TORTURE AND INHUMAN TREATMENT

Since my son was not at home and he owned the hammer drill legally, as evidenced by the case materials (the interrogation protocol of Maksym Yevhenovich Omelyanenko dated June 19, 2003, which showed that the Bosch Hammer hammer drill and the Bosch angle grinder were purchased with the money earned by me, Dmitry Bryk (Koval) and Yuriy Omelyanenko), I refused the latter, and when they entered my apartment with the intention of taking the hammer drill, I took my gas pistol, which was in my safe on the basis of the relevant permit, and began to threaten to use it if the latter did not leave my apartment, which, accordingly, was legal and corresponded to the danger of the situation (in fact, the latter demanded personal belongings of my son in my own apartment).

As

was later established from the materials of the criminal case, the latter (Omelyanenko Yu.Yu. and Rebenok M.P.) on the same day wrote a statement to the Chernihiv police department, stating that in the apartment of Koval M.P. they were threatened with the use of firearms.

Without conducting any verification of the specified statement (establishing the grounds on which the applicants entered the apartment, without making inquiries about the person, the grounds on which she keeps the weapon, interviewing neighbors, etc.), regardless of the explanations of the applicants that they provided when writing

the statement about the threat with a weapon (according to the Child’s statement

the latter indicated that on 14.08.01 at about 11:00 a.m. at the address of Chernihiv, Partizanska Street 53, apartment 48

a man unknown to him threatened him with a weapon and physical violence), that is, regardless of the fact that the threat of using any means of protection to prevent entry into a private home is prejudicially legal, the police officers immediately assembled a group to go to the specified address, as evidenced by the materials of the criminal case cases, police reports.

Around 6:00 p.m. several unfamiliar men came to me (as it turned out later, they were the same police officers

Gonchar, Danilov,

Feshchenko).

When I opened the door and saw people I didn’t know who had not introduced themselves, presented their IDs, or explained the purpose of their visit, I tried to close the door, but they grabbed me by the arm, knocked me down, and started pushing me into the apartment.

Fearing for my life and health, I escaped to the forest platform and began to call for help. They knocked me down again and started dragging me into the apartment. One of these men, as it was later established – police officer Honchar M.O. sat on me, pressed his knee on my neck and, having pulled out a pistol, threatened to use it, while hitting me on the head with the handle several times.

When, having heard the noise,
my son Bryk D.M. came out of the apartment, and, seeing that I was being beaten, wanted to drag the unknown men away, the police officers also used methods of physical influence on him and handcuffed him.

After that, handcuffed, in a patrol car that was called by neighbors, I and my son Bryk D.M. were brought to the Chernihiv city police department where we were divided into different offices. There, the police officers, using physical force and torture on me and my son, forced me to write explanations.

During the torture, I was beaten on the head for a long time with fists, and also struck with a service pistol, a plastic bottle filled with water, breaking a rib, causing a concussion and a traumatic brain injury.

My son Dmytro was tortured while handcuffed. He was also beaten on the head, his eyes were squeezed out with his fingers, and his ears were hit with the palms of both hands at the same time so that the eardrums burst.

Physical torture was accompanied by moral torture and mental threats.

Ukraine has signed the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 3 of which states: “No one

shall

be

subjected

to torture

or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Unfortunately, it is too early to speak about compliance with this norm in Ukraine.

We are posting an interview with torture victim Mykhailo Koval, prepared by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.

Mykhailo Petrovich, how did Amnesty International learn about your case?

When I saw that the investigation of my case was being deliberately slowed down and the police officers who tortured me would remain unpunished, I turned to human rights organizations – the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Kharkiv Human Rights Group. The KHPG lawyer asked my permission to post information about my case on the Internet. A few days later, Ms. Heza McGill from Amnesty International called me. After some time, we met at the office of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and from that time on we began to cooperate.

How did you use the mechanism for protecting your violated rights, provided for by the current Ukrainian legislation?

From the very beginning, I was convinced that a criminal offense had been committed against me and my relatives by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs department. The investigation of such crimes is the competence of the prosecutor’s office. Therefore, I turned to the prosecutor’s office and have been trying to achieve an impartial investigation of this case for the fifth year.

Has your life changed during this time?

What happened to me and my son is terrible. Both of our health was significantly undermined, we were forced to undergo treatment for a long time. My son and I are still not all right with our health. My son is now deaf in one ear – as a result of the torture, he lost his hearing, and his eyesight deteriorated. But the scariest thing for me is that the torturers undermined his faith in justice and human kindness. Now he rarely smiles. That day I promised my son and set a goal to restore our violated rights. Let those who tortured us read this and understand. I am not going to back down.

Who, in your opinion, is involved in the crime against you, their names?

The date of August 14, 2001, has had an impact on my entire life. On the eve of Independence Day, the police sent me to the hospital to “celebrate”. On that day, without any sanctions or explanations, police officers Gonchar, Danilov and Feshchenko broke into my house and tortured me first. Gonchar beat me on the head with his fists and a service weapon. The action is recorded in the testimonies of neighbors who came running to shouts: “He forcefully put a gun to my head.” After the neighbors called the police, my torturers put me and my son in a police car and took them to the Chernihiv city police station at 13 Shevchenko Street. They themselves got into the same foreign car in which they had come to me. At the city police station, Captain Tyshchenko, Alyokhin, Slivko and others joined the torture. Gonchar, Tyshchenko and Slivko abused my son and me with particular cruelty. The latter tortured us for 4 hours – from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, which seemed like an eternity to us.

What did the aforementioned police officers demand from you?

They demanded written confirmation that I had voluntarily given up the gas pistol (I had a permit for it) and the perforator, and they made me sign it.

When they brought us back home and called the witnesses, I gave up the pistol. But I emphasized that the perforator was my private property and they had no right to seize it. In the presence of the witnesses, Tyshchenko and Slivko began to threaten that they would search the room and, if they did not find the perforator, they would take away all the valuables and take us to a cell and put us in the penitentiary. I felt then that they could really do anything, and we gave up the perforator. I asked to be given a receipt stating that they had taken the puncher. I didn’t notice that instead I signed a voluntary surrender protocol.

What do you personally think was the motive for such actions by the police?

Together with the police officers, when they broke into the apartment, there were two civilians – M. Rebenok and Yu. Omelyanenko, who for some reason accompanied the police officers and gave them a lift in their own foreign car. Perhaps the motives should be sought in the presence of these people – that’s a matter for the investigation.

(The victim’s lawyer O. Trofimov raises the question of the existence of corrupt acts on the part of police officers.

As can be seen from the case materials, the criminal investigation officers illegally seized the specified perforator, which is the private property of Bryk D.M.

and according to the statement of Omelyanenko Yu.Yu. and Omelyanenko I.Yu. the perforator was issued to the applicants under a security receipt

and has not been returned to the owner at this time.

According to the explanations of the Child dated 11.09.01:

“…on August 17, I went to the head of the criminal investigation, M.A. Gonchar, to find out how I could get a perforator for work. They explained to me that this should be done through the court.

Since I needed a perforator for work, we were told that it was necessary to write an application from the majority of the team members.

After they gave me the perforator under the receipt

, to whom M.A. Gonchar turned to me with a request. allocate financial assistance if possible, if it does not cost me money.

The next day I came to the police station,

wrote an application for the allocation of 300 hryvnias for the purchase of fuel and lubricants. And he handed it along with the application to M.A. Honchar. in the ego office…”

As indicated above, these facts were established and recognized as illegal materials of the official investigation, which are in the case files, in accordance with the conclusion of the official inspection materials dated September 17, 2001.)

What were your actions after the executioners left your home?

I filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. I also filed a complaint with the Chernihiv regional organization of the People’s Movement of Ukraine. A publication was made in the newspaper “Sivershchyna”. The head of the regional branch of the People’s Movement of Ukraine V. Stupak (now a people’s deputy, member of the UNP faction in the Verkhovna Rada – ChGKZPL) sent a request to the then head of the UMVD in Chernihiv region, Mykhailo Manin. An official investigation was conducted and I was notified in writing from the city prosecutor’s office that by order of the head of the UMVD, General Manin, employees of the VKR of the Chernihiv city department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Honchar, Danilov and Feshchenko were dismissed from the bodies. The order was issued in September 2001. I was informed about this on September 20, 2001. But these people still work in the police.

Mykhailo Petrovich, what would you advise those people who have gone through the hell of the police “unbridled”

– to be afraid or to defend themselves?

When tortured – agree to the demands to stop the abuse. But then use all the possibilities to prove the crime. If there are bodily injuries – immediately do an examination, as a last resort – let the relatives take pictures.

We must immediately file appropriate statements with the prosecutor’s office. And do not lose hope – contact human rights organizations, seek publications in the press – shed light on the black deeds of the torturers. Then there is hope for the victory of justice. I am sincerely grateful for the help of people’s deputies Volodymyr Stupak and Yulia Tymoshenko, executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union Oleksiy Tarasov, co-chairman of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group Yevhen Zakharov and lawyer of the KhPG Arkady Bushchenko, representative of Amnesty International Hesi McGill, members of the Chernihiv Public Defense Committee human rights lawyer Valentina Badyra, Natalia Romanova and lawyer of the Ukrainian Human Rights Commission Oleksandr Trofimov, who responded to my plight. Thanks to their efforts, I have hope that the case will move forward and reach the court.

P.S.



Today, this high-profile case has gone from being “dead” to being “half-alive.” Its investigation has been ongoing since 2001. During this time, the prosecutor’s office has tried to “bury” this case several times. But thanks to the intervention of people’s deputies and lawyers, the resolutions to close the criminal case were canceled each time. According to the victim’s lawyer O. Trofimov, investigative actions are currently underway in the case and an investigative experiment will be conducted in the near future to recreate the circumstances of the incident. The pace of the investigation into the “Koval case” will demonstrate how much the situation in Ukraine has changed during the new government. We hope that this high-profile case will not go unnoticed by the President of Ukraine, V. Yushchenko, on whose desk Amnesty International has placed its report. Faith in justice is shattered instantly, but it takes a long time to restore it. There is a difficult path ahead. Today, Mr. Koval appealed to the European Court, his case has prospects. Its resolution in accordance with the law is expected by Ukrainian society and those of its citizens whose dignity and honor were brutally mutilated by police boots.

According to the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, four of the six police officers whose names are mentioned in this interview and whom Mr. Koval accuses of torture, continue to work in the internal affairs bodies, and even received promotions and new ranks over the past four years: Captain Feshchenko and Major Danilov work in the penal of the Chernihiv city police department (by the way, Danilov is a relative of Oleksandr Bugayev, the notorious Chernihiv criminal authority of the mid-90s), Major Gonchar transferred to the regional criminal police department,

and Eduard Alyokhin, already under the new government, received the rank of lieutenant colonel and was appointed…. head of the Chernihiv city police department

(coincidentally, or maybe not so much, Eduard Alyokhin was a classmate at the Chernihiv Pedagogical University of the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, socialist Mykola Rudkovsky, who became famous throughout Ukraine for organizing the storming of the Chernihiv City Council on November 26, 2004 during the “orange” revolution).

Natalia Romanova, Viktor Tarasov

Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights