1
0
Police statistics on torture (Article 127 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) occupy a very controversial place in the analysis of the general structure of crime in Ukraine.
On one hand, systematic torture by the police and prison officers has shaped corresponding views on torture practices in the Ukrainian society and media. The Ukrainian society has a strong view that ill-treatment by the police and prison officers is a wide-spread phenomenon.
On the other one, the number of officially registered crimes of torture determines many questions concerning the latent nature of this type of crime as well as the effectiveness of investigation of torture by state agents which become known to the society.
| Torture | Crimes | Proceedings with suspects | Indictments sent to courts | Dropped proceedings |
| 2016 | 62 | 20 | 13 | 26 |
| 2017 | 82 | 37 | 26 | 26 |
| 2018 | 163 | 59 | 51 | 43 |
| 2019 | 140 | 34 | 22 | 25 |
| 2020 | 129 | 59 | 32 | 52 |
| 2021 | 79 | 33 | 25 | 33 |
| 2022 | 68 | 20 | 16 | 21 |
| 2023 | 94 | 53 | 37 | 24 |
| 2024 | 124 | 78 | 58 | 24 |
The police statistics indicate the next trends of crime of torture in Ukraine: 1) before the 2022 War, there was a decline in number of crimes of torture registered by the LEA; 2) after the 2022 War started, the number of registered crimes of torture increased rapidly and reached the level of the 2020 indicators.
At the same time, both the pre-War and the War periods demonstrate a strong trend that only 40% of criminal proceedings had a clear judicial perspective (28 % before the War (2016 – 2021) and 50% in the period of 2022 – 2024).
Additionally, the percentage of dropped criminal proceedings stimulates additional questions about the effectiveness of pre-trial investigation of torture. The specific feature of crimes of torture is that the victim can identify a perpetrator or at least to provide the information that he or she was subjected to torture in a concrete police department or in a concrete prison.
| Torture | Percentage of criminal proceedings with suspects | Indictments sent to courts | Percentage of dropped criminal proceedings |
| 2016 | 32,3 | 20,9 | 41,9 |
| 2017 | 45,1 | 31,7 | 31,7 |
| 2018 | 36,2 | 31,3 | 26,4 |
| 2019 | 24,3 | 15,7 | 17,8 |
| 2020 | 45,7 | 24,8 | 40,3 |
| 2021 | 41,8 | 31,6 | 41,8 |
| 2022 | 29,4 | 23,5 | 30,9 |
| 2023 | 56,4 | 39,4 | 25,5 |
| 2024 | 62,9 | 46,8 | 19,3 |
In general, after 2022, a positive trend can be detected when notes of suspicion were given in more criminal proceedings and less criminal proceedings were dropped. However, such even positive trends are far from the appropriate state of things: too many criminal proceedings are ‘factual’ (without suspects), too many criminal proceedings in torture cases are dropped.
Average Rating