United Nations Human Rights Website - Treaty Bodies Database - Document - Sessional/Annual Report of Committee - statistical data on the number of persons serving custodial sentences or arrested as a preventive measure, on the number of complaints made regarding the use of torture or on the number of persons prosecuted for that offence. There is also insufficient information about conditions of detention. No details are provided with regard to compensation for persons subjected to torture or their rehabilitation. 141. The Committee is particularly concerned that article 29 of the Constitution of Ukraine has been suspended for five years, especially since the provisions of that article are of great importance in ensuring the observance of the law and preventing the use of torture. The Committee notes the lack of an independent body for monitoring compliance with the Convention in all its aspects. 4. Recommendations 142. The main issue in connection with the fulfilment by Ukraine of the requirements of the Convention concerns the drafting and adoption of directly enforceable regulatory instruments, as only by this means can the provisions of the Convention, and the relevant provision of the Constitution of Ukraine, be applied. 143. Priority should be given to the adoption of a new criminal code, defining torture as a punishable offence, and a new code of criminal procedure, guaranteeing the right of an accused person to counsel at all stages of criminal proceedings, as well as to effective and practical supervision by the courts of preliminary confinement to preclude any use of torture at the stage of detention or arrest or at subsequent stages of criminal proceedings. 144. Another major task is to extend supervision by the judicial and civil authorities over the work of the law enforcement agencies and to establish a system of independent institutions for rapid and effective follow-up of complaints regarding the use of torture and other degrading treatment or punishment. 145. It is highly desirable that the widest possible publicity should be given to the main provisions of the Convention through the press and other media and that practical training in the rules and standards of the Convention should be made available for investigators and the staff of penal institutions. 146. The Committee recommends that interrogation of any person detained or arrested without the participation of defence counsel or when the person is being held incommunicado should be prohibited by law. 147. The Committee considers the 18-month maximum period during which an accused person may be held in custody to be excessive and recommends that it should be reduced. 148. The Committee encourages the Government of Ukraine to consider withdrawing its reservation to article 20 of the Convention and to make the declarations under articles 21 and 22, as well as ratify Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights. 149. The Committee considers that a radical reform of correctional institutions, such as colonies and prisons, and places of pre-trial detention is essential to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the Convention. Solitary confinement and especially conditions of imprisonment give rise to particular http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/de75e94f920bd0a0802565a600537744?Opendocument (27 of 109)16/10/2006 9:54:12 AM