Torture by starvation, cold and beatings of detainees at Nikopol detention centre confirmed
In response to an appeal from the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group regarding possible mass beatings of persons held at Nikopol detention centre under the jurisdiction of the regional Interior Ministry of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk Region, Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova immediately opened proceedings to establish the causes and circumstances of the extraordinary incident. According to information from human rights defenders, on 12 January 2009, following the arrival of detainees by convoy from Dnipropetrovsk Detention Centre No. 3 to participate in court hearings and investigative actions, people were held for several hours in cold vehicles on the street, after which a mass beating occurred involving the use of special means. As a result, 18 persons suffered bodily injuries.
By order of the Ombudsperson, her representatives conducted a verification of the information with a visit to the scene, an inspection of detention centre cells, conducted interviews with persons held there and with the facility's staff as well as with regional prosecutor's office employees. The Ombudsperson's investigation confirmed the information provided by the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group, which monitors cases of torture of arrested persons in places of deprivation of liberty and persons in temporary detention facilities, informing the Ombudsperson of egregious violations of their rights and freedoms by law enforcement officers.
The failure of law enforcement to comply with current legislation regarding the observance of constitutional rights and freedoms during the transportation of prisoners to Nikopol detention centre, particularly torture by starvation for 15 hours and detention in freezing conditions for extended periods in cold police vans, caused outrage among those transported. Law enforcement officers used special means – rubber truncheons. Persons who sustained bodily injuries were examined by forensic medical experts. They documented bodily injuries of varying degrees of severity.
The Ombudsperson draws attention to the fact that local police leadership failed to adequately respond to the relevant order from the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Prosecutor's Office to cease operations at Nikopol detention centre due to the absence of any sanitary and domestic conditions, which made it impossible to hold people there. This order was issued one month before the extraordinary incident – on 15 December 2008. Nina Karpachova is convinced that mass violations of the constitutional rights of detainees would not have occurred had Nikopol police properly executed the order aimed at complete elimination of the identified breaches of the law. Particularly, as in the document signed by the regional prosecutor Mikhail Kosyuta, it was explicitly emphasised that the order must be executed immediately. The Acting Head of Regional Police V. Uvarov informed the regional prosecutor on 29 December 2008 of the execution of the order. On paper they reported the closure of Nikopol detention centre, but in reality on 12 January 2009 persons taken into custody were held there without proper sanitary and domestic conditions and without ensuring their lawful rights and interests.
Nina Karpachova fully supports the position of the regional prosecutor's office, which has opened a criminal case concerning the infliction of bodily injuries on persons held at Nikopol detention centre under the jurisdiction of the regional Interior Ministry, and hopes that it will be completed in accordance with the requirements of current legislation, the UN and Council of Europe conventions against torture.
In this connection, Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova submits her proposals to Ukraine's Prosecutor General Alexander Medvedchuk and Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs Yuri Lutsenko regarding measures to restore constitutional rights of persons taken into custody and held in special police facilities, as well as to prevent similar shameful incidents, as required by the provisions of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture, ratified by Ukraine in July 2006.