News

Ombudsperson’s Regional Coordinator takes care of restoration of violated rights of citizens in Zaporizhia pre-trial detention centre

Zaporizhia, 15 December 2015 – Regional Coordinator of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsperson) in Zaporizhia region Volodymyr Pavlenko conducted a meeting with detainees in Zaporizhia pre-trial detention centre of the State Penitentiary Service in Zaporizhia region.

 
During the meeting, the Regional Coordinator held confidential individual interviews with all women and minors, persons held in the medical unit, as well as 39 men temporarily detained in this centre.
 
Special attention was paid to the appeal of a 57-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of committing a crime, who complained the provided medical treatment was insufficient for her recovery. During his visit to the pre-trial detention centre, the Regional Coordinator ensured that the woman undergoes tomographic examination and receives medical consultation outside the centre.
 
During the meeting with the Regional Coordinator, the woman also raised the issue of Zaporizhia's Ordzhonikidze District Court infringing her right to appeal against the decision rendered during a video conference about changing the preventive measure. Despite the fact that the terms of appeal has long expired, she still has not received the court decision.
 
Another complaint was from a man, sentenced to 14 years imprisonment by Kramatorsk City Court of Donetsk region, who believed the court violated his rights to a new, timely, objective review of the circumstances of the incident with his participation. The decision of the judges' panel of the Chamber of Criminal Cases of the Appeal Court of Donetsk region to refer the case for a new trial to Kramatorsk City Court remains unenforced to date.
 
Furthermore, the convict considers his 5-month escorting between penal institutions in Artemivsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhia unfounded.
 
While in the pre-trial detention centre, the Regional Coordinator drew its leadership's attention to the need to improve the sanitary conditions of confinement in the medical unit.
 
The Ombudsperson's Regional Coordinator will continue to further ensure the restoration of violated rights of citizens held in Zaporizhia pre-trial detention centre.
 
The event was held with the support of the Democratization, Human Rights and Civil Society Development Programme, implemented by UNDP Ukraine and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.