On October 31-st, 2002, two APADOR - CH representatives visited the Bacau penitentiary.

1.     General aspects

The institution services the Bacau and Neamt counties and it is intended for hosting detainees serving sentences of up to 10 years. The total number of detainees was 1541 on the visit date, 1481 being men and 60 women (53 were minor detainees).

The Bacau penitentiary is one of the most overcrowded ones in the country. For a “legal capacity” of 468 places (6 m³ for one person), there were fixed up 1117 beds in which 1541 detainees were accommodated, there resulting “an index of taking over” of about 330%. The prison administration had not in view any possibility to diminish the overcrowding in the near future. The APADOR - CH representatives made inquiries about the possibility of using, as detention spaces, certain empty buildings, in garrisons, which existed as a consequence of reorganizing in the military units. The watch deputy commander, with whom APADOR - CH talked, agreed that such a version should be taken into consideration both in Bacau, and at the level of the Neamt county  ( on the territory of which there were enough possibilities of this kind, for example in Piatra Neamt  and Roman, which should be also taken into consideration for the setting up of a penitentiary in this county).

On the visit day, 319 detainees were used for works (187 - as wage labour force, for the external beneficiaries, especially in the building sector, and 112 for GAZ and servicing inside the penitentiary). From the discussions with the representatives of the institution, one could draw the conclusion that, under the circumstances when they are used for wage labour under the level of the minimum wages by the economy, the detainees are not in the position to also gain days that can be deduced from their sentence span. The association representatives understood that there would exist DGP orders that would not allow something like this. APADOR - CH considers that, under such circumstances,

the detainees should be encouraged to fulfill and surpass the labour norms , and if they do that, they should benefit, like all the other detainees who work, from the sentence reducing.

Ever since the previous visit, in 1998, the institution managed to re - arrange the spaces for detention (there have been modernized the sanitary installations in every room, the windows have been made larger, etc) and to renovate the food section.

As far as the disciplinary sanctions are concerned, the specific norms are generally respected. However, the APADOR - CH representatives noticed that, in the cases when they have in view the imposing of smaller sanctions, the detainees are not heard by the discipline commission. Given especially the consequences which the disciplinary punishments - even those of a less sever character - have over the detainee situation, APADOR - CH insists, on this opportunity too, on the fact that all detainees who have been subject to the disciplinary procedures setting in motion should be heard by the commission, thus giving them the opportunity to defend themselves effectively as regards the behaviour and deeds which are imputed on them. The detainees considered as dangerous are kept in the same place with the other detainees, there being no especially arranged rooms for them. The situation of these is monthly analyzed. Inside this penitentiary, the association representatives have found out that there are still problems with the criteria by which the detainees are classified as “dangerous”, especially under the circumstances when these come from the police lockups with various annotations on their records. The APADOR - CH representatives insisted, this time too, that, in the re - classifying as “dangerous” of a detainee, there should count, first of all, the behaviour of this one inside the penitentiary and the as grounded and objective as possible evaluation of his behaviour done by the staff. If, during the span of several months, it is proved that the annotations done by the police are contradicted by the daily behaviour of the detainee, the relevant commission should have no restraint and it should decide on erasing the respective detainee from the “dangerous” category.

The institution representatives had certain restraints concerning the unlimited access of the detainees to their individual prison records. APADOR - CH considers that there should be absolutely no reason for which the detainees should not see, whenever they want to, their records. They should inclusively have the possibility to make photocopies of each of the documents from their own records (including the judgments, without the penitentiary officials worrying that the courts of justice “would not agree to” such a practice).

By way of the recent collective pardoning law’s effects, there have been released 174 detainees, out of which 83 were petty offenders (unpaid fines truned into term in prison).

2.     Visit inside the penitentiary

2.1 Feeding unit

As compared to the previous visit the situation improved considerably. The air conditioning was set in function, the cookers for preparing the food were all in good functioning state and there are, on the whole, all the needed technical and hygienic - sanitary conditions for preparing the food of the detainees.

The morning meal consisted of margarine, biscuits, tea and bread, for the common diet, and for the health diet, cheese was served as an extra. For lunch, vegetable soup and cabbage with meat and bacon was prepared for the common diet, and for the health diet - peasant broth and rice pilaf with meat. In the evening, there was going to be served, both for the common and health diet, potato stew with meat.

For lunch and dinner, there have been taken out from the warehouse 229 kilos of pork meat, 19.6 kilos meat of sub - products and 78.2 kilos of bacon.

The cabbage with meat and bacon from the common diet looked rather well but, “the meat” of the second course from the health diet was more ribs and fat (and this under the circumstances in which the staff from the feeding unit made it clear that, for the two kinds of meals, there had been used about 140 kilos of meat).

Unfortunately, owing to the overcrowding, the dining room of the penitentiary, one of the very few that existed within the system, has been changed and the respective space has been arranged for hosting the detainees.

It was here too that the food for the persons held in the lockups of the police was prepared (109 helpings on the date of the visit).

2.2  Medical room

Unlike the previous visit, when the penitentiary had only one doctor, now the number of doctors is 3 (1 “specialist in general medicine” and 2 “specialists in internal medicine”). The number of medical assistants is 7, out of which 1 is a pharmacy assistant. On the day of the visit, the medical assistance of the detainees was insured, as an exception to the rule, by the specialist in general medicine as the two others were missing from the unit (one of them had a “hospital day” and the other one was on leave). The employing of two more doctors can obviously be an as useful as possible thing. But, the fact that one of the doctors (the “specialist in general medicine”, who is also a  “family doctor”) is exclusively concerned with the staff continues to impair the quality of the medical assistance insured for the detainees. Besides the tasks from the penitentiary, the “specialist in general medicine” is going to take care, quite soon, of the magistrates from Bacau.

Daily, the doctor consults, on an average, 5o detainees, but he is also concerned with the checking done in the feeding unit, with the newly come detainees, etc, a fact that reduces even more the time devoted to consulting the detainees.

The medical service has a good collaboration with the hospitals from the network of the Ministry of Health and the Bacau Forensic laboratory. The only problem is that the actual system of payment deduction towards the “civil ” units (by way of the own health insuring house) is still rather slow.

The unit has a dentist room and a dentist who works there. There is a problem here too, in the sense that it is needed the setting in function of a laboratory of dental technique (there exists the necessary room for that but there would be needed the freeing of the dental technician job already envisaged in the organizing chart).

The APADOR - CH representatives found as completely justified the suggestion that the analyses meant for diagnosing syphilis (the VDRL test) should be done even from the arresting by the police. The arguments are really convincing: the sooner the diagnosing of the illness, the shorter the treatment time, the treatment costs are more reduced and the suffering of the ill people is less and shorter. From the discussion with the staff from the medical room, there resulted the conclusion that the condoms for the detainees still remains a desirable measure. As the fulfilling of this task seems to depend only on finding the necessary money, APADOR - CH considers that DGP should have this situation in view as being one problem of which solving would prevent the spreading of serious diseases among the detainees in the future. On the date of the visit, there were under treatment for syphilis curing 18 detainees (because of the insufficient spaces, they could not be kept separate from the other detainees).

In room 3 of the infirmary (as “inapt” ones) there were hospitalized 23 ill detainees laying in 14 beds. As of all the rooms visited by the association representatives, this seemed by far the worst. Serious problems were raised not only by overcrowding, but also by the hygienic - sanitary conditions (dirty floor, very dirty bed sheets, etc). A detainee having an amputated leg, Gabriel Barliga, was sleeping on the floor on a mattress that was almost worn to the least of it, the bed sheet from the detainee’s bed was almost black and so was his pillow. Another detainee was sleeping on the caboose (a space arranged inside the room where the detainees keep their personal items).

The hygienic - sanitary state which was completely non - corresponding was due, in the opinion of the APADOR - CH representatives, to the lack of interest of the medical staff. It is easily understandable what kind of attention the medical staff pays to the hygienic - sanitary problems from the penitentiary if even in the infirmary things were so bad. There was no TV set in the room. The detainees said that they were, in general, satisfied with the food, but they complained that they were taken out for their walk too rarely (2 - 3 times a week and even more seldom). The sanitary facility was composed of a separate room where there were two sinks with mirrors, a shower and a cabin with a Turkish WC.

The detainee Mihai Ivanciu complained, seven months ago, to the Bacau Military Prosecution office that he was abusively quested by an officer from the Roman police. As the Bacau Prosecution office gave the solution as not to initiate the legal pursuit, Ivanciu addressed to the Prosecution office with the Bacau territorial Military Law court. He complained that the penitentiary staff persecuted him and that the doctors treat him superficially. The detainee Petru Draghia, blind, sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for murder, complained that his petition for release on parole was rejected as the penitentiary officials, without taking into account that he was blind, would have informed the court of justice that  “he has no days to deduce” by work. From the discussion with the penitentiary representatives it was concluded that the detainee was confused about the conditions established by the penal laws regarding the releasing on parole (the watch deputy  commander made it clear that during the next days there would be a discussion with the detainee and the problems raised by him would be settled). The detainee Ilascu Andone , suffering from arteritis in both legs, complained that he had to be on “hunger strike” for four days in order to be given the medical treatment.  He was, on the visit day, still unsatisfied with the way the doctors took care of him (on the shank of his right leg he had a suppurating open wound). The detainee Mihai Andrei “sued the Romanian state “ for a sentence that was previously passed on him (and in connection with which, finally, he was declared not guilty by the Supreme court of Justice). He showed that, for the respective record, the medical card he had at the Jilava penitentiary is necessary to him, and that this penitentiary constantly lets him know that the respective card is not to be found any more.

2.3 Detention sections

In room 4, in the restrictive conditions, there was no detainee (there were 4 beds and the sanitary facilities had a cabin with a Turkish WC, a sink and a shower).

In the punishment isolation conditions, there were two detainees (at the moment of the visit they were at the court of justice). The room had two beds. The heating system was cold, and it was very cold in the room too. The sanitary facilities were identical to those from the restrictive conditions.

The women section. In the section, there was recently installed an electronic system of access and supervising (it was going to be functional in a couple of days). Such systems were going to be installed in all the detention sections from the penitentiary and the courtyards meant for taking the walks. Making inquiries about the criteria used for selecting the detainees for working at the staff mess, the association representatives found out that, among others  (generally, the criteria are those established for the detainees that work inside) there was also that of the detainees’ not being from the town. The explanation was that the detainees from the staff mess (like those who would go to work inside the penitentiary) would be possible to be kept from working by their relatives and acquaintances that would come to the penitentiary fences. The association representatives were wondering about the received explanation and they requested the abandoning of such a criterion, which was rather lacking pertinence and grounding.

Room 56 hosted, in 6 beds, the 6 detainees who serve at the staff mess. The sanitary facilities had 1 shower, 2 sinks with mirror, and 1 cabin with a Turkish WC (the association representatives had the surprise to find out that, for the first time in a Romanian penitentiary, the sanitary facilities had a ventilation installation). At the moment of the visit, there was neither hot, nor cold running water. In fact, the running water is interrupted in the whole penitentiary during certain hours.

Room 55 hosted 12 detainees (recidivists) in 10 beds; 6 of the detainees were at the court of justice. The room had no TV set, the detainees having the possibility to go sometimes to the prisoners’ club to watch certain TV programs. There were instead radio sets on batteries. The association representatives found out that a DGP order was still in force, of which sense they did not understand, that the detainees were not allowed to received tape recorders from home. Water was not running in room 55 too, the staff giving the explanation that some problem must have been with the water plumbing at that hour. The detainees appreciated that the food was rather good and they were satisfied with the fact that they were allowed to use crotchets and knitting needles  (part of them were making Gobeline tapestry and macramé‘s, the time not taken with other activities was thus passing quicker and more usefully). A week ago, the room was disinsected.  Monthly, the detainees receive one bar of soap, 100 g of cotton wool and detergent. The daily walk from Monday till Sunday, lasts for about one hour and the detainees receive, also every day, newspapers. Two of the very few dissatisfactions of the detainees were that during the visits they had to go dressed in the uniforms of the penitentiary and that they could make phone calls only during the last three days of the month. The APADOR - CH representatives insisted on that opportunity too that at least during the visits they met with heir children, parents and husbands (wives) they should have been allowed to wear their clothes brought from home. As regards the restrictions for the phone calls, the staff considered that the calls could be made only at the end of the month, (during the last 3 - 4 days) as during the rest of the days there were received visits and, if phone call were also made, owing to the fact that the phones are mounted in the visit room, nobody would understand each other anymore. The APADOR - CH representatives did not meet anywhere such a rule, which is not in the least the formula for the detainees to benefit from the rights they had to receive visits and make phone calls in the best circumstances. 

In fact, even the deputy commander agreed to this conclusion and he promised that he would suggest to the penitentiary administration to review  this rule. The cultural - educational activities are organized especially on holidays. For the rest of the time, the detainees go 2 - 3 times a month to the church and the club of the penitentiary, where they see movies and they get involved in certain activities being guided by the psychologist. The detainee Cristina Lin , recidivist, sentenced for 2 years and 10 months for fraudulent trespassing of the border  complained that she had not been informed when her mother had died and that she had not been allowed to go to the funeral at least. The penitentiary representatives said that, according to the rules in force, the recidivist detainees were not allowed to go out on leave, but they could not justify why Cristina Lin had not been at least informed that members of her family had come, during those days, to tell her about what had happened; the reason that the visitors had come on a different day than that for the “ letter” of the detainee’s name, as it seems to have been the real fact, would have been - and it is, if that was the real issue - unacceptable.

Room 53 hosted detainees serving irrevocable sentences, non - recidivists (25 in 18 beds). The women also declared themselves to be satisfied with the food quality, the medical assistance, the daily program of walking (for about one or two hours), the behaviour of the staff and the possibility to use crotchets and knitting needles. The association representatives made inquiries and they found out that, during the while they were in pretrial detention, the detainees were obliged to wear the penitentiary uniforms. Room 53 had no TV set (out of 6 rooms in this section, only 4 have TV sets). The cultural - educational activities were mainly those mentioned for the previous room (a little while ago, the psychologist demanded the collaboration of some of the detainees in issuing the magazine of the penitentiary).

Room 51 was meant for the detainees in quarantine (there were 8 beds and 5 detainees, out of which, at the moment of the visit, 3 were at the court of justice). The heating system was cold and the room - the coldest of all the visited ones. Almost the only daily activity was “the processing of the statutes of internal rules and regulations“ (it seemed that the lack of activity was also due to the fact that the psychologist and an educator were on a sick leave). There existed a TV set and a radio set on batteries, brought from home by the detainees.

All the rooms have sanitary facilities made up of WCs, showers and sinks.

The shower room of the section had 5 shower installations and it was renovated, having faience plates on the walls and stoneware on the floor. There were no foor wooden rails (the deputy commander gave insurance that in a short while the necessary rails would be made).

Room 8, meant for the recidivists serving irrevocable sentences, hosted 57 persons in 30 beds, placed at three levels. The problem of overcrowding is by far the most serious one, the detainees being sometimes 5 in 2 beds. The room has a TV set for the detainees to watch practically the whole day, and radio sets (ever since last summer, the tape recorders have been forbidden by a DGP order). The daily walk lasts for about one hour, from Monday till Friday (Saturdays and Sundays are days for the “administrative program”). The sanitary facilities consist of a separate room where here can be found 3 sinks with mirrors, 1 shower and 2 Turkish WC cabins. Thursday is the day when hot water is running and on Tuesday all the detainees are taken to the common bath room (the penitentiary administration insures that all detainees should take at least one bath a week). Some days ago, the room had been disinsected. The food was good and the phone calls could be made once a month, during the last 3 - 4 days (in special cases, the detainees were allowed to call on some other days too).

The bathroom of sections 1 and 2 had 28 showers, most of them lacking shower heads (the bathroom had faience plates on the walls and stoneware on the floor). There were no floor wooden rails.

Room 13, for recidivists, hosted 53 persons in 30 beds. The detainees were dissatisfied with the fact that they had lice, that they were taken out with difficulty to the medical room and that, in general, the medical assistance is lacking many things. They appreciated that, in exchange for that, the food was good, that they could watch the TV program as long as they want to and that their rights to packets, visits and cigarettes were supplemented. They were taken out for their walks from Monday till Sunday, for about one hour, and they could take their bath on every Tuesday. They went to the club after about a month, where they had an activity regarding “ the re - integrating into society”. The sanitary facilities were identical to those from room 8.

Room 20 hosted 30 pretrial detainees in 15 beds. Here also, almost the only dissatisfaction of the detainees was the overcrowding. For the rest, they appreciated the food as good, that they had hot running water in their room too (not only on Wednesday, when they were taken out to the common bathroom), that they could  see, when they demanded that, the penitentiary records. Two of the detainees’ demands were connected to the possibility to make more phone calls and to  get out to the church more often (the orthodox detainees). There were  radio sets, a TV set (with a program lasting for the whole day) in the room. The sanitary facilities were identical to those from room 8 (the only difference being that there was only one WC cabin in this room).

Room 36, minors,  hosted 37 persons in 20 beds, placed at three levels. Except for overcrowding, which was among the most serious ones in the penitentiary, the minors declared themselves satisfied in general with the detention conditions. The food was good, the daily walk, from Monday till Friday, lasted for about two hours, two hours and a half, they were taken to the club weekly and they could go to the church on Saturday and on Sunday. There were a TV set, a loudspeaker, radio sets, books and rummy games (the newspapers were not received until the visit hour). The sanitary facilities consisted of a separate room having 3 sinks with mirrors,  1 shower and 2 Turkish WC cabins. The bath day, taken at the common bathroom, is on Thursday and the detainees receive monthly rasor blades, tooth paste, soap bars  and detergent. Out of the  36  detainees, 20 were included into the program of schooling. The minors may meet  their lawyers in a room especially arranged in the visit section ( here there come from time to time the chosen counsels and practically never the counsels ex officio). Minors are also obliged to wear permanently the penitentiary uniforms, inclusively  during the visits and even during the period when they are not irrevocably sentenced.

Room 37  also hosted  minors. The detainees had come for a short while from their bath. The  detainees from this room were also satisfied with the detention conditions: they appreciated the food as good, they went out daily for their walk for about an hour, on Tuesday they had cultural - education activities at the penitentiary club, their new rights to visits and packets were known and respected. The room had a TV set and a loudspeaker. The sanitary facilities were identical to those from room 36, with the difference that they had only a WC cabin. One of the sinks had been broken for a week and there was a big garbage can within the sanitary facilities, which had not been emptied  as that could be done “only in the morning” (a situation which was found  by the association representatives as unacceptable).

2.4 The club

At the moment of the visit, there was in course of developing an activity organized by the cultural - educational department with 25 detainees who were in quarantine (the preparing for detention, the internal order regulation processing, the informing on the rights  and obligations of the detainees, etc). Such activities are daily happening, from Monday till Saturday, for about 2 - 3 hours a day. The association representatives found out that all the  25 detainees had their hair completely cut. The explanation of the penitentiary staff was that Law no. 23/1969 established the fact that at the arrival of the detainees into the penitentiary they had be completely haircut. The APADOR - CH representatives considered that such a practice, established by a law  which was more than 30 years old and almost completely outdated by what was happening today within the Romanian penitentiary system , should be immediately abolished. At his receiving into the  penitentiary, a detainee’s hair  should be completely cut, only if the doctor of the penitentiary considers that the hygienic - sanitary conditions demand that (and the measure and its motivation should be noted in the medical card of the detainee). One of the detainees who were present talked about a case that the association representatives met with in other penitentiaries too, that is, at the arrival at the penitentiary, although he had had a serious wound caused by the beating given to him in the police lockup, he did not report it to the doctor as he was afraid of being sent again to the police. APADOR - CH consider that in order to prevent the situations of this kind, it is necessary that the penitentiaries would by no means refuse the receiving of such detainees, but to receive them, to make the needed remarks in the medical card, to insure for them the needed medical assistance and to notify immediately the relevant authorities to investigate the aggressions suffered by the detainees.

The schooling of the detainees is insured by the General school no. 12 from Bacau, with the  double subordination to the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Justice, organized and functioning inside the penitentiary. The classes of the I - IV grades were attended by 24 detainees and those of grades V - VIII by 60 detainees. A vocational school develops its activity for a duration of 2 years under these circumstances too, for the qualifications of carpenter,  (14 detainees) and confectioners - pastry cookers (16 detainees). The confectioners - pastry cookers group  was holding one of the practical tests, the association representatives remaining with the impression of a good organizing of the activity. The  managing board of the school showed the difficulties which they meet with in purchasing notebooks, writing materials and raw materials for the confectioners and carpenters classes.

2.5 The visit section

The visits can be received only between the 1-st and the 27-th day of each month, on the other days the detainees being allowed to make phone calls. Usual visits can be received in a number of 8 simultaneously, at cabin 1 and at tables a maximum of 4.  The two phones were installed in the room meant for the table visits and they were, on account of reasons which could not be understood by APADOR - CH in this penitentiary too, locked in two wooden boxes. During the phone calls, the  non - coms stood with the detainees and they could hear everything they were saying. Next to the two phones, there was the program by which the detainees were allowed to make their phone  calls: during the period 28-th - 31-st of each month and only between 9.00 a.m. - 1.00 p.m.  and 3.00 p. m. - 6.00 p. m., a fact which, in the association’s opinion represented a totally excessive and unreasonable limitation.

In Bacau also, the APADOR - CH representatives  found out that in certain cases the commander of the penitentiary could forbid the visiting of the detainees by people different from those mentioned by the detainees in the list, on their arrival at the penitentiary. The association insists, on this opportunity too,  on the fact that the detainees should  decide by themselves  - and only so - who should and who should not visit them  (under exactly the same circumstances in which they decide who they write to, who they phone to or who they want to receive packets from).The room meant for receiving the packets from the visitors does not ensure a  very good visibility while the contents of the packets is checked and taken over by the non - coms.

2.6 The discussion with the detainee Gheorghe Petrea Chisalau (from room 20)

The  detainee, transferred from the Jilava penitentiary in February 2001, claimed that, a short while after the transferring, he was beaten several times by staff members from the Bacau penitentiary (he named lieutenant  Popescu) and that, at present, the staff would  persecute him, including by instigating other detainees against him. For these facts, he complained to the Bacau Military Prosecution office but the solution coming from them was  that of “ not initiating the penal proceedings”, appreciating the facts the detainee complained about as “non - conclusive and ungrounded”. From the discussion with the penitentiary representatives, there resulted the fact that the  detainee Petrea Chisalau would be permanently dissatisfied and that he would have lodged penal complaints not only against certain military staff, but also against several detainees whom he accused of “slandering” him. The association representatives admitted that it was possible that the detainee had a more difficult temper and he could lodge complaint based on the least of his dissatisfactions, but they remained with the impression that the penitentiary officials, including the cultural - educational department, were able (and they could) to do much more for the improving of the state of serious dissatisfaction - and revolt, practically - of that detainee.

2.7 The discussion with the detainee Ionut Borcea

Ionut Borcea is sentenced for raping a girl. Several weeks ago, the detainee’s father made known to APADOR - CH that his son is permanently threatened and “ terrorized” by the father of the girl his son raped (the girl’s father is also a detainee in the Bacau penitentiary). On the date of the visit, by the agency of the penitentiary officials, the situation Ionut Borcea was in  was somehow improved, in the  sense that the  girl’s father  had been moved from the room in which he had been initially hosted, just in front of that where Ionut Borcea was in. Still, whenever the girl’s father happened to see him, especially when he goes out with his mates for his walk, the girl’s father continues to threaten Borcea, including such threats as “ even if for only one second he meets him, inside the penitentiary, he will take his throat”. The association representatives requested from the penitentiary to take all the measures they deemed needed  so that the tension Ionut Borcea was kept under should stop completely and, especially, to avoid a situation when the girl’s father could take revenge over the raper of his daughter.

3.     Conclusions

APADOR - CH appreciates the evident progress made at the level of the penitentiary as compared to the previous visit of 1998. Although the overcrowding remained a big problem, the detention conditions from the rooms have obviously improved (the feeding unit and the rooms have been renovated, the windows have been made larger, and there have been arranged corresponding hygienic - sanitary facilities). During the previous visit, the detainees were dissatisfied to a greater extent with the food quality, the conditions in the rooms, the lack of activity, the staff behaviour, etc. This time, the dissatisfaction mood was much weaker and it was aiming, individually for the most part, at matters of a smaller gravity.

The association demands from the penitentiary administration to focus on the following aspects of which solving would improve the present situation:

-      abandon the  separate planning of visits and phone calls of the detainees  (between the 1-st  to the 27-th of each month - visits, and between the 28-th to the 31-st - phone calls); the practice from the other penitentiaries, completely different from that from Bacau, insures the almost optimum turning to good account by the detainees of the rights they have;

-      it is necessary that the right of the detainees  to wear their own clothes should be respected;

-      the careful analyzing of the detainees’ request of being allowed to wear, at least during the visits (where they meet their children, wives, parents), the clothes brought from home;

-      although it had not been the object of a general dissatisfaction, it would be useful to analyze the possibilities of improving the medical assistance (the situation from the infirmary has to be improved immediately and radically);

-      it is necessary to solve the problem of the lack of heating from the women quarantine room and from the punishment isolation;

-      the penitentiary should give up the practice of completely cutting the hair of the newcomer detainees ;

-      although the problem of food quality is more  of a positive than of a negative nature, it is necessary to pay more attention that the detainees’ food  should contain the whole quantity of food items (meat, especially) enlisted in the accounting documents;

-       the penitentiary administration should have in view the corresponding solving  of certain individually reported cases, such as those of the detainees Mihai Andrei , Gheorghe Petrea Chisalau and Ionut Borcea.

APADOR - VH requests from the DGP to support the penitentiary in:

-      the solving of the overcrowding problem, by any of the possible ways : steps taken for the modifying of the penal code; investments for another detention pavilion; steps taken for the using as detention spaces of the empty, unused buildings from the military units, from Bacau or within the area of the Neamt county - from Roman or Piatra neamt;

-       the taking of the necessary steps so that the tests  effected for syphilis diagnosing (VDRL) should be done at the moment of introducing the persons into the police lockups;

-      the freeing of the dental technician job;

-      the insuring of notebooks and writing materials needed by the school, and of the raw material needed for the carpenter and confectioner classes;

-      the abolishing of the interdiction imposed on the detainees as not being allowed to receive tape recorders from home.

Manuela  Stefanescu
Valerian Stan