OPEN APPEAL

OPEN APPEAL
from the staff and veterans of the
State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine
The collective and veterans of the penitentiary service are extremely outraged by the actions and statements of individual Ukrainian politicians, by which they discredit the entire system of execution of sentences in the state.
The excessive concentration of attention around the activities of the bodies and institutions for the execution of sentences and certain individuals who take advantage of their social and financial status creates moral tension and leads to the distraction of staff from the performance of their direct duties and to constant justifications before society for groundless, and sometimes frankly false, accusations.
Such a situation is currently taking place in the Kyiv pre-trial detention centre and the Kachanivska correctional colony, where information is systematically distorted by representatives of the media, individual People’s Deputies from the BYuT, and public figures interested in them, for the purpose of influencing public opinion.
Thus, since the moment Ms Y. Tymoshenko was placed in the Kyiv SIZO, and subsequently after she was sent to the Kachanivska correctional colony of Kharkiv region, information has been systematically published by media representatives and People’s Deputies about the abuse of the ex-prime minister, the failure to provide her with medical assistance, and the unprofessionalism of our employees.
Although the real state of affairs is somewhat different, and the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine has repeatedly informed society of this.
During her stay in the Kyiv pre-trial detention centre and the Kachanivska correctional colony, Ms Tymoshenko underwent 61 commission medical examinations, and in 33 cases she refused the services of doctors. 25 specialists of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine of the highest qualification category were involved in these examinations, including 4 academicians, 15 doctors and candidates of medical sciences, as well as 5 foreign doctors, including 2 professors from the Charité clinic (Germany) and 3 doctors from Canada.
During this period, Ms Y. Tymoshenko was provided 10 massage sessions with the participation of a personal nurse in the Kyiv SIZO, and another 20 in the Kachanivska correctional colony.
Along with this, Ms Y. Tymoshenko was repeatedly subjected to instrumental and laboratory examinations of the state of her health, including being taken to healthcare facilities in the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Ms Y. Tymoshenko’s state of health was cared for daily by the medical staff of the penitentiary department’s institutions, where, during her time in the SIZO and the correctional colony, she was examined by departmental doctors more than 250 times, of which in 218 cases she nonetheless refused medical services.
But no... Today the department’s employees are ‘jailers’. It is appropriate to mention a few more comparisons of the State Penitentiary Service employees that are currently being spread by deputies Vlasenko, Pashynskyi, and others in the media, on internet portals, and in individual comments: ‘Fascists’, ‘executioners’, ‘traders of freedom’, ‘inhuman’, ‘henchmen of power’...
It will surely be fair to respond to her: ‘if you are sick, get treated; if you consider yourself innocent, defend yourself in court, prove your rightness and innocence, use legal leverage, and do not “raise waves of discontent” regarding the conditions of treatment in Ministry of Health medical facilities and the institution.’
And although most thinking people understand the entire anatomy of political defence to avoid responsibility for a committed crime, I would like, on behalf of the 50,000-strong collective of employees, their relatives, and service veterans, to express the wish not to ‘heap all the blame on the penitentiary department’.
Considering the significant public resonance of international scale, every action of an ordinary employee of the institution, a regional-level manager, or the management of the State Penitentiary Service apparatus is considered and complies with the norms of current legislation. Everyone perfectly understands that allowing any mistakes or violations regarding public figures puts at risk not only the image of the penitentiary service, but the Ukrainian authorities and the international authority of our state as a whole.
And now let us ask ourselves the question again: ‘Could an institution employee, at night, by force, without Ms Y. Tymoshenko’s consent, with the practically daily presence of a lawyer-deputy, beat up a woman, especially the former prime minister of the country?’
Or another question: ‘Is history repeating itself with the appearance last autumn on Ms Y. Tymoshenko’s body (when she was held in the Kyiv SIZO) of unknown spots? Indeed, of an aetiology unknown to doctors, but there was no resonance then, and now is probably a very convenient time for it. However, one should not be too distracted and forget, or not allow the people to forget, about the official back pain. After all, one can “get carried away”.’
And recently, certain individuals have crossed the line of what is permissible. Insults, threats, calls for reprisal, and even physical extermination are being directed at workers of the criminal-executive service and their family members.
And now, thanks to a clearly structured line of defence for Ms Y. Tymoshenko, highly professional calls for justice, and the persistent formation of ‘correct’ public opinion, we have a situation where some active truth-seeker calls for finding and dealing with the family and directly the deputy head of the institution who is responsible for security, the regime, and other areas of activity of the Kachanivska institution.
Yes, today the penitentiary department has certain problems, a number of issues require special attention from society, assistance from the state, and effective control by the management of the Service.
But today, the penitentiary system is becoming a hostage to political games instead of focusing its efforts on building a civilised penitentiary system in Ukraine that would comply with universally recognised European standards for the observance of human rights.
However, today there is much for the modern State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine to be proud of, and the department’s management is ready to systematically inform society about the achievements obtained.
For whom this is unconvincing – we invite you to serve in the bodies and institutions of the penitentiary department. Take personal part in the cleansing, revival, and recovery of our society. After all, one of the state tasks facing the penitentiary department is exactly that.
And one more moment. The State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine is today appealing to the court with a request for the protection of the honour and dignity of the Service’s employees, with a demand to recognise the information from People’s Deputies S. Pashynskyi, S. Vlasenko, and others as defamatory to the department’s business reputation, and also with a demand to publicly refute the information in a way that is open to society.

Collective of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine

Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Trade Union of Personnel of Bodies
and Institutions of the Penitentiary Service
O. A. Andriienko

Chairman of the Council of the All-Ukrainian Public
Organisation ‘Association of Veterans of the State
Penitentiary Service of Ukraine’
I. V. Shtanko