Analytical materials, expert studies and publications on Ukraine’s prison system and the protection of human rights. This collection includes legal commentaries and analyses of reforms to the criminal justice system. The publications are aimed at human rights defenders, lawyers, academics and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the challenges surrounding the observance of human rights in places of detention.
The “Donetsk Memorial” Non-Governmental Organisation and the History of the Creation of the “Prison Website”
The non-governmental organisation “Donetsk Memorial” has been carrying out systematic research into the Ukrainian penitentiary system since 1998. The organisation’s official website, the “Prison Website”, has gathered reliable data about prisons in a single place: the addresses of institutions, regulatory documents, judgments of the ECtHR, expert assessments and twenty annual reports on the observance of prisoners’ rights.
The Bullet That Was Never Fired: Twenty-Five Years On
Ukraine stopped shooting people — yet for some the death sentence merely changed its form. A forged signature, an unexamined volume of the case file, an unverified alibi, allegations of torture. Twenty-five years after the abolition of capital punishment, the state has still failed to create an effective mechanism for reviewing verdicts handed down under post-Soviet rules.
The Reform Prisoners Never Saw: What Was Really Left Undone in the Penitentiary System Reform Strategy
In December 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Strategy for the Reform of the Penitentiary System for the Period until 2026. Its stated aim was to create a humanistic penal system that respects human dignity, guarantees safety, and facilitates the reintegration of convicts into society. Less than six months remain until the end of the Strategy’s term. Results can already be evaluated today.
Freedom that could have become a death sentence. The story of Mykola Maliarenko
During a scheduled monitoring visit to the Starobabanivska Penal Colony No. 92 in the Cherkasy region, conducted by the KHPG in conjunction with the NGO “Prisoners’ Rights Protection of Ukraine” as part of the DIGNITY project, we were invited to the facility’s medical unit. There, a doctor approached our monitoring group with a request to help one of the patients — Mykola Oleksandrovych Maliarenko.
What is expected from the dual system of inspecting places of deprivation of liberty?
The Cabinet of Ministers has registered a draft bill in parliament aimed at establishing a system of regular internal and external penitentiary inspections to ensure the monitoring of human rights compliance in places of deprivation of liberty.
The Yukhymenko Case: When the State Explains Helplessness as ‘Malingering’
Ihor Yukhymenko does not speak with his voice today – he speaks with his hand. His speech consists of sheets of paper covered in shaky handwriting.
Will the Law on Wilful Disobedience by Convicts Be Repealed? Analysing the Bill
A bill proposing to humanise the legislation in the field of execution of criminal penalties is currently under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada. We spoke with our expert, Andriy Didenko, about the pros and cons of this legislative initiative.
Rights Behind Bars: Have the New Rules Brought Us Closer to Europe?
In January 2026, amendments to the Internal Regulations of Pre-trial Detention Centres and Correctional Institutions came into force. They concern healthcare, the use of gadgets, and the lives of life-sentenced prisoners. The question arises: do these innovations genuinely bring Ukraine closer to European standards, or do they merely formalise certain aspects of the existing penitentiary model? Let us try to find out.
Release of Seriously Ill Prisoners: Ukrainian Courts Apply Soviet Legislation Rather than ECtHR Case Law
In virtually no case involving medical release is the case law of the European Court of Human Rights taken into account – unlike the recommendations of the Plenary Court, which has long ceased to exist.
Cancer Behind Bars – The System Kills Again
Serhiy Sabirov is a life-sentenced prisoner. He has stage-four cancer. The medical unit of his correctional colony lacks a licence for potent painkillers. This means daily, excruciating pain. But the state does not want to release this man so that he can die with dignity.
Mobilisation of Convicts: Pros and Cons
On 19 January, Bill No. 10419 was registered in the Verkhovna Rada, proposing the possibility of amnesty for certain categories of prisoners – on the condition that they deploy to the front.