Zone of reliable reception

Every year, over two million convicts move across the boundless expanses of Russia... Prison is a painful topic, some will say, and an eternal one, others will add. But it must be dealt with seriously, otherwise it will bring so many problems that it will seem like a small thing to no one.

Vocational students visit a pre-trial detention centre

On the eve of the New Year and Christmas holidays, students from the Vocational School of Service and Design paid a visit to the Kherson pre-trial detention centre (SIZO). However, they were not meeting with those under arrest or investigation, but rather with the convicts serving their sentences there.

Convicts guilty of minor crimes can now serve their time on the sofa

On Sunday, 10 January 2010, a law came into force in Russia that allows Russian judges to punish criminals guilty of minor offences in a more humane manner.

Who is under house arrest abroad, and for what?

Abroad, those accused of minor crimes, elderly and ill criminals, as well as political opponents, are placed under house arrest.

Problems of the conditionally released

The monitoring commission under the Donetsk Regional State Administration reviewed the issue of the activity of the region’s criminal-executive inspection and its work with persons released on parole.

Life behind seven locks

A visit by journalists to the Chervonopartizansk Women’s Colony No. 68, Luhansk Region

A 'fifth column' in the Kherson colony?

Declaring 'lawlessness' in the Kherson colony, the deputy head of the department refused to comment on the facts, and the human rights activist hid from the journalist

Not by word, but—by deed

The 'closed' 'prison' system, tired of waiting for the state to create a mechanism for regular visits to places where persons deprived of liberty are held, with the aim of preventing torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment, is itself introducing an element of a national preventive mechanism.

Problems in regulating the activities of mobile groups

The absence of open discussions regarding the regulation of mobile groups may lead to these groups—a phenomenon unique to post-Soviet countries in certain respects—becoming a mere formality. Even now, in my view, there is a burgeoning tendency for mobile groups to work not for results (as there is no unified vision of what such results should be), but for statistics requested by government institutions.

A new threat to the rights of convicts?

The idea of creating a special purpose unit with the specified goals and tasks grossly violates the rights of convicts and other persons, as defined not only by the Penitentiary Code and other legislation of Ukraine but also by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. CONCLUSION regarding the draft Regulations on the Special Purpose Unit of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine

A new human rights initiative

The Department for the Execution of Sentences is considering the possibility of creating a structure that would monitor the observance of human rights – the Centre for Preventive Monitoring and Human Rights Protection. The draft Regulation on such a Centre is provided below.

A Centre for the Registration of Homeless Citizens has been established in Donetsk

A centre for the registration of homeless citizens has been established and is operating in Donetsk. This report covers the experience of the Donetsk City Shelter for the Temporary Residence and Rehabilitation of Homeless Persons and the centre for the registration of homeless citizens.