Torture in Ukraine

[nikolai]

Amnesty International is concerned that 19-year-old Timur Flores Lopez is at serious risk of torture and ill-treatment in the prison where he is currently being held. He has reportedly been targeted by local law enforcement officials, against whom he has made allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

On 14 June, a group of masked law enforcement officials reportedly entered the cell, which Timur Flores Lopez shared with about 30 other prisoners at Prison No.1 in the city of Vinnytsa, south-west of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. They had reportedly been allowed into the prison by prison officials. The law enforcement officials allegedly beat Timur Flores Lopez in front of other prisoners. They then removed him from the cell and placed him in a small isolation cell or ▒cooler'. The conditions of the isolation cell were said to be very poor.

Timur Flores Lopez was reportedly only removed from the isolation cell after a family member learned of the incident and lodged an official complaint with the prison authorities. The Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsperson's Office was also said to have been informed and visited the prison on 18 June 2002, reportedly confirming the incident.
http://www.stoptorture.org/urgent/index.php

"Ukraine's real commitment to human rights must be questioned," Amnesty International said. "When formal complaints have been lodged and investigations opened in cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment by police officers, they have been slow, frequently lacking in thoroughness and often inconclusive. The impartiality of a significant number of investigations is also in doubt."

http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/...NTRIES\UKRAINE