, medical institutions, schools, and more. The GULAG concepts, including caste divisions and the use of torture for intimidation, are prevalent throughout Russian society.
Osechkin pointed out the international community's failure to condemn Putin's regime in 2021, which encouraged the launch of the war against Ukraine. He highlighted the existence of military concentration camps in Russia, where thousands of Ukrainians are detained and subjected to torture and ill-treatment by FSB and FSIN sadists. Additionally, more than 40,000 Russian convicts were reportedly sent to fight against Ukraine under threats of torture and murder.
Osechkin concluded by emphasizing the importance of understanding that many Russians are hostages of this inhumane system and called for united action against it.