TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN UKRAINE

Section 4Torture and ill-treatment of children in the context of juvenile justiceif a person dies from the beating by those carrying it out, they try to pass it offas illness or suicide.The press hut is also used as an unlawful method of punishment for infringementsof the regime. According to several respondents, a considerablepercentage of cases involving injuries, violent death in SIZO are the result ofbeing deliberately placed in the press hut. Normal day-to-day disputes betweencellmates fairly rarely cause serious injuries, even less so injuries incompatiblewith life.Another form of ill-treatment is being taken out “na boksy”. These areclosed boxes in the corridor typically sized 90 x 90 where no position is comfortable.Three of the respondents said that they had been held in a closedbox for a long period, ranging from several hours to the whole night. Searchesin the cells are also used as a form of pressure, and to this end can be carriedout three times a day. During the search the people in the cell are taken outinto the box for up to an hour or more.The SIZO partly serves to retain a criminal subculture, including passingthis on to minors from adults. SIZO described by respondents as either “red”if they were sufficiently under the control of the Administration, or “black”where the Administration’s control was reduced to a minimum, a criminal subculturewielded considerable influence and there was a high level of force inrelations between cellmates. Long periods held in SIZO, from 4-6 months andmore, often causes moral and physical degradation of the individual, and thisapplies even more to adolescents than to adults. According to one respondent,in a “black” SIZO the Administration only opens and closes the doors,while remand prisoners control the situation in the cells. According to severalrespondents released from places of confinement, during the 2000s the brutalgrip of subculture practices became a thing of the past, however the processof moving away from it was not even, and certain institutions have “black”rules to this day. However all the corrective colonies for minors at the time ofthe research were “red”.As a rule, after long periods in SIZO, a certain period of psychological adaptationis needed. Post-traumatic syndrome is probably typical for peopleleaving SIZO, however the appearance of other psychological disturbances ofvarious forms are also possible. Such disturbances can prove to be both an illnessin the psychiatric sense, psychological overcompensation for the traumasuffered through being in pre-trial detention facilities, and the continuationof psychological problems which appeared long before being deprived of lib-143