Prisons in Ukraine are regulated by the

State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine The prison ministries of Ukraine provide religious services to people in Prisons in Ukraine, Ukrainian prisons. Coordinated by religious leaders and the Ministry of Justice (Ukraine), Ministry of Justice, services are provided for Ukrainian Greek ...

, a part of the

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine ( uk, Міністерство юстиції України) is the main body in the system of central government of Ukraine that regulates state legal policy. It is often abbreviated as "Мinjust" f Ukraine It ...

. There are 32 preliminary prisons, 131

penitentiary A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

establishments for adults and 8 colonies for minor criminals in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. According to

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

and ill-treatment by the police is widespread in Ukrainian prisons. Several police officers have been arrested for allegedly torturing detainees.

Prison population

In early 2010, there were over 147,000 people in prison and more than 38,000 in pre-trial detention facilities in Ukraine, a total three times that of

Western European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

countries, and half as much as in the United States. In 2009, the number of inmates in Ukraine rose for the first time in seven years. Coupled with this increase was a higher instance of

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

(44 prisoners) and

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

(761 deaths therefrom) in penal institutions during 2009; the former compares with 40 suicides in 2008. Between 1996 and 2001, about 26 percent of inmates in various prisons across Ukraine tested HIV-positive. In a January 2006 study, between 15 and 30 percent of prisoners tested HIV-positive.HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C in prisons: the facts
AIDSLEX (2006) In early 2005, tests showed up to 95 percent of prisoners were

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...

positive. In 2011, 6,000 inmates had HIV and 5,500 suffered from an active form of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Various inmates have been kept in pre-trial detention for up to 12 years; there is no legal limit as to length of such incarceration.Living Hell

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is the oldest English-language newspaper in Ukraine, founded in October 1995 by Jed Sunden. History American Jed Sunden founded the ''Kyiv Post'' weekly newspaper on Oct. 18, 1995 and later created KP Media for his holdings. ...

(23 December 2011)

Conditions

Convicts in Ukrainian prisons work 7 or 8 hours a day, except for weekends. Prisoners get to keep part of the money raised from the sale of the items they produce. They are limited to four pairs of shoes. Computers, cell phones and other electronic

gadget A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...

s are strictly forbidden in jail.Tymoshenko will face severe conditions in prison

(14 September 2011) Bathing may be limited to once a week. According to the

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

Human Rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

Report 2009, conditions in prisons and detention facilities in Ukraine are harsh, and pretrial detention was seen as arbitrary and lengthy. According to

, allegations of torture and ill treatment in police custody increased in 2010.

References

External links

Web-site of Dmytro Yagunov

State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine
{{Prisons in Europe

Prison population Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Dur ...

Imprisonment and detention
Web-site of Attorney Dmytro Yagunov
*

Prison population

Conditions

See also

References

External links