Harm Reduction International and the Alliance for Public Health welcome the opportunity to submit information on the ongoing violations of Article 6 (the right to life) and Article 7 (the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), against people who inject drugs and people living with HIV in Ukraine.

This submission will provide a brief overview and a list of questions regarding the following issues:

a. Lack of harm reduction services in prison;

b. Failure by the Ukrainian authorities to take appropriate measures to address the HIV epidemic concentrated among Ukraine’s stigmatised key populations.

The Human Rights Committee has concluded that conduct similar to that of the Ukrainian authorities can contribute to, and in certain circumstances constitute, a violation of the right to life, and of the right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.