Children were allegedly subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence in a training and rehabilitation centre in Lviv Region. This was reported by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
"I have received information about the possible commission of physical, psychological and sexual violence against children by the director of an educational and rehabilitation institution in the Lviv Region," he wrote in Telegram.
This is an institution that accommodates the most vulnerable categories of children: orphans, children deprived of parental care, children in difficult life circumstances, and children with special educational needs.
According to the Ombudsman, a monitoring visit was initiated due to information about the alleged violence, which was joined by representatives of the National Social Service of Ukraine and partners - psychologists from the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation and SOS Children's Villages.
"We recorded the children's testimonies that the director of the institution committed sexual acts against the girls in the institution, publicly humiliated them, and threatened to beat them and place them in a psychiatric hospital for 'bad behaviour' or violating the daily routine," Lubinets said.
The children also complained that they were systematically told: "No one needs you", "Your parents are drunks", "You are sick", "Nothing good will come of you". The attitude of the staff, headed by the director, to children as "sick", incapacitated - "they have a diagnosis, they are inadequate" - made it impossible for them to develop and rehabilitate.
According to the Ombudsman, over the past six months, children and others on their behalf have filed complaints with the National Police, the local children's service and the Department of Education, but have received no response. On the contrary, for every complaint about the conditions of detention or the behaviour of the staff of the institution, they were beaten with sticks and humiliated.
"We called representatives of the National Police of Ukraine and the prosecutor's office to the site and forced them to start documenting the violations in our presence. As a result of the response, criminal proceedings were opened, in particular under Part 3 of Article 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: "sexual violence against a minor," the statement said.
All the children who testified have been moved from the institution and are safe.
On Monday, Lubinets will initiate a high-level meeting involving representatives of the Lviv Regional State Administration, law enforcement agencies and relevant ministries.
"I will make sure that the investigation impartially and quickly verifies the facts revealed during the monitoring visit and is on the side of protecting the rights and best interests of the child, and the result will be to bring to justice everyone who has abused children or failed to respond when they knew about the violations," he said.