Suicide at Strizhavka Penal Colony No. 81

On 2 June 2008, several human rights organisations received information about the suicide of convict Serhii Maksymov, born in 1985, at Penal Colony No. 81. This information was confirmed by employees of the Vinnytsia Department of the State Department of Ukraine for Execution of Punishments.
According to the source, Serhii hanged himself in the workshop of the industrial zone at Strizhavka Penal Colony. The suicide was a consequence of the administration’s cruel treatment of the convict. According to the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group, the deceased was registered as a high-risk individual for suicide. The medical service of penal institution No. 81 was aware of this but failed to take appropriate measures. “Such an inability of the state to prevent convicts from committing suicide and to provide them with necessary and adequate psychiatric care is a violation of Ukraine’s international obligations, in particular Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,” notes the statement from the VHRG.