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Ukraine

06 April 2020 – Ukraine

6 April 2020
Prisoners in Ukraine are fearful that insufficient precautionary measures will result in their exposure to the virus, Kharkhiv Human Rights Protection Group (http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1585917571)
Prisoners in Ukraine are fearful that insufficient precautionary measures will result in their exposure to the virus, Kharkhiv Human Rights Protection Group (http://khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1585917571)

While calls have been circulated urging authorities to take precautionary steps to protect prisoners, the GDP is not aware of such calls being made with regards to immigration detainees.

On 24 March, 100 Ukrainian and European NGOs issued a statement urging Russian authorities to take necessary steps to protect prisoners confined in the Donbas and Crimea (as well as in Russia). According to the statement, inadequate measures have been adopted to protect prisoners – health services are “faulty,” prison authorities cannot guarantee adequate sanitation and hygiene conditions, no masks are available for prisoners displaying symptoms, and facilities are overcrowded. The statement, however, did not address persons detained due to their migration status. In Ukrainian-controlled prisons, prisoners speaking to the Kharkhiv Human Rights Protection Group have reported a lack of precautionary measures (including disinfection, temperature screening on arrival, and protective clothing for staff) despite the introduction of governmental decrees requiring penitentiary institutions to initiate anti-epidemic measures.

On 23 March, the Justice Ministry Elena Vysotskaya, Deputy Minister of the Justice Ministry, stated that although there were no plans to release prisoners, authorities are observing practices of other countries and are not ruling out the option of releasing inmates. No mention of immigration detainees, however, was made.