An analysis of how Ukrainian legislation regulating the rules and conditions for holding individuals remanded in custody in pre-trial detention centres (SIZO) comply with the standards and recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture

The author, with twenty years experience working within the penal system, calls for major changes in how the authorities and society view punishment and deprivation of liberty. Those who commit crimes should be punished, certainly, but not crippled for life.

The Vinnytsa Region Prosecutor’s office reports infringements in holding detained individuals, convicted prisoners, and those remanded in custody.

Five inmates attempted suicide in order to improve the regime in the penal institution

This is hopefully a positive example of the impact media and public attention can have on the conditions in Ukrainian penal institutions

A recent interview given by a former head of the Kharkiv regional division of the Department for the execution of sentences paints a worrying - and familiar - picture of the situation in Ukraine’s penal institutions. Many of his allegations have been angrily denied by the current holder of this post

Yevhen Zakharov and Arkady Bushchenko discuss progress and changes still needed to eradicate the use of torture

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group considers that the acts of self-injury amongst people on remand or prisoners in Kharkiv and Lviv were the direct result of cruel treatment from the administrations of these institutions.

Worrying reports of special subdivisions being deployed in some penal institutions, subjecting prisoners to violence and humilation

The editorial office of RUPOR received a letter from Vinnitsa. Prisoners of two penitentiaries tell about the horrible situation with human rights in these establishments.

On 7 April a press conference of Volodymir Butenko, the head of the Kharkiv regional branch of the State department of penitentiaries, was held in the press-center of the informational agency “Status Quo”. The topic of the conference was “New priorities of penitentiary system”.

Open letter to Volodymir Moysik, the Head of the Committee of the Supreme Council of Ukraine in charge of legislative provision of law-enforcing activities, from Oleksandr BUKALOV, the Head of the association of penitentiaries of Ukraine.

Some statistics.

Violations of the Constitutional rights of citizens and the demands of the laws concerning the material, medical and sanitary provision of convicts in preliminary prisons are systematic. This depressing conclusion was made after a check conducted by the prosecutor’s office.

The upkeep conditions in the special penitentiary establishments of Kirovograd do not meet the requirements of the Ukrainian Constitution and the European committee against torture. The work of the preliminary prisons was suspended in several districts of the oblast.

The dialog between Evhen Zakharov (the Kharkov Group for human rights protection) and Natalya Dulneva (the Ukrainian Association “Amnesty International”, Lviv) on some terms concerning the conception of human rights protection.