DOMESTIC COLLECTION DIVISION Foreign Intelligence Information Report
warningsources and methods involved
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THIS IS AN INFO*ON REKMI. NOT fINAUY FVAtUATID (NIRUGH+CI
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COUNT RV SUBJcCI
USSR
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Soviet Prison Ubor Practices )
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project, as any other act, has used and will continuesystem was designed pur-out of Jalla and Into tha Parole periods for st leaacercent of the aaxloum nobility and avall-rk ln all parts of the econony.
r, transportable atructurea.
to
Fl'STHEF DISSEMINATION and im OF this INFORMATION subjectTATFD AT KCINNINC ANI> END OF RtPOBT face 2 sCES
'res*orconstructionbut he Insists that ht) first-hand knowledge of Ihe Sovietualifies hla to state with assurance that such projects are using, and will use, prison labor to whatever extent Soviet authorities deea necessary. The source eaphailsed that Soviet prisoners have been used for construction project work since the Inception of tne Soviet stats and that prison labor represents an iaportant, constant resource for the Soviet econoay.)
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2. The Soviet adage "he who doesn't work doesn't eat" Is ax applicable to Soviet prisoner* as it was to tht general population. The penal systeai li purposely designed to get prisoner* out of Jails and into csaps and onto useful work projects as quickly as possible. risoner sat Idly ln Jail only during the first two stages of his Judicial processing: the Investigation and the trial Itself (including the appeal for those who bothered to exercise It). As soon as the sectenca was conf1roei the prisoner lasted lately is senthese cenps were In the aidsurrounded by fa oalntalned typical prison security. Hostheir own light aanuf MM lag facilities which contributed significantly to tha availability of consuacr goods. Bouse hold lteaa aod staple furniture, kitchen cabinetry, arc, ware typical products which prise*
Prisoners In caape also were used routinely oa aajor construction projects of sll kinds. Including dans, buildings (especiallyighways, railroads, pipelines, tlaber cutting and hauling, and aany others. The only restriction on the use of camp limates in auch projects was th* requlreaent that they be returned to caap. In guarded trucks, at the and of each work day. Thus the uae of such labor was Halted by the distance between the camp and the project.
*. The final atage ln the life of the typical prisoner is hla psrole period which freed hla (or aaxlaua use in the lsbor force. Agsln. this part of the systea Is deliberately designed to get aaxlaua use out of each prleoner: parole periods conatltuted at leastercent of the total sentence.
WARN INC NOTICEND METHODS INVOLVED
FVHTHER DISSEMINATION ANDOF THIS INFORMATION SL'BJECT Tt) CONTHOIS STATED AT IIKCINMM: ANO END OF REPORT f 5 PACES
J. Parol lad prisoners xer* assigned lo conatructlon projects wherever they vara needed and stayed at the project as long as necessary. They vere housed In transportable Structures uhlch were sonewhat like typical western aobile hones or construction ahecks. except chatche conclusion of Che project they were not trallered to another site but were hauled on flatbed trucks. Each structure (budka) houseden and eeasuredeters. (Field Cooaent: f these structures were grouped at the construction site of the Its construction in
rounded black roof
four windows on each side, entrene* door one side only, no windowsenda;tlnc, no ..
blue or_.ua;rk green...
Typical Prison Labor Housing (foren)
Security for these parolled prisoners was light: there waa an evening curfew and bedcheck which was supervised by the work brigade leader but prisoners were allowed co vlalc with fanlly aecbers who occasionally soved to the area of the comtructloo project in order to be with husband/father.
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6. KBCcmem: The source noced that counting thee* standard conatructlon aice housing structures would noc provide an accurate tally of prlaon labor because ailitary construction rroops^frequently, but not always, were^ueed^at^then" t, they were housed :io"the^aa.
WARN INC NOTICE INTOLICENCE HH'RriJ AND HIHIODS INVOLVED
fron the prison labor housing. Civilian workers (non-prisoners) rarely, it ever, were housed in these Structures.)
7. The fact that at leastercent of each prisoner'* sentence wasarol* statue Is believed to have sostefor the Soviet econoay because of the augmentation thus provided the labor force In major construction work. Another economic factor of signifIcane* Is th* wage scale for prleoners and non-prisoners: it was typical that parolled prison labor received one-third tha wage of non-prison workers for th* work. Prisoners who had not yetn parolled and who wer* returned to camps each night received no wage for their work but didontipend from th* caap.
Th* sourc* had no personal experience with political prisoners butnlikely to hla that they would have been Ineligible for parole:ule would haw* deprived th* Stat* of additional aanpower. Ha agreed, however, that If the total njaber of political prisoners wss aapropor'ion of all prisoner*noto-parole rule*. Be never heard estimate* of the total prison population in
9. The determination of esslgnaente of caap populatlona (both paulled and non-paroll*d) to construction project* appeared to depend to eome extent on th* personal clout of various project managers. Canp official* frequently wer* badgered by several authorities, simultaneously, each vlelog with the other for the available labor. Dlsputea of thia kind ware settled "sonewhere from above" but It aeeaed clear that any alnlstry or lesser entity could uss caap labor and that Ii was by no mean* Halted toew. high-powered Thua there could bc no question that th* Siberians sny other laportsnt larg* project, would utllls* prison labor in Its construction. To do otherwise* been completelydds with th*.
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