How are former law enforcement officers and lifers “sitting”?

Representatives of the Ombudsman inspected the penal institutions of Chernihiv region and the Mensky district court in terms of compliance with human rights in their activities. This was reported by the press service of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights.

The Department for the Implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism of the Secretariat of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, together with the regional representative of the Commissioner Viktor Tarasov, carried out a monitoring visit to the Novgorod-Siversk penal institution (No. 31) in Chernihiv region, to the Mensky correctional colony (No. 91) and to the Mensky district court. During the monitoring, the commission was joined by employees of the prosecutor’s office of Chernihiv region.

The participants of the monitoring visit met without hindrance with the management of penal institutions and the court, got acquainted with the conditions of serving sentences and detention in court, studied the living conditions and inspected the premises on the territory of the institutions.

As the monitoring showed, there are certain shortcomings in the activities of the Novgorod-Siverskaya penal institution, where more than 40 life-sentenced prisoners are serving their sentences, which can be considered as improper treatment. In particular, those sentenced to arrest serve their sentences in semi-basement premises, in some cases, the administration of the institution imposes regime restrictions not provided for by law on those sentenced to life-sentenced prisoners. The negative practice of deducting funds from the personal accounts of such persons, which are used to reimburse the cost of food, clothing, shoes, underwear, utilities and other services, provided that the right to work is not exercised, was also revealed.

In the Mensky correctional colony, where convicts who previously worked in law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office and the court are serving their sentences, it was found that the institution’s store lacks the minimum necessary list of items, individuals do not have the full opportunity to buy basic necessities, and the standard area per person in residential premises does not meet the requirements of current legislation.

In the Mensky District Court, the equipment and layout of premises for holding defendants do not meet the requirements of the legislation, there are no bactericidal lamps in the courtrooms, the dimensions of the metal stationary fences for holding defendants are too small, and there is no separate bathroom for guards and defendants.

The members of the monitoring group also noted positive aspects in the activities of the visited institutions and the court, in particular, current repairs are being carried out in the penal institutions and the court, in addition, during the survey, the convicts spoke positively about the state of medical care provided to them.

Based on the results of the monitoring, the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights will send appropriate response acts to the State Penitentiary Service and the State Judicial Administration.