The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture has urged Ukraine to step up its efforts to prevent the mistreatment of prisoners.
In a report prepared as a result of its December visit to Ukraine and published on September 5, the committee said that these measures should be initiated at the highest level. It recommended developing an ethical culture among prison staff, improving staff-inmate relations, including combating corrupt practices, and strengthening the role of health-care staff in the prevention of ill-treatment.
The committee also urged Ukraine to define limits and improve training on the use of force, to ensure the effectiveness of investigations into cases of possible ill-treatment, in particular through setting up without delay a national team specialized in the investigation of such cases, and to develop an effective national preventive mechanism.
In addition, the committee said that the Ukrainian authorities had already provided information on the steps taken to address some of the urgent matters raised in its visit report, in particular the adoption of anti-torture and anti-corruption measures in penal colonies and other penitentiary establishments.
