Council of Europe welcomes reduction in number of prisoners in Ukraine

The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) said this in its new report, which was published on the Council of Europe’s website.

“The CPT welcomes the positive trend towards a reduction in the prison population and encourages the Ukrainian authorities to pursue their penitentiary reform agenda,” reads the report.

The Council of Europe notes that during the CPT’s visit in August 2020, the total number of prisoners in Ukraine stood at approximately 51,000 (i.e. an incarceration rate of some 143 per 100,000 inhabitants), compared to some 57,000 during the CPT’s visit in 2017.

At the same time, the CPT stresses that the proportion of remand prisoners had remained high in recent years (e.g. some 37% at the time of the visit), which indicates a likely overuse of pre-trial detention in Ukraine.

“The CPT believes that steps should be taken to ensure a more restrictive approach to the use of remand in custody by setting strict limits on its use and encouraging a greater use of alternative non-custodial measures,” reads the report.

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