The Ombudsman has initiated proceedings to verify the legality of the actions taken by special forces units at Kopychyntsi Correctional Colony No. 112

In order to urgently verify information disseminated on the Internet regarding the mass beating of convicts at Kopychyntsi Correctional Colony No. 112 in the Ternopil region, employees of the Department for the Implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism carried out an unannounced visit to this institution.

During the verification of this information, seven convicts whose names were mentioned on Internet resources were interviewed, as well as other convicts who, according to them, had also been beaten.

During a superficial examination of the aforementioned individuals, various bodily injuries were discovered on four of them, specifically:

- In two cases, lacerated wounds to the forearms. During the interview, the convicts explained that they had inflicted these injuries upon themselves as a sign of protest, in order to prevent the use of physical force against them and other convicts by personnel from the special forces unit;

- In one case, lacerated wounds to the forearms and neck. In a written statement, the convict indicated that he had inflicted bodily injuries upon himself after being beaten by personnel from the special forces unit. After analyzing the relevant video footage recorded during the search, it was determined that physical force was used against him in order to halt his unlawful actions aimed at causing himself bodily harm.

- In one of the convicts, minor bodily injuries which, according to the explanations of the institution's administration, were sustained in connection with his refusal to leave the cell, obstruction of the search, and physical resistance.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights initiated proceedings to verify the legality of the actions taken by special forces unit personnel during the search. As part of the proceedings, the Commissioner sent relevant inquiries to the Ternopil Regional Prosecutor's Office and the leadership of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine.
In particular, in a letter to the leadership of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine, the Commissioner for Human Rights draws attention to the illegality of using special forces units in the absence of relevant regulatory legislation governing their activities; at the time the aforementioned actions were carried out, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine had cancelled the state registration of the order of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences dated 10.10.2005 No. 167 (registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 16.02.2006 under No. 138/12012), “On Approval of the Regulation on the Special Forces Unit,” which defined the procedure for using the aforementioned units in penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres. The specified order was excluded from the State Register of Regulatory and Legal Acts on 14 January 2008.