On 16 March, 2015, the Ombudsman’s Office in Ukraine informed the Open Dialog Foundation that in 2014, the Ombudsman and representatives of society conducted monitoring visits to Ukrainian detention centres and penal colonies. The monitoring identified “systemic violations of the order of detention and punishment, resulting in the cruel or degrading treatment of detainees and prisoners”.
The Ombudsman’s Office noted that in the majority of penal institutions, including detention centres, “decent conditions of detention have yet to be created”. In particular, Ukrainian law sets the standard living space for persons taken into custody at as little as 2.5 sq. m. The Ombudsman emphasised that this area does not meet European standards, and that it is much smaller than the standard living space for convicted prisoners, provided for under Ukrainian law, which is 4 sq. m.
In addition, the Ukrainian government has no control over 27 agencies and 47 units of the criminal executive inspection in Donetsk and Lugansk provinces.