KHPG Press Conference on 26 June: AGAINST TORTURE

At 12.00 on Monday, 26 June 2006 in the UNIAN press centre (4, Khreshchatyk St, Kyiv)

KHPG will present the results and conclusions of a three year program -

“CAMPAIGN AGAINST TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT IN UKRAINE”

The campaign was carried out by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group in partnership with other nongovernmental organizations, with financial assistance from the European Union.

Topics for discussion:

the scale of torture and ill-treatment in Ukraine;

an assessment of how well (or otherwise) Ukraine is fulfilling its international commitments with regard to the prohibition of torture;

an overview of the results of the Campaign;

the work of the Fund for Professional Support to Victims of Torture;

and not least:  WHERE TO GO FROM HERE  - An action plan for preventing torture in the future

Participants:

Arkady Bushchenko, lawyer, coordinator of KHPG campaigns, member of the Public Council for the Observance of Human Rights, (a consultative – advisory body to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, aimed at ensuring real public control over the activities of law enforcement agencies)

Yevhen Zakharov, Co-Chair of KHPG, Head of the Board of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Co-Chair of the Public Council for the Observance of Human Rights,

Oleh Martynenko, Police Colonel, Candidate of Law, Professor of the Department of Criminal Law of the Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Author of the work: “Determination and the prevention of crime among personnel of internal affairs agencies in Ukraine”

Ivan Yukhymenko, victim of police torture

In July 2003 KHPG launched a major 3-year campaign aimed at improving the situation as regards protection from torture in Ukraine.

The campaign included:

sociological and criminological studies on the reasons for and scale of torture;

the creation of a Fund for Professional Support to Victims of Torture which has supported dozens of cases against agents of the state guilty of using torture, and has won some important strategic cases in courts against state officials;

improving legislation on preventing torture;

training professionals in the skills needed to defend victims of torture;

developing and strengthening a network of civic organizations working to prevent the use of torture;

and a lot more …

Details about the problem of torture in Ukraine can be found on the KHPG website: http://khpg.org

We look forward to seeking you on Monday 26 June at 12.00 (in the UNIAN Press Centre, Khreshchatyk, 4)!

Mark the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture by supporting important initiatives to eradicate this scourge in Ukraine!

Contacts:

Arkadiy Bushchenko  (057) 75 75 166
Yevhen Zakharov  8 050 402 40 64