Kachanivska Correctional Colony (No. 54)

The history of the state institution "Kachanivska Correctional Colony (No. 54)" dates back to 1927, when a branch of the Kharkiv House of Forced Labour (BUPR) was created on the territory of the former estate of the landowner Kachanov.

In the first years of operation, shoe repair workshops and a smithy, where agricultural equipment was manufactured, functioned in the institution.

During the Second World War, after the occupation of Kharkiv by German troops in 1941, the institution was evacuated to the east.

After the liberation of the city, by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR in October 1943, a decision was made to create an industrial colony on this territory. Despite significant destruction and the almost total unsuitability of the buildings for operation, the staff of the institution restored the infrastructure through their own efforts, and as early as February 1944, the colony received its first group of convicts.

At the end of 1948, the institution was reorganised into an educational colony for minors. The main focus was on education, professional training, and the re-socialisation of teenagers.

In 1957, the colony was repurposed as a women's correctional-labour colony. For some time, women were held here together with their young children, however, subsequently, after the reorganisation of the system of punishment execution, the children's home was transferred to another specialised institution. In the 1970s–1980s, the colony was actively developed. It was during this period that a modern production base was created, the central place in which was occupied by a garment factory, which remained one of the largest production units of the institution for a long time.

Today, the state institution "Kachanivska Correctional Colony (No. 54)" is a minimum-security institution with general conditions for the detention of women who have been sentenced to imprisonment for a specific term for the first time.

A medium-security sector for women sentenced to life imprisonment also operates on the territory of the colony.

Kachanivska Correctional Colony is the only institution in Ukraine where women sentenced to life imprisonment serve their sentences. In this regard, the administration provides special conditions for the detention of this category of convicts, the implementation of programmes for socio-educational work, psychological support, medical care, and preparation for the possible application of mechanisms for the review of life sentences in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights.

After the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation in 2022, the institution found itself in a zone of constant threat of missile and drone strikes on the city of Kharkiv.

Despite the difficult security situation, the colony continues to perform its assigned functions, ensuring the detention of convicts, their medical care, socio-educational work, and the organisation of production activities.

The institution is regularly under the observation of the National Preventive Mechanism, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, human rights organisations, and international experts.

During monitoring visits, the conditions of detention of convicts, the provision of the right to health protection, labour, education, the maintenance of social ties, as well as compliance with international standards for the treatment of women deprived of liberty are evaluated.

Contact information: Address: 61124, Kharkiv region, Kharkiv, 16 Vyshnevyi Lane.

Head of the institution: Dmytro Oleksandrovych SHOMAKHOV.

Telephone: (057) 252-41-21. E-mail: [email protected].