Training on ‘The Right to Information’ for convicts

The training, organised by the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’ within the framework of the project ‘Implementation of the programme of social adaptation and social support for persons being released from places of deprivation of liberty, in the Chernihiv region’, took place on 22 January 2013 in Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44, where repeat-offender women are held.
The topic of the training was: ‘The Right to Information’. The number of convicted women who participated in the training was 19. In addition, taking part in its work were: the Deputy Head of Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44, heads of the units from which convicts are released, and members of the Chernihiv City Supervisory Commission.
During the training, the convicts were acquainted with the main provisions of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the European Prison Rules regarding the right to information. In accordance with international standards, all convicts must be informed in writing and orally about the Internal Regulations and about their rights and duties in the penitentiary institution, about the procedure for submitting proposals, applications, and complaints, as well as about the organisation of personal reception of convicts by the administration of the institutions.
The Deputy Head of the Chernihiv City Supervisory Commission, G.M. Kropyva, provided information to the convicts about the legislative regulation of their right to information about their rights and duties, and the order and conditions of execution/serving of the sentence. In his speech, he noted that the current Criminal-Executive Code of Ukraine provides that convicts enjoy all human and citizen rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine, with the exception of the restrictions defined by this code, the laws of Ukraine, and established by the court sentence, and also that they have the right to receive information about their rights and duties, and the order and conditions of the execution/serving of the sentence imposed by the court.
In the course of the training, the convicts were acquainted with the main provisions of the Laws of Ukraine ‘On Citizens' Appeals’ and ‘On Information’.
Handout materials were prepared for the convicts, which contained the main regulatory-legal documents that regulate the process of social adaptation of released persons, the procedure for registration at the chosen place of residence, obtaining lost documents, etc.
When summing up the results of the training, the quality of the knowledge acquired was checked. Each of the released persons was given the addresses, surnames, names, and patronymics of the officials who head the supervisory commissions, employment centres, centres for social services for children, families, and youth, and the migration service of the region where the convicts intend to reside after release.
They also received answers to questions concerning the guarantees of their right to information.
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The goal of the project ‘Implementation of the programme of social adaptation and social support for persons being released from places of deprivation of liberty in the Chernihiv region’, which is being carried out by the charitable organisation ‘Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre’ with the support of the Crisis Humanitarian Programme of the International Renaissance Foundation, is to create conditions for the social rehabilitation and adaptation of persons being released from Chernihiv Correctional Colony No. 44 by equipping a pre-release preparation room, and providing legal, social-psychological, and medical assistance.