United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Sessional/Annual Report of Committee - on the obligation to comply with them. 130. The Committee expresses the hope that the Government will make efforts to bring its legislation and the practices of law enforcement bodies into line with the task of protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens proclaimed by the Convention. 3. Principal subjects of concern 131. The Committee is concerned about the large number of reports by non-governmental organizations of cases of torture and violence committed by officials during preliminary investigations, causing suffering, bodily injury and, in a number of cases, death. 132. The State party lacks a sufficiently effective system of independent bodies capable of successfully investigating complaints and allegations of the use of torture, preventing and putting an end to torture and ensuring that the perpetrators of such acts are held fully responsible for them. 133. The legislation in force fails to provide any effective judicial control of the lawfulness of arrests. 134. Although article 28 of Ukraine's Constitution prohibits the use of torture, its criminal legislation fails to define torture as a distinct and dangerous crime. In the circumstances, this provision of the Constitution is merely declaratory. Provisions on criminal responsibility for the imposition of inhuman and degrading punishment are also lacking. 135. The Committee is seriously concerned about the scale on which the death penalty is applied as being contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee is also concerned about the large number of provisions in the Criminal Code that envisage the imposition of the death penalty, including an attempt on the life of a militiaman. This situation is contrary to the obligation assumed by Ukraine to introduce a moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty. 136. The Committee considers that the systematic mistreatment and beating of recruits in the armed forces constitutes a flagrant violation of the Convention. 137. The conditions prevailing in premises used for holding persons in custody and in prisons may be described as inhuman and degrading, causing suffering and the impairment of health. 138. A major obstacle in efforts to prevent torture is the difficulty experienced by accused persons in gaining access to a lawyer of their choice in cases where the lawyer's participation in the proceedings depends on his presentation of an authorization to act as defence counsel; this problem can be solved only by the Ministry of Justice which issues such authorizations. 139. The Committee expresses regret that Ukraine has not as yet joined those countries which have recognized the provisions of article 20 of the Convention. 140. The Committee notes that the report contains insufficient information and, in particular, gives no http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/de75e94f920bd0a0802565a600537744?Opendocument (26 of 109)16/10/2006 9:54:12 AM