TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN UKRAINE

Section 4Torture and ill-treatment of children in the context of juvenile justiceThe role of the judge. As is known from several mutually independentsources, the courts virtually don’t acquit people. The acquittal rate is between0.1 to 0.4%.since each acquittal is supposed to lead to a range oforganizational conclusions which are unfavourable to the investigator andProsecutor, or even to a criminal case being initiated., even the initiating ofa criminal case against them. The court may take into account the assertionof the suspect that he was forced to give evidence. More often the judgeignores such complaints on the dubious grounds that all defendants saythat. We can say that the confessions remain “the queen of proof”, as thenotorious Soviet Prosecutor A. Vyshynski called it. Yet at the time when Vyshynskiwas Prosecutor General of the USSR, the courts acquitted 10–12%of cases.In a case where the defence counsel effectively manages to prove thatthe charges are unfounded, the judge as a rule finds the accused guilty butimposes the minimum sentence available. This makes it possible to releasethe person immediately after the hearing, while not entailing sanctions forthe investigator. The period spent in SIZO is counted as served sentence inthe case of deprivation of liberty. The defendant is happy to be at liberty, butthere is nobody guilty of procedural infringements.According to one of the people released, the judge informally explainedthe following: “I have a choice: to give you a minimum sentence and you’ll belet out immediately, or to initiate a case against four people who put you in aSIZO. What do you think, which will I chose?” It’s easy to foresee that accordingto the mathematical expectations (99.9%) this respondent was found guilty,received a year’s imprisoned, and was fairly happily released from custody.He most likely wants the officials who caused him to lose a year of his lifepunished, but he will also take no specific measures for this since he doubtsthat it would succeed.• TransferThese are places of unforeseeable brutal behaviour and ill-treatment bycellmates. Several respondents reported serious problems arising specificallyduring transfer. This is in the first instance physical force from people regardingthemselves as criminal people with power. One of the respondents losta game of cards; while another almost got raped. There are also reports ofbeatings; food and personal items being taken away. Most of the respondents145