Changes await the Department of Corrections and its charges.
The State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments will soon be disbanded and reorganised in accordance with the concept for reforming the State Penal Service developed by the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine.
As UNIAN reported with reference to a source in the Presidential Secretariat, the new concept for reforming the penitentiary system takes into account all the remarks of human rights activists and aims to create a flexible prison system, where the State Penal Service should become a civil service and a subdivision of the Ministry of Justice, as was done in all post-totalitarian countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
The concept ensures the observance of the rights of persons deprived of their liberty, the protection of the interests of the individual, society, and the state, a complex of measures aimed at reducing recidivism among persons serving or having served criminal sentences, the creation of conditions for the correction and adaptation of former prisoners into society, and bringing the conditions of detention of convicts and persons taken into custody into compliance with the requirements of national legislation and relevant European norms.
It is expected that the President will sign a Decree on the approval of the Concept for Reforming the State Penal Service in the near future.
source: http://human-rights.unian.net/ukr/detail/187448
At the same time, the Committee on Legislative Support for Law Enforcement Activities recommends that parliament pass a law on amendments to the Criminal Procedure and Criminal-Executive Codes of Ukraine (regarding ensuring the protection of the rights of convicted persons in penal institutions).
The author of the bill, People's Deputy V. Shvets (BYuT), noted: “The document has been prepared taking into account the state of affairs that has developed in the sphere of the execution of punishments, and with the aim of more effectively ensuring the protection of the rights of convicted persons in penal institutions, humanising criminal punishments and the conditions of their service, which will contribute to creating a positive image of Ukraine abroad”.
According to him, the bill proposes, in particular, to “establish maximum terms for keeping a defendant in custody as a preventive measure; to change the component of the purpose of the Criminal-Executive Code, namely – the implementation of punishment and the creation of conditions for correction, as well as the prevention of new crimes (the current Code provides only for the correction and resocialisation of the convict)”.
The changes also provide for a ban on discrimination against convicts on the grounds of race, skin colour, gender, language, religious, political, or other beliefs, national or social origin, property status, marital status, or any other grounds.
The project proposes to expand the powers regarding public control. Thus, according to the bill, members of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture or Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Chair and members of supervisory commissions are allowed onto the territory of penal institutions without special permits. In addition, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, as well as officials of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and its territorial subdivisions upon his instruction, will have this right.
The document proposes to abolish the holding of women in enhanced supervision sections; to provide that convicts may also receive legal assistance from close relatives; to bring the size of the minimum living space per convict into compliance with European standards, namely – (4 sq.m.), against the current 3 sq.m. according to the Code; and to increase the number of telephone conversations (instead of one conversation per month, establish conversations without restrictions).
The bill provides for the exclusion of the requirement regarding the mandatory labour of a convict; the granting of permission to receive parcels without restrictions, and for convicts in minimum-security colonies, to receive correspondence without it being checked; the relaxation of conditions for serving sentences by minors; and a change in the conditions of detention for those sentenced to life imprisonment, as well as regarding release from serving a sentence.
Members of the Committee supported the bill, the adoption of which, in their opinion, “will create the proper legal support for the humanisation of the penal system in Ukraine, the development of a democratic state governed by the rule of law, the improvement of the level of protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens serving sentences, including in places of deprivation of liberty, and will ensure compliance with Ukraine's international obligations in the sphere of the execution of punishments”.