Convicts in Orikhiv penal colony No.88 are treated ‘like pigs’

The convicts in the Orikhiv penal colony in Zaporizhzhia region condemn the senior management of the colony because of the cold and hunger.

This is reported by the National Preventive Mechanism monitors who visited the colony yesterday.

Only 125 out of 630 convicts live in satisfactory conditions.

However, the temperature regime is not observed at the premises with complete overhaul. The average temperature is 11-12 °C during the day.

As the Human Rights Information Center correspondent in Zaporizhzhia reports, the monitors found out the expired medicines.

There is no hot water in the colony. For example, the water in shower rooms is heated with wood so it is warm at most. There is no water in the dining room, even for washing hands. The dishes are washed in cold water without detergent.

The monitors did not see the cups for convicts. The prisoners pour water into their plates used for meal. Checking the dinner, the monitors saw only bones in food while it should have been meat according to the documents.

“We are treated like pigs,” said a prisoner.

According to the prisoners, January 22, one of the guards used a pepper-spray ball in response to complaints about the quality of food.

The dining room looks worse than the toilet, the monitors say. The drinking water in tanks is red and has unpleasant odor.

The procedure for using special equipment is broken: the staff does not know the reasons for using and does not warn about their intention to use it.

The bed linen looks dirty and grey, though, according to the convicts, it is periodically washed. At the same time, there is a significant number of bed sets at the warehouse. The bed linen is in good condition if it belongs to the convicts themselves.

The bedclothes in punishment cells are not given at all. The only exceptions are the convicts who have their bed linen and mattresses.

The toilet and washstand are outside only. There is no toilet paper; the remains of excrement are smeared on the walls.

The convicts are paid UAH 1.11 – 1.67 per month for the work at the industrial estate, after all deductions. Those engaged in the upkeep are paid UAH 73-86.

The prisoners lack natural and artificial light virtually in all departments. People live in semi-darkness even in the daytime. The monitors talked with the convicts in the office of the department chief using flashlights.

The NPM monitors point to the falsification of documents in the colony. They cite the example of signing of the document by the head of the colony at the time he was on vacation. Therefore, the documents have no legal force, the monitors say.

The representatives of the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights say that the State Penitentiary Service and the Prosecutor General’s Office will receive the response acts to eliminate violations immediately.

As a reminder, according to the NPM’s data, 214 places of deprivation of freedom are in Zaporizhzhia region.

The visit took place during the cluster meetings of the NPM monitors of eastern region under the auspices of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Visit to the Orikhiv penal colony was conducted within the Eastern region cluster meeting of NPM monitors with the organizational and financial support of the International Renaissance Foundation.