Monitoring visit to the State Institution "Novhorod-Siverskyi Penal Institution No. 31"

1. General Information

On 3 December 2021, a monitoring group consisting of an assistant consultant to a People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Maksym Revyakin, and two journalists, Hanna Ovdiienko and Pavlo Shvab, visited the State Institution "Novhorod-Siverskyi Penal Institution No. 31." This is an institution that consists of a maximum-security sector for life-sentenced prisoners and a remand center section that serves three surrounding districts.

At the time of the visit, there were 102 prisoners in the institution. The planned capacity of the institution is 146 persons. According to the staffing table, the size of the institution’s administration is 164 people, and on the day of the visit, the actual number of personnel was 152.

The monitors were met by the head of the institution, who checked their documents and allowed the monitors into the institution’s territory without hindrance. Following this, the monitors were subjected to temperature screening and asked about the presence of vaccination certificates against coronavirus. However, after an affirmative answer about their availability, the certificates were not checked.

2. Maximum-Security Sector

In the maximum-security sector, prisoners are housed in cells of two to three people. The area standards per person in a cell comply with the established legal norms. The cells require current repairs, as the walls are dirty and covered in fungus. Bunk beds are installed in the residential premises. The windows in the cells are metal-plastic. It was quite warm in all residential areas. Toilets are partitioned by walls and have small doors, which do not ensure a sufficient level of privacy. Furthermore, the toilets lack a U-bend and flush tanks, which causes a specific unpleasant smell of sewage. Therefore, the sewer holes were plugged with makeshift stoppers. There were no drinking water containers in the cells.

There is a prayer room in the maximum-security sector. According to the administration, the prisoners mainly profess Orthodoxy.

The exercise yards are located on the roof of the building. Two yards have undergone major repairs. All yards have sports equipment, but protection from atmospheric precipitation is insufficient.

3. Unit for Prisoners Left for Maintenance Work

The living rooms in the maintenance block have been recently renovated, and are clean and tidy. The monitors note with approval the placement of beds at a significant distance from one another. Metal-plastic windows are installed in the rooms. There is all the necessary kitchenware in the dining areas.

In the sanitary facility, two toilets are installed, separated by a small wall without doors, which does not provide an appropriate level of privacy. There are also handbasins in the sanitary room, and a boiler is installed for heating water.

According to representatives of the administration, it is currently quite difficult for the institution to keep a sufficient number of prisoners for maintenance work. This is connected with amendments to the Criminal Code, according to which, for first-time offenders of minor and medium-severity crimes, sentences not involving imprisonment are prescribed.

4. Kitchen

The institution's kitchen is fully renovated. New cooking stoves have been installed. The vegetable preparation area is also renovated, but the meat area requires repairs.