[prisoner-rights] Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Ukraine

Strasbourg, 20.06.2007 -- The Council of Europe's Committee for the
prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(CPT) has published today the report on its visit to Ukraine in 2005,
together with the response of the Ukrainian Government. These documents
have been made public at the request of the Ukrainian authorities.

The 2005 visit revealed a slight reduction as regards the scale of the
phenomenon of ill-treatment. Nevertheless, the report concludes that
persons detained by the police continue to run a significant risk of being
subject to ill-treatment, in particular during the phase of initial
questioning by operational officers. The CPT has recommended that a clear
message of "zero tolerance" of torture and other forms of ill-treatment be
delivered from the highest level and at regular intervals to all Internal
Affairs staff. Other recommendations made in the report aim at
strengthening the fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment (in
particular, the rights of notification of custody, access to a lawyer and
access to a doctor). The CPT has also called upon the Ukrainian
authorities to put an end to the practice of holding persons in district
police stations for periods exceeding a few hours.

Particular attention was paid during the visit to the situation of foreign
nationals detained under aliens legislation. A significant number of them
complained about ill-treatment by Border Guard staff. Conditions at the
Pavshino Temporary Holding Centre for men were so inadequate that the
CPT’s delegation had requested its closure and the setting up of new
facilities. In their response, the Ukrainian authorities indicate that two
new holding centres for foreign nationals are being built in the Volyn and
Chernigiv regions; in the meantime, steps are being taken to improve
conditions of detention at the Pavshino Centre.

No allegations of recent physical ill-treatment of prisoners by staff were
heard, except at Colony No.100 for men in Temnivka (Kharkiv region), where
a number of inmates alleged having been beaten when transferred to the
disciplinary and isolation section. Material conditions of detention in
Colony No. 65 for women in Bozhkivske (Poltava region) and Colony No. 100
were the best ever seen by a CPT delegation in Ukraine. However, at Colony
No. 65, the delegation observed a general state of physical and mental
exhaustion among the women, as a result of the work-rate imposed upon
them.

During the 2005 visit, close attention was also given to the situation of
prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. No improvements were observed as
regards the treatment of life-sentenced men, despite previous
recommendations by the CPT. The Committee has called upon the Ukrainian
authorities to take a number of steps in this area, including to stop the
systematic handcuffing of such prisoners when taken out of the cells and
to increase substantially their entitlement to visits.

The CPT's visit report and the response of the Ukrainian authorities are
available on the Committee's website: http://www.cpt.coe.int