HIV-infected convicts of Colony No. 6 found out that the state owes them

For the first time in the institutions of the penitentiary system of the Kirovohrad region, a human rights school class has been conducted for convicts. As a result, 10 HIV-infected convicts of Colony No. 6 learned about the inalienable human rights and the obligations that the state has to ensure them.

Educational events in places of deprivation of liberty have long ceased to be remarkable events. Such a situation is developing as a result of the social reorientation of the criminal punishment execution system towards its humanisation and pedagogisation. After all, this is the strategic course of the activities of the Department for the Execution of Punishments. The restoration of the network of general educational and vocational training institutions in places of deprivation of liberty can well be considered the most important achievement in the social sphere of the Department, together with the Ministry of Education and Science. But far from all convicts undergo training in the educational institutions of the penitentiary system.
The general education curriculum only provides for the familiarisation of students with universal international human rights and their role in the formation of a democratic society. At the same time, it should be noted that it is the recognition of the dignity inherent in all members of the human family, and of the equal and inalienable rights of human beings, that is the foundation
of freedom, justice, and universal peace. It is clear that the recognition and personal acceptance of the key values contained in the concept of human rights is a rather complex and somewhat painful process. But the ten-year experience of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee in conducting human rights schools confirms the effectiveness of such an approach. Therefore, it is precisely human rights schools that are an important instrument for creating a democratic society in which human rights are respected.
Numerous studies by scientists confirm the fact that in conditions of deprivation of liberty, in isolation from society, the personality of the convict undergoes significant changes. As a result of these changes, the values that ensure individual, extra-social existence become of the greatest importance for the person, while universal human values recede into the background. After serving their sentence, the convict enters a society whose laws and norms they must follow, but for a whole range of reasons, they are not always able to do so. Thus, the problem of the adaptation of those released comes to the forefront of the work of penitentiary institutions. One of the most important aspects of returning persons who are serving sentences to a full life in society is the acceptance and respect for universal human values, which are human rights. It is precisely for the sake of forming such acceptance and respect that human rights schools are conducted.
The conducting of the first human rights school class in the Kirovohrad Correctional Colony No. 6 was initiated by the Kirovohrad Regional Branch of the All-Ukrainian Charitable Organisation ‘All-Ukrainian Network of PLWH’. HIV-infected convict activists of the mutual aid group for HIV-positive prisoners ‘Nadiya+’ joined in the participation in the event. During the training, the participants familiarised themselves with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, examined the obligations of the state with regard to people, and understood the necessity of respecting the rights and freedoms of every person.
It is understandable that only one class will not be able to significantly influence the behaviour of convicts and ensure effective adaptation after release, but perhaps it is precisely such a systemic approach that will increase their chances, after release, of finding their place in society and being useful to it. After all, if we desire peace, we must create it together!


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