'Prisoners of conscience' are persons whom Amnesty International deems to have been imprisoned for exercising fundamental rights without using or threatening violence. The women in Zone 4 (the 'small zone') are subjected to the harshest regime of imprisonment allowed for women under Soviet law. Prisoners work 8 hours a day 6 days a week making gloves. Machine noise, small work areas, and the requirement that the women not leave their sewing machines during work hours are extremely stressful. The women are punished for not meeting work quotas, which have steadily increased over the last few years. Punishments include loss of shopping privileges and the cancellation of visiting and correspondence privileges. For serious offenses, such as challenging prison authorities, the most dreaded punishment is confinement in an isolation cell where protection from the cold and the food are less than under the general prison regime. The inmates complain of the monotonous and nonnutritional meals. Biographies of some inmates and the inmate diary for 6 months in 1983.