Press Release
Ukraine: Council of
Europe concerned about ill-treatment by the police and detention conditions
Strasbourg, 12.03.2012 – The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) today
expressed concern over the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the
police in Ukraine.
Visiting police and pre-trial establishments from 29 November to 6 December
2011, the CPT delegation received numerous allegations from detained persons
(including women and juveniles) that they had been subjected to physical
ill-treatment at the time of arrest or during subsequent questioning by police
officers. In a number of cases, the ill-treatment alleged was of such a severity
that it could be considered to amount to torture.
The CPT delegation examined the health care being provided to certain persons
held at the Kyiv SIZO at the time of the visit, including Valeriy Ivashenko,
Yuriy Lutsenko and Yulia Tymoshenko. The delegation has in particular expressed
concern about the considerable delays observed in arranging specialised medical
examinations outside the SIZO. The possible need for additional interventions to
be explored in a hospital setting has also been flagged by the delegation.
The CPT delegation called on the authorities to put an immediate end to the
practice of handcuffing patients to hospital beds and to respect confidentiality
of medical examinations. It also emphasised that the right to inform a close
relative or another person of one's custody, the right of access to a lawyer and
a doctor should be applied from the very outset of custody.
Material conditions of detention were generally satisfactory in the police
establishments visited. The delegation also gained a positive impression of the
situation in the units for juveniles at the Kyiv and Kharkiv pre-trial
establishments; however, the conditions of detention were extremely poor in many
of the other units of these establishments.
The Ukrainian Government has requested the publication of the
preliminary observations, and the full report
on the visit will be transmitted to the authorities shortly.
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