Two more convicts have inflicted incised wounds upon themselves in Penal Colony No. 81

“On 19 June, the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group received information about another emergency incident at PC No. 81. This time we were informed that, protesting against the inhumane treatment by the administration of PC No. 81, convicts Serhii SHEVCHENKO and Denys IVANYSHYN committed acts of self-harm, inflicting incised wounds upon themselves,” the report notes.

According to D. HROISMAN, the acts of self-harm were preceded by the beating of these convicts by colony staff. “At present, convicts S. SHEVCHENKO and D. IVANYSHYN are being held in a high-security unit, and they are not being provided with full medical assistance,” the head of the human rights group reported.

“In a situation where the penitentiary system remains closed to public scrutiny, where effective representation of convicts’ interests in appealing against the unlawful actions of penitentiary administration to a court is impossible, it is impossible to carry out an independent and objective verification of reports regarding violations of the rights of convicts, which are received from the colonies, prisons, and pre-trial detention centres of Ukraine,” D. HROISMAN noted.

He also initiated inspections by a commission that is impartial and independent of the leadership of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments. D. HROISMAN believes that it is necessary to include representatives of human rights non-governmental organisations in the work of the commission, giving members of the commission the opportunity to meet with the convicts without the presence of colony administration representatives, so that possible facts of violations of convicts’ rights can be properly documented without the threat of further reprisals against the complainants.

“We have sent an appeal to the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Oleksandr TURCHYNOV, with a demand to immediately send a government commission to PC No. 81, with the involvement of media and human rights organisation representatives, to verify reports of gross and systematic violations of convicts’ rights, humiliation of their human dignity, and the use of unlawful violence against them,” D. HROISMAN emphasised, adding, “We are asking the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Nina KARPACHOVA, to join in the inspection of reports regarding violations of convicts’ rights at PC No. 81.”

As reported by UNIAN, since the beginning of June 2008, two convicts at PC No. 81 in the Vinnytsia region have committed suicide. The administration of the penal system confirmed the fact of the emergency incident only after the information about the suicides was released by the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group. The deceased were buried on the grounds of the prison cemetery; the public was not informed about the results of the investigation into the circumstances and reasons that might have contributed to the suicides.


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