Must prisoners pay for the humanisation of prisons?

On 21 January 2010, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure and Criminal Executive Codes of Ukraine (regarding the ensuring of the protection of the rights of convicted persons in penal institutions). The Law provides for a number of changes to the conditions of detention of convicts, in particular the removal of restrictions on the number of parcels and deliveries for convicts, the removal of restrictions on telephone conversations, although only from 2012, and the introduction of certain concessions for life-sentenced prisoners, etc.
Undoubtedly, these are important and long-awaited improvements to the conditions of detention of convicts, bringing them closer to European standards. And one could only welcome these changes if… If not for the change to Part 3 of Article 121 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine. Before the adoption of the Law, this provision stipulated that “from convicts who maliciously evade work, the cost of food, clothing, footwear, linen, communal-domestic and other provided services is deducted from the funds that are in their personal accounts. In the absence of funds in the convict’s personal account, the correctional colony has the right to file a lawsuit against him through the court.”
Obviously, it concerned only those convicts who “maliciously evade work”. It was precisely for the refusal to work – of course, under conditions where there was WHERE to work and WHAT to do – under such conditions, the cost of their stay in the colony, in the absence of funds in personal accounts, could be collected by the court from their income, which they would receive after release, when at liberty.
The situation becomes cardinally different after the adoption of the changes introduced to this article on 21 January.
The new version of Part 3 of Article 121 of the CEC stipulates that
From convicts who do not work (except for persons specified in the fourth part of Article 115 of this Code), the cost of food, clothing, footwear, linen, communal-domestic and other provided services is deducted from the funds that are in their personal accounts. In the absence of funds in the convict’s personal account, the correctional colony has the right to file a lawsuit against him through the court.
With the entry of the Law into force, the administration of institutions will receive the right to collect the cost of stay in the colony through lawsuits in court from all convicts who do not work. And it will no longer matter whether the institution (the state) provides the opportunity for convicts to earn money or not, whether the person wishes to work or not – everyone will have to pay for their stay in the colony. And from convicts who do not have work, but have funds in their personal accounts, for example, received from relatives, it will be possible to deduct the cost of staying in the colony. In cases where such funds are absent, the administration will have the right to appeal to the court with a lawsuit to deduct these funds from the person after their release. And then, going out into freedom in the current difficult time, sometimes not having a roof over their head, work, or the possibilities to find it, often not having documents (the passport which the police seized during the arrest and did not return) – the person will have to earn money in order to – by court decision! – return the funds for their stay in imprisonment.
It is worth taking into account that most convicts do not work not of their own will, but because the state, over 18 years, has done almost nothing to create a sufficient number of modern jobs in penal institutions. Now, for this ineptitude of the state, for its indifference towards convicts, the convicted citizens themselves have to pay. Such a step by the Verkhovna Rada contradicts Article 5 of the CEC of Ukraine, which proclaims among the principles of criminal executive legislation the principle of mutual responsibility of the state and the convict. The decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to impose on citizens who are serving a sentence the requirement to pay for the consequences of the state’s inaction regarding the creation of real opportunities to work in the colony – such a decision is irresponsible.
Furthermore, the real threat of such a lawsuit from the administration of penal institutions could be an element of pressure on the convict. It is also not excluded that conditions will be created for judges to demand bribes so that, when determining the sentence, they do not send the culprit to prison (because then they will have to pay for their stay there), but pass sentences not related to deprivation of liberty.
And it is precisely such a change to the Code that the Verkhovna Rada adopted on 21 January, along with a number of positive, important norms.
“Donetsk Memorial” considers such a change to the provision of Part 3 of Article 121 of the CEC of Ukraine categorically unacceptable.
That is precisely why the head of “Donetsk Memorial” has proposed to the President of Ukraine to impose a veto on the Law adopted on 21 January 2010 and to propose that the Verkhovna Rada cancel Part 3 of Article 121 of the CEC of Ukraine entirely. We call on our colleagues from other public organisations to support our demand for the repeal of the adopted norm.