Statement by Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Ms. Khrystyna Hayovyshyn at the High-level debate "A second chance: addressing the global prison challenge"

(13 June 2025)

President,

Ukraine aligns itself with the statement delivered by the EU and would like to highlight few points in its national capacity.

We thank the organizers and distinguished briefers for convening this timely and important debate. For Ukraine, facing Russia’s ongoing war of aggression, the issue of the treatment of prisoners is especially pressing.

Since 2014, the Russian Federation has unlawfully detained hundreds of Ukrainian citizens on politically motivated charges in the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. In occupied Crimea, the targeted persecution of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars starkly illustrates Moscow’s fear of local resistance to its illegal occupation.

The UN General Assembly, in its annual resolutions on the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine—including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol—has consistently called on the Russian Federation, and I quote: “to uphold the rights, in accordance with international law and until their release, of Ukrainian prisoners and detainees in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation, including those on hunger strike, and encourages it to respect the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules).” End of quote.

Today, thousands of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war remain in Russian custody. They are subjected to torture, denied access to legal counsel, and held incommunicado, cut off from their families. Preliminary data indicates that over 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are currently being held unlawfully.

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has concluded that the widespread practice of enforced disappearance by the Russian Federation constitutes a state policy and amounts to crimes against humanity. All arbitrarily detained civilians must be released immediately and unconditionally.

Ukraine remains committed to advancing a comprehensive penitentiary reform strategy, adopted in December 2022 - in the midst of war. This strategy aims to align detention conditions with international standards, reinforce safeguards against torture, and promote the use of non-custodial measures through an expanded probation system. Notwithstanding the ongoing war, Ukraine has achieved tangible progress—modernizing detention facilities, improving prison healthcare, adopting legislation on probation oversight, and digitalizing inmate records and risk assessment tools.

Meanwhile, Russia continues to obstruct efforts to locate missing Ukrainians, consistently refusing to confirm detentions and upholding the practice of incommunicado detention of both civilians and military personnel.

The protection of civilians—whether under occupation, in detention, or unlawfully deported—remains a core and unwavering priority for Ukraine. We will not rest until every Ukrainian who has been forcibly taken is safely returned home.

We call on the international community to stand with Ukraine in defending international humanitarian law and the UN Charter. We urge all Member States to demand access to detainees, ensure their humane treatment, support their safe return and reintegration, and hold the Russian Federation fully accountable for its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Thank you.