Every person on the presented photographs has been tortured by Ukrainian militiamen, and all of the torturers except one hasn't been yet punished. As you get into the militia department, you may find yourself in danger of being tortured or beaten for rejection of giving the statements they want you to. You might be innocent or a passerby, or aggrieved, or just being disliked by an officer.
You might get tortured in perverted ways (electric shock torture, hanging on scrap, suffocation by gasmask, ...), beaten, deprived of sleep or food, or be locked in a cell where you’ll be smashed by other prisoners; you’ll be refused of legal protection and won’t be allowed any visitors: no lawyers, no defenders or parents. But most importantly, you’ll be deprived of your personal integrity and dignity.
The number of tortured people is increasing year by year and it's almost impossible to estimate their number. People are killed in the militia department in Ukraine: in 2009 21 persons were found dead and in 2010 51 already, which isn't an objective enough measure as many cases remain unknown. Another indicator is the number of calls for the ambulance to militia departments – about two calls a week.
The project is ongoing for about a year and I'm going to work on until the situation will begin to change.
I have several reasons for doing this project: I'm willing to help make the declared human rights implemented and common, and to help prevent the unnecessary cruelty by the police officers. I'm also a strong believer that police officers should pursue the ethical principles of humanity that are not spelled in laws, but only embedded in the social contract between state and citizen.
This project in a very simple way shows the problem of human rights in Ukraine. This project aims to give an overview of the scale of the problem by the average number of people that took part in it - now 56 stories with about 80 persons. People photographed in places closely related to their cases, to show how significantly their lives were harmed (influenced). I'm planning to photograph about 100 stories all over Ukraine in the next 6 months.
