The State Bureau of Investigation, together with the leadership of the State Criminal Enforcement Service, is conducting a large-scale operation in Ukraine aimed at combating torture and inhumane treatment in places of deprivation of liberty. Within this initiative was liquidated “criminal vertical” in the Kyiv SIZO.
Since the beginning of 2024, SBI investigators have documented systematic cases of torture that took place in the “Kyiv remand prison”. As a result of the investigation, it was established the existence of a hierarchical criminal structure operating on the territory of the SIZO, which holds about 2,700 people. It was headed by a so-called “watcher”, part of the prison staff and medical workers, who actually acted under the control of criminality, were involved in the functioning of the network.
This structure organized drug trafficking, demanded money from prisoners, conducted gambling, and used physical violence, which in some cases led to fatal consequences. In November 2024, at the initiative of the SBI, the Ministry of Justice, the State Criminal Enforcement Service, and the management of the pre-trial detention center, staff reshuffles were carried out, which made it possible to terminate the network’s activities. However, despite this, individual employees remained under the influence of the criminal structure.
Even after personnel changes, the SBI investigators recorded a new case of ill-treatment. A group of prisoners led by a “watcher” took one of the convicts to the courtyard of the detention center and severely beat him due to the inaction of the staff. The victim was not provided with timely medical care, instead, the pre-trial detention center staff falsified documentation to cover up the incident and placed the victim in isolation without a medical examination. He was hospitalized only the next day, but he died in the hospital on December 28.
Suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm that caused death has been declared against five prisoners, including the “bystander”. All of them were transferred to other penal institutions. Eight employees of the pre-trial detention center, including inspectors, duty officers, medics, and those in charge of corps, were suspected of abuse of power, official negligence, leaving a person in danger, failure to provide assistance, forgery, and complicity in a crime. Sanctions under these articles provide up to 10 years of imprisonment.
The SBI continues the pre-trial investigation and carries out systematic work to identify and stop the facts of torture in the institutions of the criminal-executive system. Procedural management in the case is carried out by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
