Stryzhavka colony to be inspected

First Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov has listened to the requests of human rights defenders and ordered a comprehensive inspection of Stryzhavka Correctional Colony No. 81 (Vinnytsia region).

The Vinnytsia city public organisation “Vinnytsia Human Rights Group” is forced to regularly report to the public numerous reports of human rights violations that reach human rights defenders from Stryzhavka Correctional Colony No. 81 of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences. We have repeatedly “broadcast” these complaints to the public and law enforcement agencies, however, the prosecutor’s office consistently answers that not a single fact of violations of convicts’ rights has been confirmed, the situation in the colony is controlled and calm, and human rights are being observed. The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group does not believe these reassuring reports from the Prosecutor’s Office of the Vinnytsia region, which is known in Ukraine for its tendency to cover up criminal actions of law enforcement agencies, its contempt for human rights, and its lack of transparency in checking reports of violations of convicts’ rights.

Since the President of Ukraine, who according to the Constitution should be the “guarantor of the observance of human and civil rights and freedoms,” remains indifferent to numerous complaints about violations of the rights of convicts, the use of illegal violence against them, and the use of slave labour, and since the only reaction of the President to reports of human rights violations in the institutions of the Department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences in the Vinnytsia region was the Decree on awarding the head of the Department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences, Colonel of the Internal Service S. Tkach, the rank of Major General of the Internal Service, we were forced to appeal to the First Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, with a request to urgently conduct an inspection of the numerous signals about human rights violations in this institution, which many convicts and their relatives call a “death camp.”
On 4 September 2008, the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group received official confirmation that, by the order of First Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine O. V. Turchynov, it was entrusted to organise and conduct a comprehensive inspection of the activities of Stryzhavka Correctional Colony No. 81. According to the information available to VPG, the commission’s work will last four days – from Monday, 8 September 2008, to Thursday, 11 September 2008. The commission, which will include representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Main Control and Auditing Department, the State Tax Administration, and the Ministry of Justice, will be headed by the Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Korniychuk; the Deputy Head of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences, Iltyay, will also be a member of the commission.
According to unverified information available to VPG, for the third day now, employees of the control service of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences have been working in the accounting department of SCK No. 81 and at the enterprise of the same name where convicts work; they have been tasked by the Kyiv leadership to “prepare” the accounting for inspection by representatives of the Main Control and Auditing Department. However, how will it be possible to conceal the fact of Magomed Magomaev holding the positions of Director of the SCK No. 81 enterprise and Head of the Stryzhavka Colony No. 81, which is confirmed by an official certificate from the Main Department of Statistics in the Vinnytsia region? How will it be possible to forge documents on salary payments to prisoners who work an average of 45 hours per week into their personal accounts in cash in amounts of 10-12 hryvnias per month? Will it be possible to falsify the confirmation that some sick prisoners are forced to independently pay for their transfer to special closed hospital facilities? We believe that the commission members will be able to see with their own eyes the private house that the colony’s head is building not far from the colony, and to evaluate the house built in Vinnytsia in the “Stare Misto” district. We will provide an opportunity for the commission members to talk with former convicts, who will tell them about the system of slave labour and inhuman exploitation of convicts. We also believe that the commission members will personally check what amounts, on average, are paid by the convicts of SCK No. 81 to victims of crimes under so-called “civil lawsuits.” We also ask the commission to carefully check how the price paid by convicts for the use of so-called “communal services” is formed. We also suggest checking how the profits of the State Treasury Enterprise SCK No. 81 (EDRPOU code 08679600) are spent, and how it was possible for the specified enterprise to pay, at the expense of funds earned by the convicts, the court expenses of the Stryzhavka colony in the total amount of 5030 UAH 00 kop. according to p.d. 1041 and 1042.
We warn the commission members that the convicts may be in a state of fear and afraid to tell the truth. In addition, according to our information, from 14 August 2008 to the present, up to 15 people who were ready to complain about human rights violations have been moved by the colony and the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences to other penal institutions of Ukraine.
The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group expects a meeting with the commission members. We will publish a full list of people who need to be met, providing them with appropriate security guarantees, regarding the receipt of information about the facts of possible human rights violations in the colony on Monday, 8 September 2008, after the commission’s arrival in Vinnytsia.

The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group officially appeals to the members of the commission to completely refuse during their stay in Vinnytsia to have any joint meals and informal contacts with the leadership of SCK No. 81 and the Department of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences in the Vinnytsia region. We imagine how difficult it is to live on 30 hryvnias per day, but that is the amount determined by the relevant decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. We ask the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in the Vinnytsia region to make any influence on the commission members during the inspection impossible. We call on representatives of the media to conscientiously perform their professional duties, reporting truthful information to society about the situation in the colony.
Guided by the principles defined in the Law of Ukraine “On democratic civilian control over the Military Organisation and law enforcement agencies of the state,” the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group calls on the commission of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to involve members of the Public Council under the Department of the State Department of Ukraine in the Vinnytsia region in conducting the inspection.
The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group is ready to delegate its representatives to work in the commission and provide every possible assistance in establishing the truth during the inspection.
We appeal to all convicts who are in Stryzhavka Colony No. 81: Almost every day we receive calls and illegally transmitted letters from you with requests for help and reports about the cruelty and injustice you have to face. We know that many of you are scared and disheartened. However, the time has come to tell the truth. The authorities that humiliate and exploit you are no longer able to hide the humiliation and exploitation. It was difficult for us to achieve the formation of a comprehensive commission to inspect the activities of the Stryzhavka colony, but we were able to achieve this. Now you will be able to be heard, so do not be silent! Demand a meeting with the commission members without the presence of the administration, do not be afraid to tell the truth, it will not get any worse!
We appeal to former convicts of SCK No. 81 who were released in 2008 and 2007. Please contact the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group immediately, it is very important for us to receive information from you about what your experience was as convicts of this penitentiary institution. We will ask some of you to speak with the commission members, because otherwise, society will not learn the truth.
The Vinnytsia Human Rights Group emphasises that we are not pursuing any goals other than the protection of human rights, we do not serve any political force or business structure, and we are ready for an honest dialogue with the authorities, the goal of which can only be a high-quality and transparent inspection of reports of human rights violations, bringing those responsible to justice, and creating conditions that will make further human rights violations impossible.