Report on the visit to the Bacău Penitentiary

 

On May 22^nd , 2003, two representatives of APADOR-CH visited the Penitentiary in Bacău.

1. General aspects 

The prison generally hosts detainees who are not repeated offenders, serving terms under 10 years, from the counties of Bacău and Neamţ. 

At the moment of the visit, the Penitentiary hosted 1604 detainees, of which 68 women, 33 minors and 187 young convicts. 1146 had final sentences, 269 had first instance convictions, 168 were arrested on remand and 21 served terms for contraventions. Of the 305 detainees who were taken to work, 183 were working outside the prison and 122 inside, “for the benefit of the detention facility”. Taking into account all these, as well as the conclusions of the 1999 CPT Report, the representatives of APADOR-CH recommended that everything possible should be done so that more detainees are able to go to work. The number of staff for the operational unit was 178. 

On the date of the visit, there were 1031 installed beds. The total living area was 1868 sqm, which, for 1604 detainees and a legal detention area of 4,5 sqm/detainee, indicated that the penitentiary was occupied in proportion of 400%. This is the most serious situation of the whole Romanian penitentiary system. The unit has been even more overcrowded lately, since the modernization works at the barracks reduced the living space by 200 places. 

APADOR-CH considers that the situation requires urgent remedies. During the visit, the representatives of the association could see that, in some of the most crowded rooms, life was an inferno. The air was hot and unbreathable, detainees were sweaty, pale and with inflamed eyes. They were subject to inhumane treatment in the most complete sense of the word. This is regrettable, since there are solutions which come at no great costs, as APADOR-CH pointed out on more than one occasion. In front of the penitentiary, for instance, there is a four floor building belonging to the Defense Ministry, once used as military barracks and nowadays practically abandoned. On the North side of the penitentiary, a military base (12 hectares of land and several buildings) used to host 3000 soldiers before the restructuring of the army, but is now home to 50 military. To the representatives of the association, it was clear that an attempt by the Ministry of Justice to contact the Defense Ministry/Government could solve the problem in a very simple way. APADOR-CH would like to remind the DGP management and the Ministry of Justice that the Defense Ministry ceded several buildings in the town of Roman, enabling the School for Drivers and Mechanics to function. Under such circumstances, the DGP and the Ministry of Justice could take into consideration creating a new penitentiary for the county of Neamţ (also because half of the 1604 detainees at the Bacău Penitentiary are from Neamţ county) 

The Penitentiary had no special problems as concerns the relations between staff and detainees. In the case of disciplinary punishments, the disciplinary board “usually” heard all detainees against which disciplinary procedures were opened. The representatives of the association insisted that the hearings took place in every case, with no exception, even for very light punishments. They argued that detainees should be offered the chance to defend themselves as best they can, and that any disciplinary sanction, irrespective of gravity, would be taken into account for parole. Detainees considered to be “dangerous”, around 40 in all, were kept with the other inmates, and the only special “treatment” was the fact that they were watched more closely during court hearings, transfers, etc. On the day of the visit, there were no detainees on restrictive regime or confinement and chains were never used. 

Representatives of APADOR-CH  were appreciative of the fact that the management of the penitentiary did not reward detainees for “information helping to maintain the order and security”. 

Although with great difficulty, due to overcrowding, the penitentiary managed to lodge the various categories of detainees separately. On the other hand, overcrowding has made it impossible to ensure more than 30-45 minutes of open air walking every day. 

The prison has also been hosting, for the last two months, a detainee serving a life term who had judiciary affairs at the Neamţ Tribunal. He has been kept in a separate cell, taken out for the daily walk by himself, and offered specific activities by the cultural-educational department. 

 

2. The visit to the penitentiary 

2.1.The kitchen area 

Breakfast had consisted of white cheese, biscuits and tea (plus margarine for the underage detainees), for lunch there was vegetable soup and cabbage with meat and bacon for “everybody” and potatoes and meat/rice and meat as a second course for diet. All detainees were going to get meat and potato gravy for dinner. 

For lunch and dinner, 47,8kilos of pork, 187 kilos of beef, 65 kilos of processed beef and 63 kilos of bacon had been taken out of the store house. The “meat and bacon” at the second course were more bacon than meat, especially when one checked the amounts in the books, while the meat for the diet course has a lot of bone, looking more like “processed” meat. 

The kitchen area was well maintained and had all the necessary equipment for good functioning. The products checked in the storage house were well before expiration date (semolina – September 2003, pasta – April 2004, rice – December 2003, February and March 2005, sugar – December 2003).  

2.2.Detention areas 

Cell-room no. 55 hosted 10 women detainees in 10 beds. When they received visits, they had to wear the prison uniform, and some of them, especially those who saw their children, were extremely upset by this rule. The women’s section had a separate yard for the daily walk, which lasted between one and one and a half hours. The club organized activities every Monday, mostly religious and sanitary education, or preparation for social reinsertion. There was a TV set in the room and newspapers were provided every day. Detainees were allowed to use knitting tools, which enabled them to fill their time when there was no other activity. They were allowed to use both the shower in the room and the section bathroom for several times a week. 

Cell-room no. 53 hosted 30 women in 18 beds. The room was very hot and the air hardly breathable. The inmates complained that only two of the guard shifts are kind enough to allow them to keep their door open. There had been cases of lice, but each time the medical staff intervened and the problem was quickly solved. The women were unhappy that they could not go to work and that during the walking hour in the hot season they were not allowed to wear lighter clothes, especially since they had a separate yard. They also wished they were permitted to receive radio sets and tape recorders from home. As on other occasions, the representatives of APADOR-CH were of opinion that such a restriction on grounds that radios increase electricity consumption or that detainees would drown each other in noise was not well thought. Detainees were content with the quality of food and medical assistance. At their proposal, the management of the penitentiary promised to analyze the possibility of using personal clothes during visits, especially in the case of women detainees who meet their children. In this cell, too, knitting tools were available. The bathroom consisted of a separate room, with ceramic tiles on the floor and walls, two sinks with mirrors, a shower tub, and two cubicles with Turkish toilet seats (and a ventilator which was working). Bathrooms were identical throughout the penitentiary, bigger cells having one extra sink and toilet cubicle. Detainees were allowed to take a bath on Fridays, “but also on other days, if necessary”. At the moment of the visit there was no running water due to plumbing repairs. 

In cell-room no. 42 - detainees serving more than 10 years terms - 27 men shared 10 beds. There was a TV set in the room and the inmates were taken out for half an hour from Monday to Saturday, while Sunday was reserved for the bath. BIC razors and soap were distributed for personal use (plain razors were forbidden). Detainees complained that they very seldom took part in cultural-educational activities, “maybe once in a year”. A special problem they raised with APADOR-CH representatives were the conditions in the waiting rooms at the Bacău and Piatra Neamţ Courts. The respective rooms had no toilets, no water, no windows or airing systems and were extremely small, although many detainees were held in there all day long. Detainees offered as an example the waiting room at the Piatra Neamţ Tribunal, of about 15 sqm, where 50-60 detainees were held since morning, until the last of them was heard by the Court (approximately from 7.00 to 17.00). Detainee Crăciun suffered of psoriasis on the nervous system and had infected wounds all over his head. Detainee Stroia Constantin complained that his file mistakenly informs that he had shunned arrest. Although he was treated no different for this reason, he was afraid that in the case of a transfer, he might be placed under restrictive regime. 

Cell-room no. 36, for minors, hosted 13 detainees in 12 beds. The daily walk lasted from one and a half to two hours, including on bath days (to avoid health problems, the walk took place in the morning and bath in the afternoon). Minors had access to hot water in their bathroom for 2 or 3 times a week and were taken once a week to the common bathroom. They were part of cultural and educational activities every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8 of them being given alphabetization courses. Underage detainees received newspapers, but at the moment of the visit, the TV set in the room was out of order, and was going to be fixed by penitentiary staff. During the visits, minors wore prison uniforms or, if they had one, school uniforms. They were allowed a phone call per month, following an application signed by the Governor. 

Cell-room no. 37 (also minors) hosted 12 detainees in 10 beds. Four of them were taking alphabetization courses and the other 8 were attending first to fourth grade classes. On Wednesdays, “Speranţa” (Hope) Association in Bârlad organized various educational activities for them and on Tuesdays a psychologist met the children and assessed their state. There was no TV set in the room, since the old one had been broken for a month. During the visit of the representatives of APADOR-CH there was no running water due to some maintenance works. 

Cell-room no. 8 (repeated offenders) hosted 30 beds and 78 detainees in a space of around 60 sqm. Under such circumstances, the air was stale, since the open window and the ventilator in the bathroom could not cope with the heat. Detainees complained that the door was left open only between 8-10 in the morning, between 14-16 in the afternoon and during lunch time, which was not enough to air the room properly. They also complained that the bathroom had only three sinks and 2 toilet cubicles, and water runs according to the schedule 5-7 12-13 19-21, which is not enough to ensure proper access to facilities for such a large number of people. Detainees were also unsatisfied for not receiving toothpaste, toothbrushes and toilet paper. One of the problems raised by detainees was that their applications for the monthly phone call are often rejected, because the penitentiary has only two pay phones. They very seldom took part in cultural activities. Detainee Vasile Remus had an infected wound on his leg and had been asking to be taken to the infirmary ward for a week, with no result. The representatives of the association talked to detainee Călin Constantin who maintained that on March 18^th, 2003, he was beaten by detainees from cell-room no. 9 (Dumitru Constantin Senior, Dumitru Constantin Junior, Manea Sorin and other two men), who had been set to it by members of the staff. Following that incident, his personal belongings were stolen, too, the detainee alleged. On March 28^th or 29^th, Călin filed a complaint against the detainees at the Prosecutor’s Office by the Bacău Tribunal and re-filed it on April 7^th or 8^th. Around April 18^th, he also sent a complaint at the Military Prosecutor in Bacău against the two members of the staff. The detainee received no answer and feared that his complains had never been mailed out of the penitentiary.  

2.3.The infirmary ward 

The medical staff consisted of 3 doctors (2 internists and 1 GP) and 6 nurses. The doctors’ schedule was 7-15 for two of  them and 13-21 for the third. The nurses worked in 24 hours shifts. A doctor saw an average of 30-40 detainees per day. For almost a year, following a decision of the social security agency CASA OPSNAJ, the GP, who was also an appointed family doctor, had been seeing exclusively the staff and their families (excepting the days when he had to replace or help the other doctors with the detainees). The number and seriousness of self-mutilation cases substantially decreased over the last period. The co-operation with the County hospital and the Tuberculosis Hospital in Bacău was, as always, very good. The representatives of APADOR-CH noted however that detainees are still handcuffed during their stay in civilian hospitals. They reminded once again the severe criticism that the CPT (Convention for the Prevention of Torture) brought against such a practice. Handcuffing detainees in the hospital in unacceptable as such (the measure is taken against very sick people, since they need to be transferred to a civilian hospital), and even more so since the detainees are permanently escorted by two officers. The infirmary ward had no problems related to equipment and supplies in general. The only problem, brought to attention once again by APADOR-CH, was the postponed opening of the dental lab. For that purpose, the DGP should have made available a technician’s position and equipped the lab. Sometimes, there have been difficulties in ensuring the necessary drugs, because CASA OPSNAJ was constantly late with discounts. For a year and a half, the medical care in the penitentiary has suffered because of an ordinance issued by the Ministry of Health, which stated the maximum value of drugs for one appointment at 5000 lei, which, according to doctors, was totally insufficient, especially when one dealt with people like those in penitentiaries, whose state of health was more degraded and who lived in more difficult conditions. 

The infirmary consisted of four rooms, a quarantine ward for active TBC patients (12 detainees), one for stable TBC patients (30 detainees), and two for patients with  other conditions. Room 2 of the infirmary ward hosted 23 detainees in 14 beds. There was a TV set in the room and patients confirmed that they were allowed to bring in their own radio sets if they worked on batteries. They also received central and local newspapers everyday, as well as half an hour of walking. Detainees told the representatives of APADOR-CH that they generally received the proper medication and, in case the drugs are not available, they were allowed to receive drugs and vitamins from home, based on a prescription from the penitentiary doctors 

2.4.The cultural and educational department 

The staff consisted of three officers (two legal workers and a psychologist), a civilian worker and an non-commissioned officer with technical responsibilities. The department also co-operated with three NGOs: the Humanitarian Service for Penitentiaries “Speranta” (Hope), which organized religious and ethical activities for underage detainees, the Pentecostal Mission and the Betania Charity Association, whose financial support helped buy in 2001 the equipment for carpentry and confectionery courses. The Department also worked together with the Reinsertion Service by the Bacău Tribunal, making weekly evaluations for detainees about to be released or at the request of the Court. 

The psychologist led therapy, counseling and information programs. Upon their arrest, detainees have been tested and drawn up a psychological file/profile. Detainees preparing to go out to work or applying for parole were also passing some psychological tests. Also, detainees about to be released were given a month of psychological training. Nine young detainees were part of a program for aggressiveness control and the 30 “dangerous” detainees were part of another special program. Minors were part of the VAD program for social reinsertion and solving family problems. The minors in the two cell-rooms took turns in the program: three months for each group.  

 

3. Conclusions 

- APADOR-CH notes that, in general, excepting especially the terrible overcrowding, the conditions in the penitentiary are acceptable; detainees are generally satisfied with the living arrangements, the quality of the food and, with a few exceptions, of the medical care; although there is no tension among detainees, the representatives of the association believe that better communication is necessary between the management and detainees who would like to report various problems;

- except for the fact that, compared to the previous visit, the amount of meat in the food was smaller  - as opposed to the amounts in the books – the logistics department manages to fulfill most of its obligations; taking into account the recently released 1999 CPT Report, the association considers that the penitentiary management must give constant attention to the quality of food for detainees;

- as concerns the serious overcrowding of the penitentiary, the association considers that it is absolutely necessary  that the DGP and the Ministry of Justice should intervene urgently; urgent action is required especially since solutions are available with minimal efforts (the few options mentioned under Chapter 1 of this Report, to which APADOR-CH has pointed on other occasions as well, are meaningful in this respect);

- for the improvement of medical care, the association deems that the DGP should take the needed steps so that the 5000 lei limit for consultation/detainee is increased and that CASAOPSNAJ should pay drug suppliers more promptly; it is also necessary that funds are released for the dental laboratory;

- DGP should also support the penitentiary to increase the number of staff in the cultural educational department; the existing staff in completely insufficient for the large number of detainees and the inhumane, stressful conditions in which at least some of those live; steps must be taken by the Ministry for Education and Research to fund the raw materials needed in the bakery course;

- it is necessary that during hot days, the cell doors, especially those of crowded cells, are left open as much as possible; the management should instruct all the guards in that respect;

 

 

Valerian Stan                                                                            Diana-Olivia Călinescu