TORTURE AND ILL-TREATMENT OF CHILDREN IN UKRAINE

ForewordThe investigation comprised the collection and analysis of data on children,who have been victims of torture and ill-treatment, analysis of the practicesand laws of Ukraine in the light of international standards for children’srights in the context of the prevention of torture and ill-treatment and protection,assistance, and indemnification for victims. We also analyzed the effectivenessof the juvenile justice system in Ukraine in terms of prevention oftorture and ill-treatment and the factors limiting the effectiveness of laws andgovernmental mechanisms intended for protection of children’s rights.The research team collected data on children’s rights in the context of theprevention of torture and ill-treatment in Ukraine. It started with monitoring“vulnerable” children as actual and potential victims of torture and ill-treatment(children, who are retained in custody, registered with the militia, stay inapproved school, children whose parents are detained or under investigation,or are witnesses to the case, etc.) and assisted such individual children. In orderto assess the impact of torture and ill-treatment of children-victims and effectivenessof laws, procedures and mechanisms for the prevention, protectionand detection of illegal violence against children the research team attemptedto gather data on the investigation of complaints and their outcomes, as wellas background information on juvenile victims of torture in some cases.The research concentrated on the understanding of the obstacles in thedetection of cases of torture and ill-treatment, as well as study of them of thepunishment of culprits. The data obtained were used to illustrate the effectsof torture and ill-treatment for the victims and for the society, as well as for thepurposes of informing and training.The study also included a survey of several groups of respondents:— Children, who have committed offenses and are serving sentences forthem in special educational institutions: Pryluky, Kuriazka, Melitopoland juvenile correctional facilities.— Children and young people freed from prison;— Children: senior high school students in Kyiv and Kharkiv;— Experts: lawyers, personnel of the agencies and bodies of internalaffairs, penitentiary system, human rights activists, who are directlyinvolved in working with juvenile offenders, and experts, who havestudied the problem of prevention of torture and ill-treatment forjuveniles.