Human rights defenders demand investigation into beatings at the Simferopol SIZO

Simferopol – Representatives of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group are insisting on an immediate investigation into information regarding the brutal and mass beating of prisoners at the pre-trial detention centre in Simferopol. They reported that they had received this information from several sources, and according to it, two prisoners were maimed, four were brutally beaten, and one was thrown into a punishment cell. Officials of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine deny the human rights defenders’ data.

Andriy Didenko, coordinator of programmes at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, said that information first arrived about the arrival, on the eve of the May holidays, of about 40 soldiers of the State Penitentiary Service special unit armed with automatic weapons on the territory of the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre.

Human rights defenders immediately had concerns regarding the safety of the prisoners, because shortly before this, following their complaints, an inspection by the leadership apparatus of the State Service, conducted jointly with the Crimean Prosecutor’s Office, revealed numerous abuses by the management of the Simferopol SIZO, which became the reason for the dismissal of the institution’s management staff.

And on 6 May, according to Andriy Didenko, it became known from unverified but various sources that fighters of the State Penitentiary Service special unit, who were on the territory of the Simferopol SIZO, had beaten the prisoners. The scale of this is not yet known and is being investigated by human rights defenders, but they have learned the names of seven victims, of whom Serhiy Rudenko received leg injuries, and another prisoner, Serhiy Kozlov, had his kidney damaged.

Does the special contingent want to discredit the administration?

Mykola Shyshchenko, a representative of the Crimean administration of the State Penitentiary Service, categorically denies the information from the human rights defenders: “As for anyone being beaten—no such fact has been registered. No one was put in a punishment cell.”

Mykola Shyshchenko says that he personally spoke with the prison doctors and visited the punishment cell.

At the same time, the official press release of the Crimean administration states that operation “Shield” began at the Simferopol SIZO on the eve of the May holidays, and according to its initial results, many mobile phones, DVD players, sharp/cutting objects, and other items were confiscated from persons held in custody.

The carrying out of regime measures, provided for by Ukrainian legislation, causes dissatisfaction among the special contingent of the Simferopol SIZO, which is trying to “discredit the lawful demands of the administration representatives,” states the press release.

Will state institutions react?

Andriy Didenko, coordinator of programmes at the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, says that this information requires both a thorough investigation and an immediate reaction from the Prosecutor’s Office and the leadership of the State Penitentiary Service: “We want to create a mobile group that would be capable of verifying these facts. Currently, we are trying to find the support of People’s Deputies of Ukraine and trying to involve the apparatus of the Human Rights Commissioner so that, while this information is fresh, these tortures, if they took place, can be documented, and we can demand an adequate reaction from the Prosecutor’s Office.”

Andriy Didenko reported that on Wednesday in Kyiv, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group will hold a roundtable where it will raise the issue of this incident.

This will also be discussed on the same day in Simferopol at a press conference of the heads of the Crimean administration of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine.