Am I awaited in freedom?

When one of the convicts said during a meeting, ‘That’s it, this is my final stretch’, the guys from the Kherson public organisation ‘Men Against Violence’ were simply shocked. Yes, they had come to the colony to help these people return to society, but they were well aware of how heavy a burden they had placed upon their own shoulders.

Projects are over; long live... projects.

The OSCE, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark, funded projects for non-governmental organisations in five regions of Ukraine: Kirovohrad, Lviv, Luhansk, Khmelnytskyi, and Kherson.

Death of a prisoner in Vinnitsa Correctional Colony No. 86

According to human rights activists, for three days following the prisoner’s death, attempts were made to conceal the fact of the incident from the public, just as in the case of two suicides that occurred in June of this year in the Stryzhavka Correctional Colony No. 81.

Colonies must be open to public scrutiny!

Only transparency can create a more or less realistic picture of the state of affairs in the colonies. If the Department continues to resist all forms of public oversight, society will have, instead of a truthful picture, a mixture of the Department’s glossy reports and frightening, not always accurate, reports from prisoners. As a result, everyone will lose.

STRIZHAVKA CONVICTS WANT TO SUE... A HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER

There was no self-mutilation in the zone. The convicts themselves refute the information disseminated by the Vinnitsa Human Rights Group.

Unofficial response to the ‘Official response of the Department of Corrections to the accusations of certain human rights organisations’

On 25 June 2008, a noteworthy document was posted on the website of the State Department for the Execution of Punishments under the heading ‘Official response of the Department of Corrections to the accusations of certain human rights organisations’. In this text, practically not a single specific accusation against the Department is indicated; thus, it is impossible to compare the essence of the accusations with the essence of the justifications, and one has to settle for the ‘reasoned’ departmental commentary.

Problems and Perspectives of the Regulatory Provision for the Execution of Criminal Punishment in the Form of Imprisonment

The possibility of achieving socially acceptable behaviour among convicts is shattered by the paradox of the methods of correction and resocialisation defined in the legislation, none of which stands in direct contradiction to the brigade-detachment system of detention ("local shared living"), and which, therefore, enables the continued existence of a system of socio-group oppression of convicts. It must now be determined whether the domestic penitentiary doctrine, which is to interpret the fundamental provisions of legislation in this sphere, will rely on meaningful pro-social modelling of convict behaviour, or whether it will remain half a step away from the North American model of "dynamic security".

Official Response of the Department to Accusations of Certain Human Rights Organisations

Recently, unverified information regarding the activities of the State Penal Service of Ukraine has been spread quite frequently in the media. Attention from public and human rights organisations is mainly based on speculation about the violation of the rights of convicts and the closed nature of the system.

Open Letter to the Country's Leaders

Distinguished Viktor Andriyovych, Yuliya Volodymyrivna, and Arseniy Petrovych! 22 February 2008, we appealed to you with an open letter in which we drew your attention to numerous human rights violations in the activities of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Sentences. For nearly four months, we have received no clear response from you regarding the issues raised, nor do we know your position on the facts and warnings expressed in our open letter.

Report on Vocational Training for Convicts in the Lviv Region for 2007.

One of the most important conditions for the social adaptation of convicts after their release is having an education.

ANOTHER PRISONER HAS HANGED HIMSELF IN THE STRYZHAVKA COLONY. THIS IS THE SECOND CASE IN A WEEK

– Two suicides are not just an “incident,” but two tragedies, – comments Serhiy Kalinchuk, Deputy Head of the Department for the Execution of Sentences, to our correspondent. – An official investigation into the facts of the suicides is underway.

The Shrouded "Openness", or How the Head of the Prison Department, Koshchynets, Lost in Court

The Administrative Court of Donetsk Region has ruled that the failure of the Head of the State Department for the Execution of Sentences, V.V. Koshchynets, to provide information regarding mortality rates in the system's institutions—requested by the non-governmental organisation "Donetsk Memorial"—within the legally prescribed timeframe was unlawful. The system is indeed becoming open, but only through the courts.