Leonid Vlasenko, Regional Coordinator of the REAct Project in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and Ruslan Voievodov, a REActor from the REAct Project, Regional Representative of the All-Ukrainian Association of People with Drug Addiction VOLNA (The Wave) appeared on the TV show Check and Mate on the TV channel Vidkrytyi (Open News) to tell the viewing audience about state drug policy in the country.
Inhumane approaches that violate human rights are still practiced in Ukraine, and there have been multiple cases of torture and imprisonment of drug-dependent people in private rehabilitation centers. “In total, there are about 300 rehabilitation centers for people with drug addiction in the Dnipropetrovsk region. However, the monitoring group that evaluated these centers in our region has released a positive assessment only for four of them. Most of the centers are custodial institutions, which are not accessible even for the monitoring group. I have been repeatedly approached with reports of rights violations and torture in such places,” Ruslan Voievodov said.
Currently, two draft laws are being considered by the Verkhovna Rada: # 5715-1 of July 13, 2021 and # 5715 of June 29, 2021, which are intended to change the relevant legislation, which is supposed to provide an opportunity for people with drug addiction issues to return to a full life.
“These laws envisage that people who have committed a minor offense or a crime of medium gravity should undergo rehabilitation before release. However, compulsory treatment is not effective. Also, these bills include a clause regarding new programs of treatment, but no such programs are currently operating and it is not clear yet what exactly they will provide for,” Leonid Vlasenko explained.
Also, during the interview they said that there were no rehabilitation centers for teenagers with drug addiction issues in Ukraine. You can find out more about this in the video below.