The Rada failed to reinstate the death penalty

People's deputies decided not to reinstate the death penalty in Ukraine.

Legislative changes have expanded the rights of prisoners regarding freedom of religion, and churches have been permitted to assist in their correction

Prisoners’ rights to freedom of conscience have been secured by law

A working group on the death penalty has been established in Belarus

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, welcomed on 4 February the creation in the Belarusian parliament of a working group “on the death penalty as an instrument of punishment”, which included members of both houses of parliament.

Police detained a repeat offender who dismantled a wall in a pre-trial detention centre

Police officers detained a dangerous repeat offender, Stepan RADCHENKO, who escaped from the Odessa pre-trial detention centre on the morning of 4 February.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union will provide all life-sentenced prisoners the opportunity to tell their story

Now every person sentenced to life imprisonment will have the right to tell the whole world their version of the events that cost them their freedom

Concept for the Development of the Penal Enforcement System of the Russian Federation until 2020

Concept for the Development of the Penal Enforcement System of the Russian Federation until 2020. Draft

Parcels to Moscow pre-trial detention centres will be delivered via online shops

The Department of the Federal Penitentiary Service for Moscow plans to organise the sale and delivery of goods to persons held in pre-trial detention centres upon the requests of their relatives via online shops

Ussuriysk: a criminal case has been opened regarding the poisoning of detainees in a pre-trial detention centre

Investigative bodies have opened a criminal case against the deputy head for personnel and educational work of the Ussuriysk pre-trial detention centre, in which three detainees died from poisoning

Must prisoners pay for the humanisation of prisons?

The head of the human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial” has appealed to the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, with a proposal to veto the Law of Ukraine, which provides for the humanisation of the conditions of detention of convicts in places of imprisonment.

The Rada has increased the minimum living space for convicts and removed restrictions on parcels and calls

The Rada has made the procedure for convicts serving criminal sentences more humane. On 21 January, it introduced amendments to the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine regarding the ensuring of the rights of convicted persons in penal institutions.

Tigipko considers the voting results in prisons dishonest

Presidential candidate and leader of the ‘Strong Ukraine’ party Serhiy Tigipko considers the voting results in prisons dishonest

Correspondence of convicts with bodies and persons authorised to protect human rights will not be subject to review

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted as a whole the Law of Ukraine ‘On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Ensuring the Right of Persons Held in Custody and Convicted Persons to Unimpeded Correspondence with a Lawyer’