Torture Problem in Ukraine Worries Europe

Ukraine occupies eleventh place among European countries in the number of visits by the Council of Europe Committee to Prevent Tortures. Last week the Committee made public a report on its activities in the CE member states, Interfax Ukraine quotes Deutsche Welle radio. Turkey heads the list with Russia, where CE representatives are primarily interested in the situation concerning the rights of those detained and arrested in Chechnya, in second place. Deutsche Welle states that the Committee gives special attention to observing human rights in Ukrainian prisons, holding facilities, and psychiatric clinics. The report reads that the CE experts have made a number of visits to these institutions and inspected the conditions, under which foreign citizens attempting to illegally cross Ukrainian border are held. As a result of these trips, four reports have sent to Ukraine’s government, three of which were published by permission of the Ukrainian authorities. The published reports contain data on 1998-2000, when it was revealed that workers in law enforcement institutions beat detainees. The 1998 and 1999 reports contain harsh criticism of the maintenance conditions in the holding facilities. In its last 2000 report the Committee points to certain effort made by the authorities to improve the situation.