On May 16, 2019 UHHRU Strategic Litigation Center (SLC) won in European Court for Human Rights precedent case Logvinenko v. Ukraine. This case is the first out of 30 cases of HIV infected clients with which UHHRU lawyers were dealing during last 2 years as part of activities on protecting the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, representatives of key PL HIV communities and people with TB.

Proper treatment of convicts in Ukraine was repeatedly in the focus of litigations in European Court for Human Rights. Unfortunately, in such litigations the state always loses, as lack of treatment provided to the convicts is a systematic and well known problem. UHHRU client Oleksandr Logvinenko for the second time already won the case against Ukraine regarding poor medical services.

Mr Logvinenko is a life-term prisoner, who serves the sentence in Dnipropetrovsk penitentiary establishment No 89. He is ill with HIV and TB, in 2011 ECHR already ruled that Ukraine did not provide him with treatment of these diseases. At their background Mr Logvinenko got ill with hepatitis C – disease, which is practically not treated in Ukrainian prisons.

While the situation with anti-retroviral therapy for HIV positive convicts improved recently, treatment of TB and hepatitis remains at extremely poor level.

The claimant was not included into hepatitis treatment program in penitentiary establishments, which are implemented by charitable organizations, because of a virus type.

There are no drugs from hepatitis, funded at the budget expense, in pretrial detention centers and penitentiary establishments. This way the authorities just ignore people, who slowly die under their control, as hepatitis C progress into cirrhosis or liver cancer.

The state does not object systemic nature of the problem, however, it is not in a hurry to solve it, which is well proved by Logvinenko’s case – in 2001 he had low intensity TB infection in the part of left lung, because of irrelevant treatment in the penitentiary establishments the process covered both lungs, turned into chronic, resulted in ruining of the tissues and appearance of tuberculomas, and development of chronic bronchitis and hepatitis C.

SLC’s lawyers Olena Protsenko and Oryna Chylutyan worked on behalf of UHHRU on this case.

Olena Protsenko, UHHRU SLC lawyer: “The client applied for UHHRU’s help with representing him in European Court. Earlier the Court applied to him urgent measures because of hepatitis – obliged the state to run medical examination and provide with treatment, and considered the case as a matter of priority.

Because of that decision in this case was taken quickly – as UHHRU lawyers commented on the position of Ukrainian Government just in autumn of 2018. As a rule, the consideration of a case could take another 2-3 years.

Special attention in the case is devoted to improper conditions of imprisonment of the applicant – lack of space, humidity and cold in the wards, lack of walks in the fresh air and poor hygiene measures, poor lighting and nutrition. This is the first judgment of ECHR regarding penitentiary establishment No 89 in Dnipropetrovsk. ECHR also pointed out that Mr Logvinenko did not have effective means of legal protection in the country – neither the court, nor prosecutor’s office were able to resolve his problem. Providing the convicts with treatment and running necessary medical examinations will be possible only in the case of quality and not formal healthcare reform in the penitentiary system”.

Yulia Gres, Chief Grant Management Specialist (legal service) Charitable organization “100%LIFE”: “UHHRU for the second year implements the project “Development of the legal network for protection of the people living with HIV/AIDS, representatives of key PLHIV communities and persons ill with TB” with the financial support of the Charitable organization “All-Ukrainian Network of the People Living with HIV/AIDS”. In the process of project implementation qualified legal support was provided to a lot of people living with HIV/AIDS, with TB, and representatives of the key communities. The interests of such people are protected in a way of representing the interests of the clients in the state bodies, follow up of the court cases in the national courts and in ECHR.

Positive judgement received by UHHRU lawyers in the case Logvinenko v. Ukraine in the framework of the project is very important for both for the applicant and for the defense of the interests of other persons in the penitentiary establishments, especially those living with HIV.

ECHR’s judgement to the benefit of the applicant adopted in such short period signals about importance of protection of the interests of PL HIV, and high qualification of UHHRU lawyers, which were involved in this case”.

You can find the text of ECHR’s judgement in English here: http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-192995.

Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union implements the project “Development of the legal network for protection of the people living with HIV/AIDS, representatives of key PLHIV communities and persons ill with TB” with the financial support of the Charitable organization “All-Ukrainian Network of the People Living with HIV/AIDS” in the framework of implementation of the project “Releasing the Burden of TB and HIV infection through creation of the open access to timely and quality diagnostics and treatment of the TB and its resistant forms, expanding evidence based prevention, diagnostic and treatment of HIV infection, and creation of stable and sustainable health protection systems”, which is implemented with the financial support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.