What could an amnesty for women look like?

At the beginning of the week, President Vladimir Putin proposed to “prepare and make” decisions “on amnesty for certain categories of women.” This happened after a meeting of the head of state with members of the Human Rights Council. However, neither the president nor the council members have yet clarified which articles should be nominated for amnesty. At the same time, the FSIN, against the backdrop of a special military operation, has stopped publishing statistics on the number of prisoners, and it is unknown how many people may be eligible for amnesty. “Kommersant” discussed with experts the possible conditions of the amnesty and found out who could be released first.

On Monday, December 4, members of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) met with President Vladimir Putin via videoconference. At the same time, human rights activist and journalist Eva Merkacheva raised the issue of the conditions of imprisonment for women deprived of their liberty: “There is a lot of talk about the need to support women’s desire to give birth. But if a prisoner gives birth (in a pre-trial detention center.— “Kommersant”), then she is returned from the hospital to the pre-trial detention center in two hours. We had such precedents, just recently it happened in Moscow: a woman gave birth, two hours later she was sent to a pre-trial detention center, she was unable to recover. The child was left in the hospital; she did not see him for many, many days. It turns out that the little person does not communicate with his mother at all during the first important hours, not only the days.” The situation is similar in the colonies: “If a woman is there with a child (this is possible until the child reaches three years of age.— “Kommersant”) and the child gets sick, then the child is taken away and taken to the hospital, where he can be for a month or more. They don’t put his mother with him, and all because there is no convoy, and they refuse to put these women in without a convoy. That is, it turns out that society and the state are punishing these unfortunate children in this way.”

Mrs. Merkacheva asked the head of state to pardon women with children serving sentences for non-violent crimes, as well as all women convicted for the first time for such crimes, “in cases in which there are no victims or those who are not against their release.” “I am sure that this step of mercy on the part of the state will change a lot for the whole country,” the journalist concluded.

“As for women in prison, the examples you gave are convincing,” agreed Vladimir Putin. “And I think that it is necessary to prepare and make appropriate decisions, including on amnesty for certain categories of women who are in prison ” The head of the Human Rights Council Valery Fadeev clarified that so far “there are no deadlines or plans,” but “the idea (of amnesty.— “Kommersant”) is under discussion.” According to him, “the main question is how to soften the situation of women with children convicted of minor crimes.”

In a conversation with Kommersant, Eva Merkacheva explained that she approached the president with a request to pardon such women, since “the decision on pardon is made by the head of state independently, and the decision on amnesty is made by the State Duma.” Nevertheless, the human rights activist does not exclude the possibility of simultaneously pardoning women and holding an amnesty – and she herself “hopes for it.”

Mrs. Merkacheva told Kommersant that “about 45 thousand women” are now “behind bars.” In her opinion, the amnesty could affect approximately 25 thousand prisoners: “First of all, these are women who are kept in colonies with their children, as well as women whose children are waiting for freedom. The second category is women who were jailed for the first time for non-violent crimes.”

Some idea of ​​the number of imprisoned women can be obtained by studying information about sentences, says Alexey Dobrynin, managing partner of the Pen & Paper bar. “Almost 85 thousand women were convicted of all crimes in 2022, of whom approximately 4.5 thousand were pregnant or had children under the age of three,” he told Kommersant. “The most common crimes of minor gravity, which committed by women – non-payment of alimony, theft, drug trafficking without the purpose of sale, fictitious registration of foreigners at the place of residence.” Commenting on the amnesty proposal, Mr. Dobrynin noted: when developing the bill, it is necessary to take into account whether the convicted person is systematically engaged in criminal activities. “The legislation should change towards a wider use of punishments that are not associated with isolation from society,” the lawyer added. “In this case, even in relation to convicted women with children, sentences can be executed and criminal liability can be implemented, but women will not be deprived of the opportunity to fully raise child.”

The consortium of women’s non-governmental associations noted that in the dialogue between Eva Merkacheva and Vladimir Putin, specific articles of the Criminal Code were not indicated, so “one can only speculate” about the conditions of the amnesty. “Most likely, they meant crimes of minor gravity with sentences of up to three years,” the consortium suggests. “The state may really come to the conclusion that women need to be released so that they can increase the demographics.”

Sasha Graf, a researcher from the “Women’s Term” project (studies the problems of women prisoners), confirms that there are “no current statistics on prisoners for several years,” but based on past years, it can be assumed that there are “approximately 30 thousand women in colonies and some more.” that number in the pre-trial detention center.” There are approximately 300–350 mothers with children under three years old in colonies, the researcher suggests, but there is no data at all on pregnant women in pre-trial detention centers and colonies. Ms. Graf notes that imprisoned women could transfer their children to an orphanage, but they prefer to leave them with them in the colony. In order to pick up a child from an orphanage after release, it is necessary to “fulfill a number of conditions, such as having a job or own housing, which after imprisonment are not easy to achieve without support.” In her opinion, it is precisely these women that the amnesty can primarily affect: “Next year is the Year of the Family. Plus, the question of whether it is humane to imprison pregnant women and women with small children has long been discussed and fits well into the patriarchal agenda.”

At the same time, the researcher considers it necessary to discuss the issue of amnesty for women “who are imprisoned as a result of defense after domestic violence.” Let us recall that in early December, the Consortium of Women’s Non-Governmental Associations and sociologist Svetlana Zhuchkova presented a report on the enforcement of Parts 1–3 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (causing grievous bodily harm, where the victims survived). An analysis of sentences handed down in 2011–2022 showed: 79% of women who used violence against men explained to the court that they were trying to defend themselves. And in 43% of such cases, the court actually found the behavior of the victim man unlawful, and in 16% – immoral (see Kommersant of December 1). “In principle, a different qualification is needed here. As well as for criminal articles on drugs, for which women are often framed,” Ms. Graf is sure. However, the researcher believes that in conditions of an “accusatory bias” in legal proceedings, “it is difficult to implement an amnesty that would meet specific objectives.” “It is necessary that it be initially correctly determined whether a woman committed a serious or minor, violent or non-violent crime,” says Sasha Graf. “The amnesty itself, if it happens, will allow the release of a certain number of women from the colonies, but it will be quite chaotic . But, of course, it’s better this way than nothing.”

“According to the criteria that are now being discussed, the amnesty will not include women convicted of exceeding self-defense, who were fleeing domestic violence, since these are already “heavy” articles. That’s why we need a law on domestic violence,” says Natalya Kostina, director of the “Reach out your hand” charity foundation (which helps imprisoned women). According to her, there should be a little less than 300 children in the colonies along with their mothers – “and this amnesty, if it reaches its logical conclusion, will be precisely an amnesty in favor of children.” She also adds that “virtually every woman has a child in the wild,” so a more widespread amnesty could help them too. However, Ms. Kostina sees positive changes now: according to her, more and more women with children under 14 years of age are being released under Article 82 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (deferment of serving a sentence).

Separately, the expert asks the question “where will all these women go” after the amnesty: “That they will come out is good. But they need to think about what they should do next, how to improve their life and the life of their child in the wild, where to live and work. We need to develop a support and assistance system for them.”

The head of the Duma Committee on Family Affairs, Nina Ostanina (KPRF), told Kommersant that she would definitely support the amnesty project if it were submitted to the State Duma: “The last time there was an amnesty was in 2015, so the time has already come for a new one. Women with children, especially those serving sentences for non-violent crimes, need to be released first.” Mrs. Ostanina is confident that the very fact of “moving to a colony” is enough for most women to repent and realize guilt, and their continued stay in a colony only undermines social skills and health: “The less time women spend in prison, the faster they can return to normal life.” life and raise their children.”

Polina Yachmennikova