- 32 (f)
The establishment of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights
(Ombudsman), charged with the protection of human rights in Ukraine, and that the Ombudsman
can visit and have full access to all places where persons are deprived of liberty;
(g)
The assurances given by the head of delegation that the reports of the three visits
of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which took place in 1998, 1999
and 2000, will be published.
C. Subjects of concern
57.
The Committee expresses its concern about the following:
(a)
The numerous instances indicating that torture is still being regularly practised in
the State party and that, according to the Commissioner for Human Rights, 30 per cent of
prisoners are victims of torture;
(b)
The forced deportation of four Uzbek nationals, members of the Uzbek
opposition, who were at high risk of being subjected to torture and whose case was the subject of
an urgent appeal by the Special Rapporteur on torture;
(c)
The fact that judges sit on the newly formed “coordination committees on crime
fighting” together with representatives of the Ministry of the Interior, a situation which is
contrary to the principle of the separation of powers and may affect the independence of the
judiciary;
(d)
The numerous convictions based on confessions and the criteria for the promotion
of investigators which are said to include the number of solved crimes, which can lead to torture
and ill-treatment of detainees or suspects to force them to “confess”;
(e)
Failure on the part of the authorities to carry out prompt, impartial and thorough
investigations into allegations of such acts and to prosecute and punish those responsible;
(f)
The information received by the Committee that relatives and lawyers are
informed about the detention only after the arrested person has been transferred from police
custody to a pre-trial detention facility, a process that usually takes not less than two weeks. The
Committee is also concerned about the lack of clear legal provisions about the exact time when a
detained person can exercise his right to a defence counsel, a medical examination, and to inform
a family member of his detention;
(g)
The duration of pre-trial detention, which can last for up to 18 months according
to the law but which in practice can be extended for up to three years, of administrative detention
for up to 15 days, and of detention of “vagrants” for up to 30 days;
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