The Joint EU/CoE Project “Strengthening Implementation of the European Human Rights Standards in Ukraine” is providing technical assistance via different human rights trainings specifically focusing on prevention of torture and ill-treatment in police activities. This is part of its ongoing support to the National police of Ukraine in the implementation of reforms, with an emphasis on the principles of rule of law and respect for human rights and freedoms.

The recent report of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on its November 2016 visit to Ukraine, published last 9 June 2017, expresses serious concerns about the frequency of allegations of ill-treatment by police officers. Its findings stipulated the project to organise on 23 June a round table on standards of ill-treatment prevention for the staff of the Human Rights Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine (NPU), in order to discuss various aspects of the application of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) regarding the prohibition of torture.

For this reason Dmytro Tretyakov, lawyer of the Registry of the European Court for Human Rights, was invited to provide an overview of the general principles of Article 3 of the ECHR, key issues which are usually examined by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the cases under Article 3 in relation to the police activities. He also presented a review of the recent judgments of the ECtHR that demonstrate the application of Article 3 and important developments in its use. The latest tendencies in the ECtHR case-law and procedures in general were also discussed.

A series of related seminars and trainings on police activity topics are planned for the staff members of the Human Rights Directorate of the NPU as well as academicians of the National Academy of Internal Affairs to spread as much as possible the information on crucial aspects of human rights protection and promotion of a policy of “zero tolerance” to ill-treatment among the police officers.