Public Council under the Department – does it exist or not.
The Public Council under the Department remains deaf to the appeals of human rights defenders who are concerned about cases of human rights violations in penal institutions.
The texts of five letters to the Chairman of the Public Council under the Department for the Execution of Punishments, I. V. Shtanko, are provided, all of which remained without a response.
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 97 dated 18 July 2007
To the Chairman of the Public Council
under the Department for the Execution of Punishments, Shtanko I. V.
Dear Ivane Vasylovych!
Recently, human rights organisations have been receiving numerous reports about the alleged cruel treatment of convicts in the institutions of the criminal-executive system of Ukraine. Official information from the Department about mass disturbances, their causes, and the forms and methods of resolving these conflict situations is extremely scarce. Moreover, the results of investigations are not officially published. Therefore, there is no confidence that the personnel and administration of the institutions always fully comply with the norms and standards of treatment of convicts, and that inspections of alleged violations are conducted thoroughly, conscientiously, and impartially.
Among the latest events that have received wide publicity are the events in Iziaslav in January of this year, and in Bucha in June. However, information regarding a number of questions about the course of events has still not been provided by the Department. The latest facts are the information about the beating of convicts O. Povidaychyk and S. Bazyk, who were in the UVP-1 (Vinnytsia). The investigation of these events is taking place too formally; public organisations and other independent institutions are not involved in them. The agency’s management reacts to public appeals extremely slowly. Moreover, during a visit to the institution UVP-1, People’s Deputy Kateryna Levchenko saw bruises on the bodies of these convicts. At the same time, the acting first deputy of the agency, Mr. Iltai, who also saw them, did not deny this when Ms. Levchenko spoke about what she had seen. However, over time, he changed his position and began to insist that he did not see what he had seen.
The Department’s responses to inquiries regarding such events are too vague and sometimes raise more questions than they provide understanding of what actually happened. It seems that the agency’s management is very uninterested in an impartial investigation of reports of alleged cruel treatment in its institutions.
We consider it extremely urgent to immediately consider these facts with the direct participation of representatives of the public in order to find out whether violations of the standards of treatment of convicts by the personnel of the DDUPVP (State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments) institutions actually occurred.
Since in some cases we are talking about human life, we consider the immediate convening of a meeting of the Public Council to be justified and appropriate. Delays in responding to some of these facts are extremely dangerous, first of all for individual convicts, and to a certain extent for society as well.
We appeal to you as a citizen, authorised by your status as Chairman of the Public Council to react to issues of possible human rights violations in the Department’s institutions, with an insistent request to show civic responsibility and initiate an extraordinary meeting of the Public Council under the Department.
We also ask that you necessarily invite to this meeting persons who are well informed about individual facts of alleged cruel treatment – the mothers of convicts S. Bazyk and O. Povidaychyk, Lyudmyla Koval, Kateryna Levchenko, Andrii Hel, Oleksandr Bukalov, Yevhen Zakharov. Please communicate your position to the following email addresses:
[email protected] and [email protected]
or by postal address:
To Bukalov O., PO Box 4836, Donetsk, 83092
Oleksandr Bukalov, “Donetsk Memorial”, Penitentiary Society of Ukraine
Lyudmyla Koval, All-Ukrainian public organisation “Alliance Maidan”.
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 155 dated 22 October 2007
To the Chairman of the Public Council under the State
Department of Ukraine for the Execution of
Punishments, SHTANKO I. V.
Dear Ivane Vasylovych!
I would like to express my gratitude to you for the meetings that have taken place recently.
I am glad that with your arrival at the Public Council under the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, it has become an active structure.
I hope that it will continue to work actively and consider topical issues of the criminal-executive system’s activity. I would very much like the Public Council to pay special attention to cooperation with various human rights organisations, and not just those that, according to the deputy of the Department, “positively highlight” its activities. It is also important to involve the resources of public organisations to solve topical issues, in particular, familiarising the staff of institutions with international standards of detention and treatment of convicts. It seemed to me from our conversations that you are favourably disposed towards such ideas.
Considering the cases where the department’s management ignored the initiatives of public organisations and avoided interaction without sufficient reason, it seems important to me to consider the issue of the principles of their cooperation and interaction, and ways to overcome obstacles and misunderstandings in their relationships.
In this regard, I repeat my proposal for the earliest possible holding of an open meeting of the Public Council with the invitation of human rights defenders who are not its members, such as Yevhen Zakharov, Kateryna Levchenko, Valentyna Badyra, Lyudmyla Koval.
I really hope that such a meeting will take place soon, this autumn, because delays in holding such a meeting may raise doubts about the sincerity of the assurances about cooperation with the general public and will negatively affect interaction.
I would like the decisions adopted by the Public Council to provide substantive and constructive answers to the pressing questions of the interaction of institutions and bodies of the criminal-executive system with leading human rights organisations.
I hope for your response within a reasonable time, which you can send to the address:
To Bukalov O., PO Box 4836, Donetsk, 83092
With hope for further fruitful cooperation,
Oleksandr Bukalov
Chairman of the Board of “Donetsk Memorial”,
Chairman of the Penitentiary Society of Ukraine
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 170 dated 14 November 2007
To the Chairman of the Public Council under the State
Department of Ukraine for the Execution of
Punishments, SHTANKO I. V.
Dear Ivane Vasylovych!
Regarding my request concerning the preparation of the draft Instruction on the procedure for visiting penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres, I received a response signed by the Head of the Department of Security, Supervision, and Safety of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, Major of Internal Service O. I. Kyslov, in which, in particular, it is reported that this draft Instruction was coordinated with the Public Council under the Department. In connection with this response, and also in accordance with Art. 34, 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Art. 5, 9, 28, 29, 32, 33 of the Law of Ukraine “On Information”, I ask you to provide the following information:
1. On what date did the meeting of the Public Council take place at which the specified draft Instruction on the procedure for visiting penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres was coordinated?
2. Were the separate opinions of the members of the Public Council expressed during the consideration of the draft?
3. What are the results of the vote for the coordination of this draft?
Since the preparation of an answer to these questions does not require significant time and resource expenditure, I ask you to provide it within a period not exceeding 10 days, as mentioned in the Law of Ukraine “On Information”.
Please send the response to the address:
PO Box 4836, Donetsk, 83092
I remind you that I have still not received a response to my previous letter to you No. 155 dated 22 October 2007.
With hope for further fruitful cooperation,
Oleksandr Bukalov, Chairman of the Board of “Donetsk Memorial”,
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 177 dated 24 November 2007
To the Chairman of the Public Council
under the Department for the Execution of Punishments
Shtanko I. V.
Dear Ivane Vasylovych!
Together with Lyudmyla Koval, we appealed to you as Chairman of the Public Council under the Department for the Execution of Punishments on 18 July 2007 by letter No. 97 regarding the initiation of an extraordinary meeting of the Public Council under the Department. We wrote to you that “recently, human rights organisations have been receiving numerous reports about the alleged cruel treatment of convicts in the institutions of the criminal-executive system of Ukraine. Official information from the Department about mass disturbances, their causes, and the forms and methods of resolving these conflict situations is extremely scarce. Moreover, the results of investigations are not officially published. Therefore, there is no confidence that the personnel and administration of the institutions always fully comply with the norms and standards of treatment of convicts, and that inspections of alleged violations are conducted thoroughly, conscientiously, and impartially. The Department’s responses to inquiries regarding such events are too vague and sometimes raise more questions than they provide understanding of what actually happened. It seems that the agency’s management is very uninterested in an impartial investigation of reports of alleged cruel treatment in its institutions.”
We insisted that it is extremely urgent to immediately consider the known facts of alleged human rights violations by agency employees with the direct participation of public representatives in order to find out whether violations of the standards of treatment of convicts by the personnel of the DDUPVP institutions actually occurred.
Four months have passed. New facts of alleged violations of prisoners' rights have appeared, which cause concern. However, your position and attitude towards the urgency of considering these issues at the Public Council, unfortunately, have not been declared. We can repeat again that “delays in responding to some of these facts are extremely dangerous, first of all for individual convicts, and to a certain extent for society as well.”
We appeal to you again as a citizen, authorised by your status as Chairman of the Public Council to react to issues of possible human rights violations in the Department’s institutions, with an insistent request to show civic responsibility and initiate an extraordinary meeting of the Public Council under the Department.
We also propose that you necessarily invite to this meeting persons who are well informed about individual facts of alleged cruel treatment – the mothers of convicts S. Bazyk and O. Povidaychyk, Lyudmyla Koval, Kateryna Levchenko, Andrii Hel, Oleksandr Bukalov, Yevhen Zakharov. Please communicate your position to the following email addresses:
[email protected] and [email protected]
or by postal address:
To Bukalov O., PO Box 4836, Donetsk, 83092
Oleksandr Bukalov, “Donetsk Memorial”, Penitentiary Society of Ukraine
Lyudmyla Koval, All-Ukrainian public organisation “Alliance Maidan”.
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 180 dated 3 December 2007
To the Chairman of the Public Council under the State
Department of Ukraine for the Execution of
Punishments, SHTANKO I. V.
Dear Ivane Vasylovych!
From July to November 2007, I appealed to you four times; unfortunately, I did not receive any response from you to any of my letters. I do not know the circumstances that lead to my letters remaining unanswered; it seemed to me that our recent meetings do not give cause for ignoring my appeals.
I am especially worried about the lack of reaction to the proposal to hold an urgent meeting of the Public Council in an expanded format. Since July of this year, when I first made such a proposal, many events have occurred which, in my opinion, only confirm the urgency of such a meeting. The lack of reaction to these proposals is alarming and forces one to look for answers as to why the Public Council under the Department continues to remain silent when serious events related to the observance or non-observance of human rights occur in institutions. The inaction of the council is becoming more and more eloquent.
I also did not receive an answer to the question regarding the coordination by the Public Council of the draft Instruction on the procedure for visiting penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres. I received a letter signed by the Head of the Department of Security, Supervision, and Safety of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, O. I. Kyslov, in which he claims that the Public Council allegedly coordinated this draft on 26 September. Did a meeting of the Public Council actually take place on this date? I addressed you with an official request in letter No. 170 dated 14 November in accordance with Art. 34, 40 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Art. 5, 9, 28, 29, 32, 33 of the Law of Ukraine “On Information”, and asked to provide the following information:
1. On what date did the meeting of the Public Council take place at which the draft Instruction on the procedure for visiting penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres was coordinated?
2. Were the separate opinions of the members of the Public Council expressed during the consideration of the draft?
3. What are the results of the vote for the coordination of this draft?
I hope that I will be able to receive answers to my inquiries and appeals in the very near future.
With hope for further fruitful cooperation,
Oleksandr Bukalov
Chairman of the Board of “Donetsk Memorial”,
“DONETSK MEMORIAL”
No. 18 dated 24 January 2008
To the Coordinator of the activities of the Public Council
under the State Department of Ukraine
for the Execution of Punishments, Svetlak O. V.
Melnykova St., 81, 04050, Kyiv
Copy for information: To the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Onyshchuk M. V.
Dear Oleksandru Volodymyrovych!
The public human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial” pays close attention to the activities of the Public Council under the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, which is headed by the esteemed Mr. I. V. Shtanko. My two personal meetings with him gave the impression that he is inclined to work actively and solve issues that fall within the competence of the Public Council.
At the same time, from July to December 2007, I appealed to Mr. Shtanko I. V. five times. I did not receive a response to any letter. Such a lack of reaction is surprising and worrying. It dissonates with the assurances of the Chairman of the Public Council about active cooperation. Moreover, the failure to provide the requested information cannot be considered legal. I remind you that Art. 33 of the Law of Ukraine “On Information” requires:
The term for studying a request regarding the possibility of its satisfaction must not exceed ten calendar days.
Within the specified period, the state institution shall inform the requester in writing that their request will be satisfied or that the requested document is not subject to provision for review.
Satisfaction of the request is carried out within a month, unless otherwise provided by law.
The underlined norm of the law is mandatory for execution.
In connection with the above, I ask you, as an employee of the Department who is the coordinator of the Public Council’s activities, to facilitate the receipt of answers to the questions contained in our organisation’s letters. I hope that I will receive the specified answers within a reasonable time.
Please send your response, as well as the requested information, to the address:
PO Box 4836, Donetsk, 83092, to Bukalov O.
Appendix. Copies of letters dated 18 July, 22 October, 14 and 24 November, 3 December 2007.
Chairman of the Board of the human rights
organisation “Donetsk Memorial”
Chairman of the Penitentiary Society of Ukraine
Oleksandr BUKALOV