The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) is concerned about video surveillance in the prison ward of ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, her lack of access to outdoor exercise and external contacts, and urged Ukraine’s authorities to solve these issues, its report published on Sept. 5 reads.
Tymoshenko, who is
serving her seven-year prison term in Kharkiv in a case seen by the
West as politically motivated, has repeatedly reported, through her
family and defense team, abuse of her rights by prison wards.
These claims were
examined by the CPT delegation that visited Ukraine on Dec. 1-10,
2012.
“The CPT urges the
Ukrainian authorities to take action without delay to ensure that
medical confidentiality is respected with regard to Yulia Tymoshenko,
that the security arrangements concerning her are no more than what
is strictly required by the circumstances,” the report said.
Since May 2012
Tymoshenko, who suffers from spinal hernia, has been kept in a
Kharkiv hospital, where she complained about the surveillance cameras
placed in her prison ward and even accused her arch-rival, the
country’s President Viktor Yanukovych, of watching her day and
night.
On Feb. 22 the
prison wards reported that the cameras were removed from Tymoshenko’s
ward. It happened on the very day when the president complained about
them in a live televised address.
The monitors of the
European anti-torture body also said that Tymoshenko “had no access
to outdoor exercise for about a year” and “experienced serious
difficulties in enjoying her rights to receive visits and to make
phone calls” and asked the Ukrainian authorities to solve this.
The CPT also claimed
they dint’s receive an adequate response of the authorities
regarding Tymoshenko’s bruises, which she showed on April 24, 2012
saying she received them after the prison wards tried by force to
carry her to the hospital for examination. Prison officials denied
the accusations.
“Of serious
concern are the accounts received by the delegation during the 2012
visit according to which potential witnesses in the case had been
intimidated, asked to withdraw their statements in support of Ms.
Tymoshenko,” the CPT’s report said.
In response to this,
The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice wrote in its letter that European
Court of Human Rights that no tortures were applied to Tymoshenko.
Kyiv Post staff
writer Oksana Grytsenko can be reached at [email protected].
