This section contains appeals, complaints and letters from detainees and convicted prisoners, as well as official responses from state bodies and prison authorities. The material illustrates the actual state of compliance with citizens’ rights in places of detention and the response of state institutions to identified violations, and serves as a practical source of information on the specifics of legal protection for convicted persons and their interaction with the system.
The Annual Report on the observance of prisoners’ rights is being reviewed by state authorities
“Donetsk Memorial” has sent its fifth regular annual report, “Observance of Prisoners’ Rights in Ukraine-2010”, to a number of state institutions. The State Department for the Execution of Punishments has posted information about the report on its official website; responses have been sent by the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, and the Department for the Execution of Punishments in the Donetsk Region.
Possibilities for convicts to perform notarial acts
The Department of Justice in the Dnipropetrovsk region, in response to a request from “Donetsk Memorial”, provided the most complete description of the possibilities for convicts to receive notarial services.
Inquiry to the Head of the Department
An inquiry to the Head of the Department for the Execution of Punishments, O. I. Halinsky, regarding the alleged beating of prisoners in the Lutsk remand prison, sent on 1 December by “Donetsk Memorial”. The response will be posted on the “Prison Portal” website.
The Department has refuted itself
Accusing human rights defenders of ignoring the department’s invitations to visit colonies, the agency got confused in its accusations and provided examples of such visits itself.
Public Council under the Department – does it exist or not.
The Public Council under the Department remains deaf to the appeals of human rights defenders who are concerned about cases of human rights violations in penal institutions. The texts of five letters to the Chairman of the Public Council under the Department for the Execution of Punishments, I. V. Shtanko, are provided, all of which remained without a response.
Letter to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine regarding the resolution of the issue of convicts receiving parcels and deliveries
The curtailment of prisoners’ rights in the Department continues
The “Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Centre” has appealed to the Department regarding the cancellation of opportunities for prisoners to take short-term leave due to exceptional circumstances and considers such an “innovation” by the agency to be a violation of the Constitution.
The Minister of Justice has awarded violators of the Constitution
The Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Mykola Onishchuk, has awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Ministry to the heads of territorial departments of the State Department for the Execution of Sentences who have committed violations of the Constitution of Ukraine. The head of the human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial,” Oleksandr Bukalov, congratulated the Minister on this original initiative in an open letter.
Does the Department offer cooperation?
Correspondence between the head of the human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial,” O. Bukalov, and the Head of the Department for the Execution of Sentences, V.V. Koshchynets, regarding the interaction between the agency and non-governmental organisations.
Open letter of the public human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial”
After the events in the Izyaslav colony No. 31 in January 2007, special forces units were introduced into the colony. This happened in response to mass disobedience by prisoners who refused to eat. “Donetsk Memorial” tried for a year to find out the details of what actually happened. The Department either did not respond to requests or provided very limited information. Immediately after the January events, nearly 40 prisoners, who were considered the initiators of the organisation of the disobedience, were transferred to other colonies. There is quite a lot of unconfirmed evidence that the transfer procedure took place with numerous violations of prisoners’ rights. To clarify the circumstances of the transfer, “Donetsk Memorial” sent a request to the Department on 19 January, but received a refusal to provide information.
As of 26 April 2008, neither a response nor copies of the Protocols have been provided.