Monitoring visit to the State Institution “Dykanska Correctional Colony No. 12”

On 23 September 2020, a monitoring group consisting of an assistant to a People’s Deputy of Ukraine, Maksym Revyakin, and two journalists, Tamila Bespala and Pavlo Shvab, visited the State Institution “Dykanska Correctional Colony No. 12”. This institution is located in the city of Kharkiv. At present, the State Institution “Dykanska Correctional Colony No. 12” is a medium-security correctional facility (for the detention of men who have been sentenced to imprisonment for a fixed term for the first time). On the day of the visit, 590 people were being held in the colony. Over the current year, 248 people have been released from the colony. There are 6 individuals in the colony sentenced under Article 391 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The administrative staff consists of 207 people.

After verifying their documents and having their body temperature checked multiple times, the monitors were finally admitted to the institution.

We would like to note that all employees of the colony, with the exception of the head of the institution, Andrii Volodymyrovych Humeniuk, were wearing masks.

The condition of the residential premises meets the standards; plasma televisions are available, and repair work is underway in some rooms.

In the recently renovated and not yet occupied sleeping rooms, there are old iron beds that have been improved by the inmates themselves. Due to the repair work, according to the administration staff, there is overcrowding in some sleeping rooms, and the beds are placed close together.

The dining rooms are clean and cosy, and permitted kitchen equipment (multicookers, refrigerators) is available.

The toilet rooms are equipped with partitions and doors, but in some places, a strong, foul odour was noticeable. Unfortunately, there is no soap at the washbasins.

Not all inmates were wearing masks, but when asked to show them, everyone produced and displayed them. According to the administration, the colony provides itself with protective masks.

As for disinfectants in the living area, the inmates found them with great difficulty and for a long time did not even understand what was being referred to. However, bottles containing such products were certainly present in the institution.

According to the administration representatives, there are members of 3 religious denominations in the colony.

In the canteen, there was an entirely acceptable smell of food, and the food itself looked appetising.

Next to the washbasins lay brand-new bars of laundry soap. There were no disinfectants in the canteen at all. All employees of the colony possess health books; however, only one cook in the canteen has a work schedule that complies with labour law standards, and, according to him, he receives a salary of 1,200 hryvnias for working 4 hours a day. According to other canteen staff, they work 12-hour shifts without breaks or days off, receiving no salary whatsoever.

The monitors also visited the DIZO (disciplinary cell) and PKT (cell-type facility). There were 6 inmates in the DIZO and 3 in the PKT. The artistic decoration of the corridors in the DIZO drew particular attention; the corridors are painted in such a way that it gives the impression of walking through an aquarium. As the administration staff explained, this room decoration contributes to improving the psychological state of the inmates and is perhaps the institution’s greatest source of pride.

A medical unit is located on the territory of the colony. According to the head, Tetiana Mykolaivna Voitenko, the medical unit is 100% staffed, and the branch of the State Institution “Centre for Healthcare of the State Criminal-Executive Service of Ukraine” in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions has provided the medical unit with all necessary medicines, equipment, and COVID-19 viral infection prevention products.

At the time of the visit, 14 people were in the inpatient department.

The monitors went to the industrial zone, where the inmates were already standing in front of the entrance to the production premises. When the monitors asked the employees about their wages, work schedules, and the types of work performed, they all remained silent and would not even look up.