Representatives of the Ombudsman revealed systemic violations of the rights of convicts in Menska Correctional Colony No. 91 in Chernihiv region

On May 21-22, 2015, during a monitoring visit, employees of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, together with public representatives Serhiy Burov and Tukhan Ediev, studied the state of human rights compliance in the activities of the Mensk Correctional Colony (No. 91).

A significant part of the visit was devoted to personal communication of monitors with convicts regarding compliance with legal norms by the institution’s staff. The monitoring group also freely inspected the colony’s residential, household and production premises.

Non-compliance with the rights of convicts who had been held in the social rehabilitation center for more than 6 months and did not violate the regime of serving their sentence was established. The colony administration, in violation of the requirements of the Criminal Executive Code of Ukraine, did not grant the specified persons permission to live with their families within the settlement where the institution is located.

The unsatisfactory conditions of detention in the institution that developed during the past winter period (especially in some departments of the social and psychological service) led to cases of tuberculosis among convicts.

In the departments of the social and psychological service, where from 40 to 60 people are housed, the colony administration is allowed to keep only one refrigerator, which causes conflict situations between convicts. The premises of the specified departments are disconnected from the power supply for a long time (about 5 hours a day), according to the administration’s schedule, which creates significant inconvenience for convicts.

The monitors also identified cases of violations of the technology of cooking food for convicts and failure to provide them with nutritional standards. In the institution’s dining room, convicts were not provided with a sufficient amount of dishes. The assortment of goods in the store is limited.

During a visit to the institution’s enterprise, almost all working convicts complained about the low salary.

Based on the results of the monitoring visit to the specified institution, a corresponding report will be sent to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, indicating the identified violations of the rights of convicts and providing practical recommendations for their elimination.