MOSCOW, April 17 (RIA Novosti) - The upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, on Wednesday approved a government-submitted law on “administrative arrests,” which requires jail administrators, officials and medics to treat convicts respectfully.
In Russia and other former Soviet republics, “administrative arrests” are short jail terms of up to 15 days.
The law aims to bring the procedure of serving short jail terms in line with the generally recognized norms of international law. It determines the rights of the imprisoned, including the right to receive legal assistance, to send and receive correspondence, to receive free bedsheets, items of personal hygiene, books and periodicals.
The law also stipulates that smokers and nonsmokers should be housed separately, and allows the courts, the public and prosecutors to monitor conditions at detention centers.
The document says judges, prosecutors, investigators, police officers, firefighters, and state security and intelligence officers should serve their time separately from other convicts. It also allows detention center officials to fingerprint and photograph convicts.
