Prisoners held in occupied territories want serve sentence in Ukraine

About a thousand prisoners, now held in the occupied territories of Donbas, want to continue serving sentence in the facilities of the penitentiary system of Ukraine.

MP of Ukraine, representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian subgroup within the Trilateral Contact Group Iryna Herashchenko has posted this on her Facebook page.

The issue of prisoner transfer was discussed with the leadership of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine and Ukrainian Ombudsperson Valeria Lutkovska.

According to the data of the monitor of the National Preventive Mechanism Oleksandr Hatiyatullin, there are twelve penitentiary facilities and one pre-trial detention center in the area of Luhansk region, not controlled by Ukraine.

According to the data of Iryna Herashchenko, fourteen prisons remain in the separatist-controlled area of Donetsk region.

“As of November 2014, about 16,000 people served sentence in Donbas. Now, according to our information, there are about 10, 000 people,” Iryna Herashchenko wrote.

“Someone was released, many died or were killed, or were involved in the groups of militants…” the MP added.

According to Herashchenko, the State Penitentiary Service has managed to transfer three hundred prisoners, including 178 women from Luhansk colony, for a year of conflict in Donbas.

The last transfers, embracing 29 people, were conducted with the participation of Ukrainian Ombudsperson Valeria Lutkovska. Of those people, nine inmates were foreigners pending extradition.

According to the available information, about a thousand people wish to serve their sentence in the Ukrainian prisons and colonies.

MP Iryna Herashchenko is sure that it is important to involve the International Committee of the Red Cross in the process.

“They, as the independent organization, could receive a personal confirmation and verify lists of convicts for transfers. The militants do not give their consent to that so far. However, we are working to adjust lists and transfer people,” Iryna Herashchenko wrote.

In addition, according to the available information, there are tough humanitarian conditions in the prisons located in the occupied territories, especially in those where people with grave diseases, such as tuberculosis and others, serve sentences. There is a lack of medicines and the international humanitarian organizations are not allowed to visit the prisoners there.