Torture by the police is not an isolated incident, but a systemic phenomenon

Under this slogan, the NGO “Centre for Human Rights Protection ‘Svoboda’” is launching its next public campaign, “FIST”, on 28 July 2010, at 10:30, near the building of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine at the following address: 13/15 Riznytska St.
“If you do not want to read, you will listen!” The organisation’s human rights defenders will traditionally begin the campaign by using a loudspeaker to voice a collective appeal containing a list of cases and evidence of the use of torture, and the lack of an adequate reaction from the prosecutor’s office to obvious facts of human rights violations.
People from all over Ukraine who have suffered as a result of torture, as well as their relatives and friends, will come to Kyiv with their pain and unresolved problems, hoping that the prosecutor’s office will hear their appeal, conduct a proper investigation, and initiate criminal proceedings for each case of torture by the police. In order to clearly demonstrate to the general public the vast volume of information we possess regarding the facts of torture by the police and the lack of an appropriate response from the prosecutor’s office, we have decided to stage a voicing of torture facts in the form of a so-called “living book”, where people will personally tell about their pain and the trouble that led them to the walls of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
Simultaneously, at 11:30, in the premises of the UNIAN news agency, with the assistance of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, a press conference will be held on the topic: “Torture by the police is not an isolated incident, but a systemic phenomenon”, at which professional experts, lawyers, and human rights defenders will prove that torture by the police is used significantly more often than is reflected in the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ statistics. Moreover, virtually every accusation of a serious or especially serious crime is accompanied by torture and abuse of people. At the same time, the punishment of guilty police officers who torture prisoners is almost never applied in the practice of Ukrainian courts.
At the same time, the “Fist” campaign will continue near the High Council of Justice, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
We call on everyone who knows about the facts of torture or other abuses of power to support the campaign.
Applications, together with evidence, are accepted by the organising committee until 14:00 on 27 July 2010.
“Only together can we win, for our strength lies in unity!”

Contacts: tel: 044-228-63-68
fax: 044-528-53-40, 093-804-33-33 - secretary
093-804-22-22 - human rights defender


Chairman of the Board of the “Centre for Human Rights Protection ‘Svoboda’” Bohdan Khmelnytskyi

Coordinator Andrii Didenko