Berdychiv Correctional Colony (No. 70)
Berdychiv Correctional Colony (No. 70) is a maximum-security correctional institution intended for holding men sentenced to imprisonment for intentional grave and especially grave crimes, as well as specific categories of convicts defined by the Criminal-Executive Code of Ukraine.
Within the structure of the institution, a maximum-security sector for persons sentenced to life imprisonment operates. The institution is located in the city of Berdychiv, Zhytomyr region, and is one of the oldest penitentiary institutions in Ukraine. Its history dates back to the end of the 18th century, when, during the time of the Russian Empire, a transit prison was created on the territory of the city, serving one of the main staging routes of Right-Bank Ukraine.
Over the following centuries, the institution repeatedly changed its purpose and subordination, functioning as a transit prison, a penal institution, a correctional labour colony, and a modern execution of sentences institution. In the 20th century, the institution's territory was used by various punitive bodies, and after the Second World War, it became part of the Soviet system of correctional labour institutions.
After Ukraine gained independence, the colony became a component of the State Criminal-Executive Service of Ukraine and continued to function as a maximum-security institution. An important area of the colony’s activity is the organisation of paid labour for convicts. Production units specialise in the manufacture of school furniture, metal structures, containers for household waste, reinforced concrete products, paving slabs, wooden packaging, and other industrial products. Convicts also have the opportunity to acquire professional skills, which contributes to their re-socialisation and preparation for release.
Berdychiv Correctional Colony (No. 70) is regularly under the purview of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and human rights organisations. During monitoring visits, the conditions of detention, the provision of the right to work, medical assistance, access to education, disciplinary practices, conditions of detention for persons sentenced to life imprisonment, and other aspects of human rights compliance are assessed. Based on the results of monitoring visits in recent years, recommendations were provided to the institution regarding the improvement of material and living conditions, medical provision, the realisation of the right to work, ensuring privacy, the refinement of disciplinary procedures, and bringing the institution’s activities into compliance with the requirements of the Criminal-Executive Code of Ukraine, the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, the recommendations of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), and other international standards for the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty.
Contact information: State Institution “Berdychiv Correctional Colony (No. 70)”. Address: 13300, Zhytomyr region, Berdychiv, Nyzhiretska Street, 1.
Head: Oleksandr Pavlovych Dorobaliuk
Telephone: +38 (067) 410-07-63
Email: [email protected]