19:24 24.02.2017

Ukrainian ombudsman rep finds containers for keeping defendants in Chernivtsi region court

2 min read
Ukrainian ombudsman rep finds containers for keeping defendants in Chernivtsi region court

Defendants are kept in metal containers that resemble medieval torture chambers in the Hlyboka District Court in the Chernivtsi region of Ukraine, the press service for Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner Valeriya Lutkovska said.

The containers were found on February 8, 2017 by the human rights commissioner's representative in the Chernivtsi region and the human rights commissioner's regional coordinator on liaison with the public.

"The monitoring group found that the container looks like a medieval torture chamber and is composed of two sections that are two meters tall and have an area of two square meters per person, in which people have to sit on benches that are 25 cm wide (on condition that there is only one person in every section). It has to be said that, according to the established norms, every cell ought to have an area of at least four square meters," the report said.

It has been determined that people convoyed to the Hlyboka District Court are kept in these metal containers without access to light and without ventilation. Air and light come into the containers through holes in them, which are 10x20 cm in size. There is no air conditioning in the room where the containers are located.

Additionally, the human rights commissioner's representatives have found that people convoyed to court are not fed and there are no properly equipped places where defendants can talk with their defense lawyers and read case materials and the premises are not accessible to people with disabilities.

The human rights commissioner will send relevant acts to the State Judicial Administration and the Ukrainian Interior Ministry to immediately stop the cruel treatment of defendants in the said court in the Chernivtsi region and defend their rights.

AD
AD
AD
AD
AD