STRIZHAVKA CONVICTS WANT TO SUE... A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER

There was no self-mutilation in the zone. The convicts themselves refute the information disseminated by the Vinnitsa Human Rights Group.
Two suicides at the Vinnitsa Correctional Institution No. 81, which occurred within one week (1 and 5 June), have caused quite a resonance in Ukraine. The colony was inspected by everyone who is supposed to do so. The administration and staff received reprimands for allowing the suicides, but the findings of the inspection were unequivocal: the suicides were not caused by cruel treatment of the convicts, but by their mental state. It seemed that everything had calmed down, and the colony began to live in its usual mode... And then, on 20 June, on the website of the Vinnitsa Human Rights Group, and later in the central media, a VHRG press release appeared with the following content:
‘On 19 June, the Vinnitsa Human Rights Group received information about another extraordinary incident at Correctional Colony No. 81. This time, we were informed that, in protest against the inhuman treatment by the administration of Colony No. 81, convicts Serhiy Shevchenko and Denys Ivanychyshyn committed acts of self-mutilation, inflicting lacerations upon themselves. According to information received by the VHRG, these acts of self-mutilation were preceded by the beating of said convicts by colony staff. At present, convicts Shevchenko and Ivanychyshyn are being held in the high-security ward. Medical assistance is not being provided to them in full. In a situation where the penitentiary system remains closed to public control, where effective representation of convicts’ interests in appealing against unlawful actions of the penitentiary administration in court is impossible, it is impossible to conduct an independent, objective investigation of reports of violations of convicts’ rights arriving from colonies, prisons, and pre-trial detention centres of Ukraine. There is still no information about the results of the complaints of convicts Marharyt and Karpenko, who earlier this month reported physical violence by the administration.’
But subsequent events showed that the head of the VHRG, Dmytro Groysman, was hasty in stating that it is ‘impossible to conduct an independent, objective investigation of reports’: members of the public council under the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments visited the colony following the alarm signal.
Andriy Hel, head of the public council and professor at the Department of Law at the Vinnitsa State Agrarian University, relates:
— Recently, a large amount of information has appeared in the mass media from the Vinnitsa Human Rights Group about torture in correctional institutions of the Vinnitsa region, inhuman treatment of convicts by the administration, and slave labour. By the way, not a single fact indicated by the VHRG has found confirmation, not one! Indeed, on 1 and 5 June, two suicides were committed in the colony. These are abnormal occurrences. I am not justifying the administration of the institution, which was negligent and failed to prevent this. But one must also take into account that in Colony No. 81, convicts are held who are serving sentences for the second, fifth, or even tenth time. They are characterised by a state of anxiety and frustration; that is, the suicides were caused by external factors, but even more so by internal factors — their mental state.
Regarding the activities of Mr Groysman... He declares: ‘The Vinnitsa Human Rights Group will continue to monitor violations of convicts’ rights and will provide confidential legal assistance...’ By the way, representatives of the ‘Sustainability’ public congress work in our public council, conducting preventive work against the spread of HIV/AIDS and psychological training with convicts and staff; representatives of the ‘Legal Clinic’ provide legal assistance to convicts.
Has the human rights group headed by Dmytro Groysman really helped a single convict? Legally? In finding employment after release? I know of no such facts. But they constantly release information that is not confirmed. This destabilises the situation among the convicts and hinders the normal work of the administration. Currently, the zone is buzzing, as the medical unit, the high-security ward, and so on are being checked. Experts, the prosecutor’s office, and employees of the State Department’s administration are working here; an investigation is also being demanded by the government commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights, to whom the VHRG sent its press release.
In my opinion, it is too much of an honour for Groysman that so many people have to clear up what he has said. And how do the relatives of the convicts feel if information that their relatives are being subjected to torture in the colony sounds almost daily? I believe that the prosecutor’s office should pass judgement on such actions by Mr Groysman. What he is doing does not coincide with the principles of the work of human rights defenders. I get the impression that Dmytro Groysman’s goal is to remove the heads of certain institutions because the criminal world does not like it when the administration knows how to maintain order. A criminal tries, with the help of such human rights organisations and false information, to stir up public opinion and remove certain individuals from leadership. Such attempts were made three months ago regarding the head of the Lityn colony, and now — the Stryzhavka one. And the convicts are indignant that their names appear in the press release...

‘LET HIM NOT PREVENT THE CONVICTS FROM SERVING THEIR SENTENCES’

Without any objections from the administration of Colony No. 81, journalists also visited the colony. Near the headquarters, we met Denys Ivanychyshyn, the same person who, according to Dmytro Groysman, should have been sitting in solitary confinement with cuts. But is this the same person, as ‘Ivanychyshyn Denys’ appears in the press release? The deputy head of the colony explains:
‘We have convicts Denys Ivanychyshyn and Valeriy Ivanychyshyn, perhaps their surnames are confused because they are similar. Please, talk to both. And also with Serhiy Shevchenko, who is also written into this press release. And so that you don't think we have “substituted” other people for you, here are their files — with photographs.’
One by one, the convicts enter the office. They do not mind being photographed, they show their hands, and take off their shirts. To prove that there are neither beatings nor lacerations on their bodies. They say: publish our photos, let the relatives see that we are whole and healthy.
Denys Ivanychyshyn, 25 years old (sentenced to two years for theft, 8 months left to serve):
— I don’t know this person (Dmytro Groysman. — Ed.) at all. I didn’t protest against anything here. I work normally as a duty attendant, and there hasn’t been any reason to complain about anyone even once. My parents, of course, if they read the press release of this human rights activist, where it is said that I was beaten and I cut my veins, will worry. And then there is my wife and my 9-year-old son... And the convicts are saying that this is some kind of madhouse that is going on. I will think about whether to sue Groysman. I have never seen him, but I want to tell him (I will try to be as polite as possible): I don’t know what you are thinking or who you are defending, but I ask you — do not meddle in my private life. Maybe you earn money from this, but you are only creating problems for me.
In Denys Ivanychyshyn’s file, there are recorded thanks and commendations from the institution’s administration for his diligent work and exemplary behaviour. They are preparing documents for his early release on parole.
Valeriy Ivanychyshyn, 53 years old (sentenced to 14 years for murder, about three years left to serve):
— I had no reason to appeal to Dmytro Groysman; I don’t know this person at all. I would never cut my own veins. My relatives know me from a different side — I am a strong person. I work in the colony on a forklift in the welding section, and I earn 570 hryvnias — that’s normal for a camp. I also work on our vegetable patches — there are greens and vegetables there. Well, you consider this for ourselves, everything goes to our table. But the people here are different; some don’t want to do this, but there are those who don’t want to work even when they are free.
Serhiy Shevchenko, 37 years old (sentenced to 10 years for car theft, 3.5 years left to serve):
— Until yesterday, I didn’t know this name (Dmytro Groysman. — Ed.); I have been here for six years, and it’s the first time I’ve heard it. And why didn’t you bring him here? I would like to convey to him: let him not violate human rights. Who even put him in this human rights chair? He should go to... one place. Let him not prevent the convicts from serving their sentences. If he has problems when he is free, let him deal with them himself. This person has written God knows what. I have a wife and a daughter back home. Now I will have to somehow calm them down, to say that everything is in order with me, I work as a duty attendant at headquarters, no one hit me, and I didn’t cut anything.

DMYTRO GROYSMAN: ‘THEN YOU GO AND CALM THEIR RELATIVES DOWN IN YOUR NEWSPAPER’

We contacted Dmytro Groysman by phone.
— Dmytro Leonidovych, where did you receive information about acts of self-mutilation in the Stryzhavka colony?
— From sources that were in the colony. We have a network of people in many colonies of Ukraine, and we trust them. They communicate with us illegally — through mobile communications, SMS, and e-mail. When this information concerns people’s lives, we try to verify it — we call others. It is our duty to give society even unverified information.
— In this case, your information turned out to be unreliable, meaning it does not correspond to reality at all. I was in the colony today and spoke with the convicts about whom you disseminated information, as if they had ‘inflicted lacerations upon themselves and were being held in the high-security ward.’ They have not been beaten, they are not cut, and they say they have never appealed to you. Moreover, they are concerned that their relatives will believe your information.
— Then you go and calm them down by publishing in your newspaper that everything is in order with them. And we will continue to work like this in the future, whether our information is reliable or not. And the blame for this will not lie with us. If the state believes that we are doing this illegally, let it go to court. We are calm for ourselves.
— The head of Colony No. 81, Mahomet Mahomayev, says that you have not been there once, have not met with the convicts personally, and have not sent any requests regarding visiting the institution...
— We have written many times in press releases, on our website, that we are ready to take part in the investigation or verification of any facts of violations of prisoners’ rights. That is enough. The correct way would be this: without appealing to the administration of the State Department or the colony administration, I get on a marshrutka, go to Stryzhavka, go to Mahomayev, and say: ‘Immediately demonstrate the convicts to me.’

‘Misto’ newspaper, No. 24, 27 June 2008