People armed with automatic weapons in masks at the Simferopol SIZO

As it became known on the eve of the May holidays, about forty fighters of the State Penitentiary Service special unit armed with automatic weapons arrived at the territory of the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre and were placed for temporary accommodation on the institution’s grounds. As various sources reported, including the relatives and defence lawyers of the SIZO prisoners, people armed with automatic weapons, grenades, and other weapons are on the territory of the SIZO; until today, no information about the beating of prisoners had been received. Fighters of the special unit moved calmly around the territory of the institution, near the cells where prisoners are held, thereby creating an atmosphere of intimidation among the prisoners.
Here is how this event is commented on by the State Penitentiary Service: http://kvs.crimea.ua/

PRESS RELEASE
“Enhanced duty variant ‘SHIELD’”
In connection with the holding of May holidays in the institutions of the administration of the State Department of Ukraine for Execution of Sentences in the AR of Crimea, from 30.04 to 10.05.2011, in accordance with the guidelines of executive orders and instructions, an enhanced variant of duty performance called “SHIELD” is currently being carried out.
Thus, additional force units of the State Department were involved at the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre for the duration of the holidays, and they will stay in the institution until further notice.
Regional mass media outlets that publish false information regarding the Simferopol pre-trial detention centre, based only on anonymous calls from relatives of those detained, bear personal responsibility for the dissemination of unverified facts.

After numerous appeals by human rights defenders and journalists to the leadership of the State Penitentiary Service regarding the grounds for the presence of fighters of the State Penitentiary Service special unit armed with automatic weapons and grenades on the territory of the SIZO, information began to arrive that the special unit fighters were supposedly staying on the territory of the institution, but that they did not have weapons (automatic rifles) with them.
Let us recall that recently, an inspection by the leadership apparatus of the State Penitentiary Service, conducted jointly with the Prosecutor’s Office of the AR of Crimea, revealed numerous abuses by the leadership of the Simferopol SIZO, which became the reason for the dismissal of the institution’s management staff.
But today, 06.05.2011, from unverified but various sources, it became known that fighters of the State Penitentiary Service special unit who are located on the territory of the Simferopol SIZO resorted to beating prisoners. The scale of the repressions, the number and names of the beaten prisoners are not yet known and are being determined by human rights defenders, considering the latent nature of this information and the difficulties that arise during the receipt of verified data.
But we would like to recall the final decision of the European Court of Human Rights in “Davydov and Others v. Ukraine”; we are talking about the mass beating of prisoners of the Iziaslav colony No. 58 in 2001 and 2002 involving fighters of the State Department of Ukraine for Execution of Sentences special unit, in which the European Court determined a violation by Ukraine of Article 3 of the Convention (torture). http://hr-lawyers.org/index.php?id=1265741384 As of today, the State of Ukraine has not taken adequate measures of state response regarding making such incidents impossible and bringing the guilty parties to justice.
Also, regarding this, we would like to note the case of the mass beating of prisoners of the Iziaslav colony No. 31 and the Rivne SIZO in 2007 (the case of Vitaliy Karabet and Others). In February 2011, the European Court sent the applicant’s complaint in this case for communication to the Government.

Prisoners of the Simferopol SIZO suffering from tuberculosis filmed the conditions in which they are kept, and the video reached the public sphere:
http://crimea.vgorode.ua/news/53976/

Given the data regarding the recent events taking place in the Simferopol SIZO, the fate of those people who made this video causes concern. What happened to them after the disclosure of information about the horrific conditions of detention for prisoners suffering from tuberculosis? In what conditions are they now? Were disciplinary measures taken against these people? And are armed fighters of the State Penitentiary Service special forces really being involved in beating prisoners at the Simferopol SIZO? It is worth getting competent, substantiated, and impartial answers to all these questions.
Coordinator of programmes of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Andriy Didenko.