Report on the findings of the monitoring visit to Berdychiv Correctional Centre No. 108
General Information
BCC-70 is located at the following address: 2 A Nyzhyretska Street, Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Region.
The head of the institution is Colonel of the Internal Service Armenak Chobanyan.
The correctional centre is designed to hold men sentenced to a punishment in the form of restriction of liberty for non-grave crimes. The institution consists of three SPS (Social-Psychological Service) units (one of which is inactive), a canteen, a diagnostic and distribution unit, a bath and laundry complex, a disciplinary isolation unit, and administrative premises.
The total staff headcount of the institution comprises 89 positions: 61 certified and 28 civilian employees. The actual number is 69.5 positions: 52 certified and 28 civilian. The total staff shortage in the institution is 19.5 employees: 9 certified and 10.5 civilian. There is one psychologist working at the institution.
The planned capacity of the institution is 335 persons. The actual number is 321 persons.
During the current year, 121 convicts have arrived at the institution.
In 2023, two people died, and in 2024, one person. 241 individuals are employed under employment contracts, all working outside the institution.
The operational and preventive records of the institution included: four persons prone to suicide, six prone to self-harm, and six prone to escape. One person has a group II disability, eight have group III, and 19 convicts are on the OST programme.
In 2023, there was one case of suicide.
There are no restrictions on the use of tablets and mobile phones in the institution.
The monitoring group interviewed 54 convicts.
Facts identified during the visit
1. Violation of the right to decent conditions of detention (Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Part 1 of Article 28 of the Constitution of Ukraine)
1.1 The equipment of the disciplinary isolation unit does not comply with the standards for the treatment of prisoners and the conditions of their detention regarding its functional purpose. The premises of the unit are in an unsatisfactory sanitary and hygienic condition and require capital repairs.
Thus, in violation of the requirements of the ‘Norms for the provision of furniture, inventory, and household items’ of the correctional centre, approved by order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated 27.07.2012 No. 1118/5 (hereinafter — the Provision Norms), a number of premises are absent, namely: a room for food distribution, food storage and dishwashing, a shower room, a changing room, and a barbershop. The absence of these premises may lead to a violation of sanitary and hygienic standards due to improper conditions for storing food and personal belongings of the convicts.
1.2 In violation of the requirements of Rule 22.5 of the European Prison Rules (Recommendation No. R (2006) 2 of the Committee of Ministers of member states) (hereinafter — EPR) and the Provision Norms, the premises and cells of the disciplinary isolation unit are not equipped with 15-litre drinking water tanks with a tap, lid, mug, and basin, due to which the convicts are forced to use water from the institution’s centralised water supply. At the same time, instead of tanks, 10-litre plastic washbasins have been installed, which are not used.
1.3 In violation of the requirements of Rule 22.5 of the European Prison Rules, the sanitary facilities in the disciplinary isolation cells are not equipped with doors, due to which the convicts’ right to privacy is not respected. The poor design of the sanitary facilities violates the right to dignity and makes it difficult for persons with disabilities.
1.4 The exercise yard in the disciplinary isolation unit is too heavily barred, and it lacks sufficient natural light.
1.5 Similar violations of the Provision Norms, leading to a violation of the convicts’ right to decent conditions of detention, were recorded by the monitors in the diagnostic and distribution unit (premises for newly arrived convicts). The unit lacks: a room for educational work; a room for food storage; a room for storing exchange bedding, clothing, and special workwear; a utility room; and a drying room and washroom.
1.6 In violation of the requirements of paragraph 2.11 of the ‘Regulation on the organisation of bath and laundry services for persons held in penal institutions and pre-trial detention centres’, approved by the order of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine No. 849/5 dated 08.06.2021 (hereinafter — the Regulation), the forced supply and exhaust ventilation system in the bathhouse premises is not working, which prevents proper air exchange in the room.
1.7 In violation of the requirements of paragraph 2.19 of the Regulation, there is no washbasin installed in the changing (dressing) rooms.
1.8 In violation of paragraph 2.13.3 of the Regulation, there are no rubberised mats on the floor in the aisles of the changing (dressing) rooms.
1.9 Bath and laundry services are carried out in violation of Rule 19.3 of the European Prison Rules due to the absence of curtains on the shower stalls, which means the convicts’ right to privacy is not being observed.
1.10 In violation of the requirements of paragraph 2.14 of the Regulation, there is no separate barbershop in the correctional centre.
1.11 At the time of the visit, convict K. was on his bed. The bed was without bedding. The convict reported that bedding had not been issued to him.
1.12 There is no information about the address of the Free Legal Aid Centre on the information boards in the SPS units.
1.13 In the institution, 20 convicts do not have passports, which makes it impossible for them to find employment or to sign a declaration with a family doctor.
2. Violation of the rights of convicts during primary and preventive medical examinations
2.1 According to paragraph 7 of Chapter III of Section II of the Procedure, convicts working at catering facilities (except for jobs related to the positions of sellers, managers of food and clothing warehouses, storekeepers), in the processing industry, in infant homes, secondary education institutions, vocational training departments in special educational colonies, medical units (feldsher posts), and hospitals of the State Penitentiary Service (except for jobs related to the provision of medical assistance), laundries, baths, rooms for long-term visits, dormitories, clubs, at water supply and sewage facilities, and sites for breeding and raising animals, must undergo mandatory preliminary and preventive medical examinations in accordance with the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 23.05.2001 No. 559 ‘On approval of the list of professions, production facilities, and organisations whose employees are subject to mandatory preventive medical examinations, the procedure for conducting these examinations, and the issuance of personal medical records’. For each convict of the specified category, a primary accounting document form No. 1-OMK ‘Personal Medical Record’ is created, approved by the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 21.02.2013 No. 150, registered with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine on 23.04.2013 under No. 662/23194. However, the monitoring group recorded the absence of personal medical records for most canteen staff, and the absence of examination results in the medical documentation conducted by specialist doctors (including laboratory, clinical, and other tests) that are required for admission to work at food facilities. Thus, only two convicts who held the position of cook had a medical record.
2.2 According to Part 3 of Article 59 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, convicts may be allowed short-term exits from the correctional centre under circumstances provided by law for persons sentenced to imprisonment, as well as for other valid reasons, in particular, if it is necessary to apply to a medical institution regarding illness or treatment, provided there is an appropriate medical report. At the same time, in violation of the requirements of Part 4 of Article 153 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, the administration of the correctional centre has not organised at a proper level the work of issuing passports of a citizen of Ukraine to convicts, due to which the convicts are deprived of the opportunity to receive social services, find employment, arrange a pension, and in particular, receive medical care in health care institutions.
Thus, a number of convicts approached the monitoring group with complaints that, due to the absence of a passport, they cannot conclude a declaration with a primary health care physician, and are therefore deprived of the opportunity to receive necessary medical services. This leads to a violation of the requirements of paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine ‘Fundamentals of the legislation of Ukraine on health care’.
Recommendations:
- Bring the premises of the disciplinary isolation unit to a proper state, including equipping the sanitary facilities with doors;
- Provide the disciplinary isolation unit premises with drinking water tanks;
- Bring the disciplinary isolation unit exercise yard to a proper state;
- Bring the diagnostic and distribution unit premises into compliance;
- Bring the bathhouse premises into compliance;
- Provide the convicts with bedding;
- Ensure the convicts’ right to unimpeded access to medical care.
The preventive monitoring visit was carried out within the framework of the project ‘Reducing the suffering of prisoners in the context of the war in Ukraine’, funded by the government of Denmark in partnership with DIGNITY — Danish Institute Against Torture, in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, taking into account the provisions of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, on the basis of Article 24 of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine — Visiting penal institutions. The visit was carried out by a group of monitors from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the NGO ‘Prisoners’ Rights Protection of Ukraine’. The visit was carried out by the following monitors:
- Didenko Andriy Andriyovych — assistant to the People's Deputy of Ukraine Yaroslav Yurchyshyn;
- Zuikov Serhiy Yuriyovych — assistant to the People's Deputy of Ukraine Kostiantyn Kasai, member of the public council under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine;
- Tsvilyi Oleh Volodymyrovych — member of the public council under the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
Date of visit: 02 May 2024