Emergency in Penal Colony No. 100

On 28 March, the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group distributed a statement that about 40 convicts at Temnivska Penal Colony No. 100 had mutilated themselves in protest against the conditions of detention and the cruelty of the administration. Human rights activists demanded immediate access for journalists and representatives of the Public Council under the Department of Corrections in the Kharkiv region to the territory of PC No. 100. They called on the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights to conduct an inspection of the information about the emergency in PC No. 100 and to inform the public about the results of the inspection.

On the same day, a press release appeared on the official website of the State Department for the Execution of Punishments, in which the following was reported: “The State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments officially declares that on 27 March 2008, at Temnivska Penal Colony No. 100, 24 convicts, after lights-out, inflicted minor cuts on their arms with blades from disposable razors. The convicts motivate their actions by the overly strict regime of detention. In particular, they demand that they be granted free movement around the institution. Physical force and special means were not used against the convicts. At the present time, the situation in the institution is stable. A commission consisting of representatives of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, the Department’s administration in the Kharkiv region, employees of the regional prosecutor’s office, and representatives of human rights organisations is working at the scene of the incident.”
According to information available to human rights activists, the situation in the colony remains unstable. During 28 March, the majority of convicts who protested against inhuman conditions of detention did not have the opportunity to meet with representatives of the media and the representative of the public who was admitted to the territory of the colony.
Taking into account the high risk of illegal violence being used against the convicts, and being aware of the high probability of the penitentiary administration concealing the true picture of what is taking place at PC No. 100, the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group took an unprecedented step and published available information, obtained illegally, about the list of convicts who committed self-mutilation.
1. Aliev Murad Ekhtiramovych, born 1977
2. Bahrych Oleksandr Mykhailovych, born 1972
3. Bieloborodov Anatolii Anatoliiovych (7th unit)
4. Yevtukh Oleksandr Serhiiovych
5. Kaist Mykola Pavlovych, born 1961 (has been on hunger strike for 14 days!)
6. Kastrov Ruslan, 7th unit
7. Lavreniuk Denys Volodymyrovych (5th unit)
8. Lukianniuk Andrii Vasylovych, born 1983
9. Myslyvets Oleksandr Mykolaiovych (7th unit)
10. Mykhailov Roman (7th unit)
11. Mukhin Roman Hryhorovych (7th unit)
12. Oleinyk Yurii Mykolaiovych (5th unit)
13. Pastukhov Mykhailo Serhiiovych (7th unit)
14. Pozyrov Ruslan Yuriiovych, born 1973
*15. Seliukov Serhii Oleksandrovych, born 1983 (presumably severely beaten, being hidden by the administration in the basement of the prison hospital)*
16. Serebrianskyi Stanislav Anatoliiovych (7th unit)
17. Syvakov Petro (4th unit), born 1956
18. Starozhylov Ihor Valeriiovych, born 1980
19. Tadieiev Roman, 4th unit
*20. Titora Yaroslav, 4th unit (presumably severely beaten, being hidden by the administration in the basement of the prison hospital)*
21. Kharchenko Hennadii Volodymyrovych, born 1983 (6th unit)
22. Cherednichenko Mykola Serhiiovych (7th unit)
23. Shliakhtichenko Dmytro Volodymyrovych
Human rights activists demand that the colony administration provide them and the journalists with the opportunity to speak with the convict Klimkov Serhii (9th detachment).
Appealing to journalists, human rights activists ask them to cover the events in Colony No. 100 professionally and impartially, basing themselves not only on the information provided by the penitentiary administration, but also on facts that can be gathered independently. Human rights activists advise that when journalists speak with convicts, they should verify the identity of the convict using photographs contained in personal files, in connection with the risk that the real complainants, who are on the VHRG list, will be replaced by other individuals.
The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group apologises in advance for possible inaccuracies in the surnames and names of the convicts, and asks to consider that obtaining this information became possible exclusively thanks to the efforts of decent employees of the penitentiary system, who consider it intolerable that human rights are violated in the institutions of the criminal punishment system.

Late on the evening of 28 March, a representative of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group was admitted to Temnivska Colony No. 100.
The victims, with their belongings, were at that time awaiting transfer to the medical unit. They had bandaged hands. Some had one, some had both. But their condition, in the view of the human rights activist, was satisfactory. The three most severely mutilated were not among them, and the KHPG representative was never allowed to speak with these victims. Two convicts demonstrated fresh abrasions on their legs and, in the presence of representatives of the administration, declared that this was the result of an unsuccessful fall. Later, the convicts showed the human rights activist a man with an abrasion on his head, which could in no way have been obtained through self-harm. In addition to the abrasion on his head, the man also had a leg in a cast - a fracture of the big toe.
The convicts only began to tell about the reasons for the self-mutilation after they were convinced that they were indeed facing a representative of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group. In the presence of representatives of the institution’s administration, they complained about constant humiliation: “They don't treat us like people, they despise us, they don't fulfill the requirements of the Criminal-Executive Code”.
Convict S. said that the reason for his self-mutilation was the biased attitude towards him from the “detachment officer”. S. fears that a criminal case could be initiated against him under Art. 391 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration of the penal colony) and add to his term of imprisonment, which ends in 54 days. The administration denies the existence of such intentions.
Another convict spoke about the fact that he was given a parcel from his wife only after the food had already spoiled.
Convicts complained that they are often denied short-term and long-term visits even when relatives are already waiting under the institution. There were complaints about intentional provocation or simply the fabrication of regime violations for the purpose of depriving them of entitled benefits.
Many complaints were voiced about medical care: an asthma patient was forbidden from having an inhaler; a HIV-infected convict claimed that he is not being treated at all. This issue, according to the administration, is supposedly in the stage of seeking a resolution.
Several people complained about the prohibition on having medicines with them and spoke about the fact that the medical unit is located far away, that one might not even make it there. They cited an example when a 30-year-old convict died on the way to the medical unit. A significant number of convicts from among those with whom the human rights activist managed to speak noted high mortality in the colony: “in our detachment, three have passed away in a short time”. They told of a grandfather who is constantly writing complaints about his poor state of health and is not receiving any medical help.
The convicts also complained about the meagre pay for exhausting work in the industrial zone. A Chernobyl liquidator said that his pension was transferred to the place where he is located, but the money has not been credited to his account.
They spoke about the frequent use of special means against convicts, including a straitjacket, which is put on wet, and while it dries, a person feels inhuman suffering.
All those interviewed expressed grievances that journalists who visited the colony on 28 March were not allowed to see them. Instead, journalists were presented with people who were not complaining about anything.

The convicts put forward only one demand - that during the investigation, no sanctions be applied to them, that they not be beaten, and that a special forces detachment not be brought in.
They hope for a change in the colony leadership following the results of the investigation.

Today, representatives of the ombudsman arrived at the colony, which was the reason for not admitting the human rights activists of the KHPG to the territory of the institution (?).

Read on the same topic:
http://maidanua.org/static/news/2007/1206694007.html
http://www.kvs.gov.ua/punish/control/uk/publish/article?art_id=61042&cat_id=47123
http://maidanua.org/static/news/2007/1206737080.html
http://www.khpg.org/index.php?id=1206975257