Heads of colonies where emergencies occurred have been punished.

Officials of Penal Colonies No. 77, 43, 100, and 117 have been held to disciplinary account.

Three detainees mutilated themselves in Chernihiv SIZO

On the night of 14 April, three detainees held in Chernihiv SIZO No. 31 inflicted bodily harm upon themselves in protest against the violation of their rights.

EVERY CONVICT ‘OVERSTAYS’ THEIR TIME IN PRISON BY ONE DAY

The vast majority of convicts are released from penal institutions not on the last day of the sentence term (as provided for by the CEC of Ukraine), but only on the following day. To eliminate the unfair practice of calculating the terms of different types of punishments, it is necessary to introduce appropriate changes to the current criminal-executive legislation.

DENIED PAROLE? APPLY TO THE COURT

The only grounds for refusing parole are circumstances demonstrating that the convicted person has not proven their rehabilitation. Furthermore, if a supervisory commission refuses to approve the submission of a motion to the court on spurious and legally unfounded grounds, it effectively signifies a failure to perform the functions assigned to it.

Events at Colony No. 100

On 27 March 2008, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group received several reports about a sharp complication of the situation in penal colony No. 100, which is located in the village of Temnivka, Kharkiv region.

Continuation of events at Colony No. 77

On 31 March, the KHRG appealed to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights with a request to verify reports about the beating of inmates of Penal Institution No. 77 in Berdyansk by special forces and the transfer of inmates to the Zaporizhzhia SIZO. The KHRG reported this on 31 March.

Will prisoners soon be released en masse from prisons?

The Presidential Secretariat informs about the intentions and methods of reforming the criminal justice system and law enforcement agencies. The President signed the concept.

What is happening in the penal system?

A “round table” on this topic took place at the Kharkiv “Maidan Svobody” press centre on 2 April.

Changes await the Department of Corrections and its charges.

The State Department of Ukraine for the Execution of Punishments will soon be disbanded and reorganised in accordance with the concept for reforming the State Penal Service developed by the Secretariat of the President of Ukraine.

New staff reshuffles await Lviv police

Following the results of the work of law enforcement agencies in the first quarter of this year, staff changes may occur in the structural subdivisions of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Lviv region.

Emergency in Penal Colony No. 100

On 28 March, the Vinnytsia Human Rights Group distributed a statement that about 40 convicts at Temnivska Penal Colony No. 100 had mutilated themselves in protest against the conditions of detention and the cruelty of the administration. Representatives of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group visited the colony. A commission is working. The ombudsman has also sent her representatives to the colony.

Emergency in penal institution No. 77

On the night from Saturday to Sunday, convict Andrii Kryvonis, the senior duty orderly of the quarantine, was brutally beaten. He died from the beatings. In the afternoon, 15 special forces soldiers in masks and with full combat gear were brought into the colony.