People watch a documentary about what its creator called torture cases in a pre-trial prison in Siberia鈥檚 city of Irkutsk during the film presentation in Moscow, on February 21, 2011. AFP FILE PHOTO
MOSCOW 鈥� Russian authorities announced Tuesday a probe into alleged rape after the publication of a harrowing video of torture in a prison infirmary, part of a massive trove of secret files obtained by activists.
The anti-torture project Gulagu.net, which has sources inside Russia鈥檚 vast prison system, has obtained more than 1,000 video files allegedly showing instances of across the country.
Late Monday, Gulagu.net published a video of a naked man being violated with what appears to be a stick at a prison hospital treating tuberculosis patients in the central city of Saratov.聽The man, who is tied to his bed, is screaming in pain.
Speaking to AFP, Vladimir Osechkin, who runs Gulagu.net, said the group had received this and other videos 鈥� allegedly recorded using prison equipment 鈥� from a Belarusian citizen who had served jail time in Saratov.
He was released in February and has been sending video files to Gulagu.net since March.
鈥淲e call him our Belarusian Snowden,鈥� said Osechkin, who is based in France.
鈥淚t is the first time that human rights defenders have obtained such a colossal amount of information proving the systemic nature of torture in Russia.鈥�
On Tuesday, the Federal Prison Service (FSIN) announced a probe, saying a team of Moscow-based FSIN employees had been dispatched to Saratov to 鈥渧erify the accuracy of the information鈥� in the video.
The probe is being overseen by 鈥渢he leadership of the Federal Prison Service鈥�, FSIN said in a statement sent to AFP.
鈥楾orture conveyor belt鈥�
Also Tuesday, the regional branch of the Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes in Russia, launched an investigation into 鈥渧iolent acts of a sexual nature,鈥� it said in a statement.
The crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars.
For its part, the prosecutor general鈥檚 office launched its own inspection of the treatment of prisoners in Saratov, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 spokesman said the Kremlin was aware of the video.
鈥淚f the authenticity of these materials is confirmed, then, of course, this is a reason for a serious probe,鈥� Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
鈥淏ut first it鈥檚 necessary to quickly but calmly sort this out and establish the authenticity of these materials.鈥�
Later Tuesday a source told the Interfax news agency that the head of the FSIN鈥檚 Saratov branch had submitted a letter of resignation.
Osechkin accused the Russian authorities of doing everything to cover up abuses in prisons for years.
鈥淭he Russian authorities are being hypocritical and are doing everything they can to distance themselves from this torture conveyor belt,鈥� he said.
鈥淭his torture conveyor belt was created by FSIN and FSB generals and was used to suppress the will of the convicts,鈥� he said, also referring to the domestic intelligence agency.
Osechkin said the group planned to submit the files to the Council of Europe and the United Nations.
Human rights activists regularly report torture, humiliation and beatings carried out by Russian prison staff or other inmates.