Seminar on HIV/AIDS treatment issues in Donetsk region facilities

The seminar was conducted by the charitable organisation “Club ‘Your Choice’” from the city of Horlivka, Donetsk region. It was attended by members of the regional coordinating council on preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS, staff from penal institutions in the region, and representatives of regional and city AIDS centres. The seminar programme included the presentation of projects in the region’s correctional facilities, a discussion on the problems of interaction between public organisations and the administration of the institutions where they work, and the expansion of access for convicts in the Donetsk region to HIV/AIDS diagnostics and treatment and drug use issues among convicts.
Among the problems in the activities of the public sector noted at the seminar was that, in some colonies, there are no issues with granting access to public representatives, while in others, activists from public organisations are forced to wait for a long time to be admitted and are searched overly thoroughly, despite the fact that they visit the colonies quite frequently and are already well-known.
Some representatives of the institutions tried to justify strict security measures, thereby demonstrating an approach where security and regime issues are paramount for staff, even above the observance of human rights and respect for their dignity. Representatives of the regional department of the service reacted constructively to the proposals and initiatives of public organisations. An agreement was reached that the seminar materials would also be presented on the “Prison Portal”.