Can prisoners really receive parcels without hindrance?

Commentary on reports regarding the Cabinet of Ministers’ Resolution and the Constitutional Court’s decision

How many parcels can a convict receive?

Decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the constitutionality of certain points in Section 2 of the Law “On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2008”

Parcels for prisoners are no longer restricted

But the practice of punishing those in captivity by banning parcels (deliveries), small packages, and the purchase of food still persists.

Prisoners will also read

The Lviv City Centre for Social Services has collected over seven hundred books for convicts

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".

Three years added to the sentence for an unmade bed. A letter to Donetsk prosecutors

In the Donetsk region, “there are many examples where staff of the prosecutor’s office turn a blind eye to human rights violations and the use of torture, and the procedures for investigating reports of torture are ‘very far from European standards’.” This is stated in an Open Letter from the public historical-educational and human rights charitable organisation “Donetsk Memorial” addressed to the Prosecutor of the Donetsk region.

Court ruling on the recognition of the actions of the Head of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, V. V. Koshchynets, as illegal.

The ruling of the Donetsk District Administrative Court dated 10 June 2008, regarding the administrative claim of Oleksandr Bukalov, head of the human rights organisation “Donetsk Memorial”, on the recognition of the actions of the Head of the State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments, V. V. Koshchynets, as illegal due to the untimely provision of information in response to a request. Included are the texts of the court ruling, the administrative claim, three request letters, and the Department’s order, according to which certain employees of the agency involved in the untimely provision of information were held accountable.

Brain ring in the Chernihiv women’s colony

On 28 June 2008, a brain ring “Constitution of Ukraine – the basic law of the Ukrainian state” took place at the Chernihiv correctional colony No. 44.

Conference in Zaporizhzhia

A conference on “Improving criminal-executive legislation – public and scientific support” was held at the Classic Private University in Zaporizhzhia.

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.

Information bulletin from the State Department for the Execution of Punishments.

The State Department for the Execution of Punishments invites you to discuss its reform concept.