Report on the Results of a Monitoring Visit to the Ivano-Frankivsk Penal Institution No. 12
The Ivano-Frankivsk Penal Institution functions as a remand prison for holding persons in custody regarding whom a custodial preventive measure has been selected within the framework of criminal proceedings.
The institution includes a medical unit and transit cells for the temporary detention of individuals awaiting transfer to other facilities. There is also a maximum-security sector for housing life-sentenced prisoners and a maintenance unit for the facility's operations.
The remand prison holds individuals who have been placed in custody by court order, or who are subject to temporary or extradition arrest; convicted persons whose sentences have not yet entered into legal force and for whom custody has been chosen as a preventive measure; as well as first-time offenders convicted of minor crimes who have been kept in the facility for work in the maintenance unit. The remand prison contains a maximum-security sector for housing men sentenced to life imprisonment, which held 34 inmates at the time of the visit.
During the visit, the monitoring group examined documentation related to the facility’s operations and medical records. They also inspected the intake department posts, cells for holding remand prisoners and life-sentenced inmates, cells for women, utility rooms, and the medical unit to assess their compliance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation and international standards.
The head of the institution is Volodymyr Bohdanovych Atamaniuk.
General Information
According to the institution’s management, 266 individuals arrived during the current year. In 2022, 127 persons were released; in 2023, 145 persons. In 2022, two individuals were released on parole, and one was transferred to more lenient conditions of detention. In 2023, three individuals were released on parole, and one was transferred to a more lenient regime. One instance of the use of special means (physical force and handcuffs) was recorded during the current year. There are 13 socially isolated inmates in the institution. Twelve are prone to suicide, 14 to self-harm, and five to escape. Six inmates sentenced to life imprisonment are under preventive supervision. Eleven individuals, who are first-time offenders convicted of minor crimes and whose sentences have entered into legal force, work in maintenance roles. There was no one in the punishment cell. The remand prison employs one psychologist. Twenty-two inmates have personal tablets with internet access.
During 2022, there were 15 long-term visits, and in 2023, there were 16. There were 112 short-term visits in 2022, 100 of which were through glass, and 12 of which were contact visits. In 2023, there were 137 short-term visits in total, 57 of which were through glass, and 80 of which were contact visits. In the current year, 4,493 telephone calls have been made.
Monitors from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group conducted research regarding the sending and receiving of correspondence at this institution. During 2022, 35 closed letters were sent to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and 13 were sent in 2023. Received: 29 letters in 2022, and 16 in 2023. Sent to the prosecutor’s office: 210 appeals in 2022, and 86 in 2023. Received: 211 letters in 2022, and 178 in the current year. During 2022, 992 appeals were sent to other state bodies, and 620 in 2023. Sixty-six letters were sent to human rights organisations in 2022, and 11 in 2023.
Ivano-Frankivsk City Medical Unit No. 12 of the Health Care Centre of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine in the Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, and Ternopil Regions
During the visit, the monitoring group reviewed medical documentation and inspected doctors’ offices, the X-ray room, wards, and other premises of the medical unit to assess their compliance with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation and international standards. The head of the medical unit is Andriy Lyzyn.
According to information provided by the medical unit staff, the following positions are filled: head of the medical unit (doctor) — 1 position; general practitioner/family doctor — 1 position; dermatologist-venereologist — 0.5 position; psychiatrist — 0.5 position; phthisiatrician (TB specialist) — 0.5 position; radiologist — 0.5 position; infectious disease specialist — 0.5 position; dentist — 0.5 position; gynaecologist — 0.5 position; ultrasound diagnostics doctor — 0.5 position.
The medical unit’s inpatient facility contains three wards for somatic patients, designed for 16 beds; and five isolation units for tuberculosis patients, designed for 12 beds. On the day of the visit, seven people were held there.
During the visit, deficiencies were identified in the work of the Ivano-Frankivsk City Medical Unit No. 12, which lead to violations of the rights of convicted persons and individuals held in custody at the Ivano-Frankivsk Penal Institution No. 12, in particular:
1. Violation of the rights of convicted and detained persons regarding the provision of medical care
Due to the lack of signed declarations with a primary care physician, convicted persons are unable to receive necessary medical services funded by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), which constitutes a violation of the requirements of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Healthcare”.
2. Violation of the rights of convicted and detained persons to information about their health, treatment methods, and improper documentation
2.1 It was established that there was no informed voluntary consent for diagnostics and treatment for an individual who was in the inpatient facility. This may indicate the absence of the patient’s voluntary consent for the application of diagnostic, preventive, and treatment methods and is a violation of Article 43 of the Law of Ukraine “Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Healthcare”.
2.2 The medical unit has not organised substitution maintenance therapy (SMT) for individuals with mental and behavioural disorders resulting from opioid use, in accordance with the Procedure for Conducting Substitution Maintenance Therapy for Individuals with Mental and Behavioural Disorders Resulting from Opioid Use, approved by the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 27.03.2012 No. 200.
2.3 Drug-dependent individuals are not provided with social-psychological support, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), relapse prevention, motivational interviewing, self-help groups, etc.
2.4 The medical unit has not opened a “Control Card of Primary Accounting Documentation Form No. 030-5/o for Medical Supervision of HIV-Infected Persons” for 12 HIV-positive individuals.
2.5 The patient record number for convict M., date of examination 24.07.2023, is missing; it should correspond to the sequential registration number of the patient indicated in the “Logbook of Recorded Bodily Injuries of Convicted Persons at the Ivano-Frankivsk Penal Institution No. 12”. Furthermore, there are no attachments in the form of photographs of the bodily injuries.
3. Non-compliance with infection control and epidemiological surveillance
The medical unit does not adhere to the requirements for isolating tuberculosis patients; specifically, partitions with doors or airlocks are not installed at the boundaries between clean zones and high-risk zones; wards are used for more than one or two people (5 ward-cells for 12 beds); ward doors are not equipped with sealed thresholds or edge seals; and wards are not equipped with supply and exhaust ventilation. Inmates in the medical unit are not fully provided with personal protective equipment; there is no strict control over compliance with the mask regime among prisoners on the territory of the institution.
4. Violation of the rights of persons with disabilities (Article 9 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
Dispensary supervision is provided for 6 individuals with disabilities. Of these: 3 are Group II, and 10 are Group III. Upon reviewing the medical documentation of the convicts, it was established that 3 individuals with disabilities lack an Individual Rehabilitation Programme (IRP). Furthermore, the monitoring group established that some IRP recommendations are not being implemented, with the result that people do not receive appropriate diagnostic, treatment, and rehabilitation measures despite evidence confirming persistent impairment of bodily functions caused by illnesses and the consequences of injuries that lead to limitations in normal life activities. The institution has not created conditions for the accommodation of persons with disabilities (there are no ramps, handrails, etc.).
5. Violations regarding the medical unit’s pharmaceutical storage
There is no cabinet for storing medicines received from the prisoners’ relatives. In the medical unit, staff store medications in an ordinary cardboard box marked: “Medicines passed from home for prisoners/convicts”. Furthermore, these medicines were being stored on the floor.
6. Violation of the rights of individuals with hepatitis C
Since the beginning of 2023, the medical unit has conducted 345 rapid tests on individuals for the presence of hepatitis C (HCV), with 83 individuals testing positive for the disease. Individuals suspected of having hepatitis C do not undergo PCR testing; consequently, they do not receive necessary treatment, which could lead to a deterioration in their health and the spread of this infectious disease among convicted persons and those held in custody.
7. Violation of the right of convicted persons to psychiatric care
The hospital inpatient facility lacks an isolation ward for individuals with mental disorders who pose a danger to others.
8. Violation of fire safety rules
The medical unit premises are not equipped with fire suppression or fire alarm systems. The doctors' office and X-ray room are not equipped with fire extinguishers.
9. Lack of equipment, medical supplies, and medicines in the medical unit
9.1 The medical unit lacks a dental X-ray machine, which makes it impossible to conduct thorough dental examinations of convicts and does not ensure the timely provision of proper dental care.
9.2 During a check of the defibrillator's functionality, it was established that the electrodes were missing.
Intake Department
Investigation Rooms
For investigative actions and meetings with lawyers.
For conducting court hearings via videoconference.
Cells for Women
Life-Sentenced Prisoners
Convicts have personal tablets with internet access.
Internet Room
Workshops
Convicts work on manufacturing various orders.
Canteen
A preventive monitoring visit to the Ivano-Frankivsk Penal Institution No. 12 was conducted by the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. The monitoring group consisted of an assistant to a Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Kostiantyn Kasai; members of the Public Council under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Sergiy Zuykov; an assistant to a Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn; KHPG programme coordinator Andriy Didenko; as well as a journalist for the Information Agency “Poryad z vamy” (“Alongside You”), Oleksa Yaroslavtsev. The purpose of the visit: to analyse the observance of human rights in places of detention during the war. The visit was carried out within the framework of the project “Reducing Suffering of Prisoners in the Context of the War in Ukraine”, funded by the government of Denmark in partnership with DIGNITY — Danish Institute Against Torture.
Date of visit: 24 August 2023
A previous visit took place on 11 February 2023.