Analysis of the website of the Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments
Over the first 6 months of 2010, in the period from January to July, the website of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments (hereinafter – the State Department) presented 94 information reports (which appeared in the ‘News’, ‘Press Releases’, and ‘What’s New?’ sections). At the same time, it is worth noting that some articles are duplicated across different sections of the site. The majority—84%—report on events initiated by the Department itself, 5.3% inform about initiatives by public organisations, and 10.7% inform about the work of other institutions related to the activities of the criminal-executive system. (Certain repetitive articles were not taken into account).
Who helps in executing punishments, or with whom the Department collaborates
An analysis of the information content makes it possible to identify the institutions with which the Department conducts joint activities. Thus, according to reports on the State Department website, the most frequently mentioned state structure is the Ministry of Justice (12 mentions), followed by the Centres for Social Services for Family, Children and Youth (8 mentions). Information regarding the interaction of the Department or its institutions with the prosecutor’s office was reported slightly less frequently (6 mentions).
Among public organisations, the absolute leaders in terms of the number of mentions are the Chernihiv City Youth Organisation ‘Youth AlteRnaTive’ (MO MART) and the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group. The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union is mentioned three times. Overall, according to the information on the site, the activities of human rights organisations are presented in a positive tone.
For example, a report on an extended meeting of the State Department board held on 22 January 2010 contains the following information: *‘The activities of penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres were constantly under the purview of... human rights organisations and public associations. Based on the results of the activities of the bodies and institutions for the execution of punishments for 2009, it was stated that the criminal-executive service is manageable, operates stably, and fulfils the tasks defined by the Constitution, the laws of Ukraine, and acts of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the President of Ukraine.’* At the same time, the site contains one report stating that a human rights organisation informed about instances of human rights violations in one of the department’s institutions and circulated information ‘about the alleged beating of juvenile convicts by the administration of the Kuryazh Educational Colony of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments in the Kharkiv Region.’
Furthermore, there are mentions on the site regarding the work of consultative-advisory bodies. Public councils are mentioned four times, and supervisory commissions three times. The conduct of public, external monitoring of the activities of penal institutions is mentioned four times. Notably, one report states that representatives of the public council were involved in verifying information about the beating of convicts in one of the colonies. It should be noted that the Department’s information regarding various emergency events does not contain a description of the causes of their occurrence. However, the material presented on the site informs that the responsible officials are being held accountable and that measures to ensure law and order are being applied. Yet, descriptions of what the guilt consists of, or the essence of the measures applied, are not provided in the materials.
The ‘most popular’ staff violations
Based on the subject matter, the largest volume, on average, consists of articles about working meetings and festive events, such as the celebration of International Children’s Day, as well as information reports about various offences.
Thus, over the first 6 months of 2010, 9 reports about various violations and shortcomings in the work of penitentiary institutions appeared on the site. This accounts for 9.6% of the total number of information materials. Most frequently mentioned are offences with signs of corruption. Overall, according to data from the site for the period from January to July 2010, 197 such crimes were recorded.
At the same time, the last report in the ‘Prevention of corruption manifestations’ section was posted on 31 July 2008. Analysing the types of liability to which employees of the criminal-executive system were subjected for committing corrupt acts, it can be stated that the most frequently applied is disciplinary liability, which was used 106 times, accounting for 60.2%. All types of liability described in the articles, with specific details for some of them, were taken into account.
Transparency of financial activities
The frequency of information reports disclosing one or another part of the Department’s financial activities is about 1:7. That is, approximately every seventh report refers to the financial aspect of the work of the State Department or individual institutions. The site contains information about budgetary processes in five colonies and four pre-trial detention centres. This, in turn, represents only 4.9% of the total number of institutions of the State Criminal-Executive Service of Ukraine. Why the work of other institutions is not presented in the context of financial activity, or according to what principle such information is selected for placement on the site, is unclear. At the same time, it is worth noting that in the Procurement Plans for goods and services found in the information reports, specific amounts are presented in only a few materials.
Vladimir Bocharov-Tuz
[email protected]
0972826521