Report on the visit to the Penitentiary of Giurgiu
On March 14-th, 2002 two representatives of APADOR-CH visited the Giurgiu Penitentiary.
The penitentiary is a new unit whose construction began in 1994. On the date of the visit about half of the designed buildings were finalized. Two out of the 4 units for detention were ready and in operation. Also finished were the spaces for visits and infirmary, as well as the food ward. Not finished and in various stages were the other 2 units for detention, the workshops, the washhouse and the detainees' club. The funds necessary for continuing the investment are now secured 35%.
The penitentiary is connected to the town water network, and from this point of view it has no problems (the more so as for cases of serious damage it has a reservoir that provides the necessary amount of water for 3 days).
The normal capacity of the unit is 1,000 places, the number of installed beds is also 1,000 and the number of detainees is 1,105. Out of the total number of detainees 944 had final convictions, 148 in pre-trial custody and 13 with petty offences. There were 10 underage, 9 young people(aged 18-21) and 22 women. The criteria regarding the separation of categories of detainees are observed. The profile of the penitentiary is for sentences of up to 10 years imprisonment.
The organization chart of the unit includes 300 positions, out of which only 234 are filled (there are 215 officers in the operative units). As of October 2001,most of the positions that are not filled have been blocked. The penitentiary needs 14 positions in the operative units, 4 in the cultural-artistic and a dentist.
At the Giurgiu penitentiary the use of the labor force of the detainees is a problem, in the sense that the county economy is poorly developed, and hence the demand for labor force is rather small. In addition, the unit has big difficulties because it is obliged, just as all the penitentiaries for that matter, not to accept labor agreements with the beneficiaries that do not pay at least the minimum salary by economy. The association reiterates its opinion that the penitentiaries should be allowed to negotiate and sign agreements with the beneficiaries below the minimum salary by economy, the most important thing here being that the detainees are able to go out of their rooms and carry out an activity, and those who fulfil the norms do benefit from a reduction in the term in prison, in the conditions established by the law. At the date of the visit only 70 detainees were out at work, at the penitentiary construction site.
Because it does not have the necessary land - and the money either, to buy land - the penitentiary does not have a cattle breeding and vegetable farm. The meat for the detainees is bought from the Pelendava penitentiary and the other products, from the market, by selection of offers.
Investigation and sanctioning of breaches of discipline rules is made according to the procedure of the "incident report". The unlisted officer or the officer that finds that a breach of discipline took place reports it in writing to the commander. In case the commander considers that it is necessary to start disciplinary procedures he notifies the discipline commission. The commission makes the investigation and hears the possible witnesses and the detainee (the fact that the detainees are heard regardless of the gravity of the thing done and the possible punishment for it is a positive fact). The detainees who are not satisfied with the discipline commission decision can challenge it to the commander and after that to the penitentiary prosecutor. There are 17 detainees "that are considered highly dangerous" in the penitentiary. A positive fact is that these detainees are not kept in special rooms, but in normal rooms, together with the other detainees. The difference in point of treatment as compared to the common detainees is that the "dangerous" detainees are closely watched by the officers and their visits take place in special places (at the "cabinets for the dangerous ones"). The impression of the APADOR-CH representatives was however that the monthly evaluations that are made for this category of detainees should have in view to a greater extent the possibility for those detainees who have not created any problems for some time to be taken out of that category. The association believes that decisions in this respect should be as objective as possible having also in view the fact that putting the detainees in the category of "dangerous" has consequences when the question of being paroled is raised. Since its establishment the penitentiary has not had cases of detainees being sanctioned with "restrictive regime". According to the penitentiary management the chains are used "only in the case of detainees sanctioned with isolation when they become recalcitrant or self-aggressive." The association representatives insisted on the obligation to observe the norms of the UN and of the Council of Europe, which forbid the use of chains in penitentiaries. In this respect, it is necessary that the GDP take all necessary measures for abrogation of the Order of the Ministry of Justice 1257/2000 which gives again the possibility of chains being put to detainees. The Giurgiu Court gives way to about 90% of the proposals for parole that the penitentiary commission makes. The Giurgiu Court does not have a "probation" office.
There is only one public phone in the penitentiary which the detainees can use once a month (in special cases the commander approves other requests of the detainees, as well). Another 3 phones will be installed in the next period of time. The association reiterates the observation that the GDP and some penitentiaries - including the one in Giurgiu - should give up the idea of considering the phone as a "facility" and not as a right. The Constitution of Romania assimilates the telephone correspondence with the written correspondence, which means that if the detainees have a right to send as many letters as they want, they should also make as many phone calls as they want (considering the technical facilities that the penitentiaries have). In this respect - but also of eliminating restrictive and not justified bureaucracy, the association considers that order nr.820/1998 of the general manager of the GDP should be abrogated. The penitentiary management said that sometimes the detainees require their letters -especially to authorities and other institutions - be sent with an accompanying official address by the penitentiary (this would mean, it was mentioned, that the detainees would be sure their letters would not be lost "on the way").
The association representatives had the impression that this formula would be convenient to the penitentiary staff, as well, who would thus have the possibility of getting to know the problems that the detainees refer to when they address the authorities and other institutions, and advised the unit officials to proceed in such a way as to rule out any suspicion regarding the violation of the secrecy of correspondence.
The detainees are obliged to wear the penitentiary clothes always, including during the visits. APADOR-CH brings again to attention the positive experience of the Tulcea penitentiary where all the detainees who have civilian clothes can wear them both in the unit and during the trips out and the visits. The Giurgiu penitentiary management showed serious reserve about that practice. Mentioned was especially the fact that if such a thing happened now in the unit the "safety of the detention facily" would be in big danger, because there are a lot of civilians in the penitentiary, workers from construction companies that work here. The association representatives have not contested that in such circumstances the obligation to wear the penitentiary clothes would be justified. However, as soon as the current situation ends, there would be no reasons that the example of Tulcea be followed here, too. Anyway, as both the UN and Council of Europe norms require it, the detainees who do not have final convictions should be allowed to wear their own clothes.
The building is new and has all necessary technical facilities.
For lunch they had pork soup and cabbage with lard and meat, for all, and for diet they had peasant soup with pork and beans with meat. For lunch, they had used 82 kilos of pork, 10 kilos of lard and 20 pork by-products. For the 5 Muslims and 4 diabetics they had used 2.7 kilos of beef. The food looked acceptable in general. For dinner they were to serve stew with meat (for all) and rice and milk (for diet).
In room 2, “current diseases” there were 10 detainees and 14 beds. The patients said that health care was appropriate and that the medical staff paid attention properly to their health problems. They also said the food was good. There was a TV set in the room that the detainees could watch at ease. The daily exercise, from Monday to Friday, lasts for about half an hour. The lavatory is a separate room with a toilet, a sink with mirror and a shower. Paul Marian Stefan had filed 4 applications for transfer to the Bucharest-Rahova penitentiary and all the 4 applications have been rejected, the reason being that the penitentiary he wanted to be moved to was overcrowded. He insisted in his request saying he was suffering from asthma and that his family (his parents and his wife who live in Bucharest) would help him to get the medicines he needed and which sometimes are not to be found in the penitentiary pharmacy (there were two situations when, in crisis, the infirmary could not give him the shot with Miofilin). Adrian Linca (sentenced for 2 years in prison) is a cardiac with 40% mitral stenosis. In April 2000 he had a heart attack and was kept in hospital for six weeks. Eight detainees have syphilis. As it was likely to have gotten it in the penitentiary, the association reiterates its proposal to provide condoms.
The medical cabinet has 2 general practitioners (in the organization chart there are 6 positions of general practitioners, 1 dentist, 1 hygienist, 1 pharmacist and 8 nurses). They mostly need a dentist. This position has been blocked since November 2001, and could not be filled in although the penitentiary has already 3 candidates. For solving dentistry problems a specialist doctor comes once a week from the penitentiaries of Rahova and Jilava, which is obviously not enough. The daily consultation schedule for the detainees is between 8.00 – 11.00 and 14.00 – 15.00, during which about 70 people are examined. For the officers there is no special schedule, they come to the cabinet "when they can and usually go to their family doctors". There are two serious cases of psychic illnesses in their care: Ionel Nedelcuta (convicted for stealing a gas cylinder, the detainee has no orientation in time and space, has gloomy memories and often wets his pants) and Marius Marin (has problems ever since his childhood, is using dirty words, threatens but he never puts into practice the threats). There were cases in which the dermatology ward of the Giurgiu hospital, making investigations into the cases of syphilis, had also done HIV tests, without the detainees knowing it and agree to it. The APADOR-CH representatives insisted that this should be given up altogether, the international norms in the field forbidding such a thing.
Because the Giurgiu hospital has some receivables to get from the Military House for Health Insurance the penitentiary can only resort to the services of this unit for emergency cases.
When the parcels are received, the detainees can see when they are opened for verification, as well as what they have received. One of the detainees had to give back to the visitors the medicine that they had brought him being told that he could have received them only if he had a prescription from the penitentiary doctor. The association does not challenge this rule but considers that the unit staff should have made it known in time to the detainees. For the visits, there are 8 cabinets for the common detainees, 4 for the dangerous ones and two rooms for the visits at table which benefit the most meritous detainees and those that are not guarded (the two rooms did not have the necessary furniture yet). There is a room where the detainees can meet with their lawyers and the supervisors stay at a distance and do not hear the discussions that are going on.
Room 112, in pre-trial custody, had 6 beds and 6 prisoners. They said that generally speaking the food was good, but sometimes it has "sand and small stones" in it. The daily exercise is usually for half an hour, during which football can also be played. They can go to the club once or twice a week, where the detainees can watch the TV for about two hours. On the basis of a schedule the detainees can also go to the sports hall of the unit, where they play tennis and do fitness. There is not TV in the room, no one having the possibility of bringing one or a radio set from home. The penitentiary managed to buy only 6 TV sets that have been put in the clubs. The unit intends to install closed circuit television station and radio amplification. The detainees complained that they have no activities with the educators and that sometimes they are treated superficially at the medical cabinet. In the discussions, the detainees confirmed that in the disciplinary commission they talk to all those who breached the discipline rules, regardless of the punishment envisaged to be given to them. The lavatory was a separate room with a toilet, a sink with mirror and a shower (they take a bath once a week when hot water is suuplied). There was dank on the outside wall. Aurel Aurelian Cazacu complained that when he was visited by his brother and sister in law only the brother was received, because of insufficient space for visits, the unit officials said. The association representative considered that not letting a person in - of the two whom visited Cazacu - was not justified.
The unit for women has 5 rooms with 22 persons. In room 121
there were 4 detainees and 6 beds. The daily exercise (from Monday to Friday) is of an hour and every evening the women detainees go to the club to watch TV (on Saturdays and Sundays they go also between 14.00 – 17.00 hours). The women detainees receive books from the library and newspapers every day. They are obliged to wear the penitentiary clothes always. Their greatest discontent is that they have to wear these clothes during the visits, too. The lavatory is a separate room, with a toilet, a sink with mirror and shower. The hot water for the bath runs on Sunday and for the rest of the days the water is warmed with the boiling vessel. In the club there was a TV set and a bench. Constanta Didei was discontent with the fact that although she had asked for two weeks to have a medical examination (she has an ovary cyst) she had not had it, to the date of the visit.
Section “1B”. In room 144 there were 6 beds and 6 detainees (young, aged 18-21). There is a TV that can be watched without restrictions. No newspapers are received, in exchange, books from the library can be borrowed. The daily exercise is for about half an hour, during which the young ones are allowed to play football. The food is good and they take a bath a week. Here, the detainees were also discontent with the fact that they are obliged to wear the penitentiary clothes during the visits, as well.
Section “2B”. In room 255 there were 6 beds and 6 detainees. There is no TV and no radio or loudspeaker. The detainees can go to the club only once a week and they get newspapers only if they insist. Here too, the detainees' opinion is that the food is generally good. What they were dissatisfied with was that any request -for phone calls, visits etc - can be made only between the 1-st and 3rd of every month, which means that if after the 3rd day of the month a situation might come up which could not be envisaged at the start of the month, it will not be considered. The rule is that the detainees can be visited only by the persons that have the same name with them (parents, spouses, children). The APADOR-CH representatives believe that in both cases the restrictions are not justified and asked the penitentiary officials to reconsider them.
In room 254 there were 2 beds and 2 persons. According to capacity and arrangement (the toilet and the sink were in the room), the room is destined for detainees punished with isolation. On the date of the visit however there were 2 common detainees, with no disciplinary problems, who were not discontent that they had been accommodated there.
In room 248 there were 6 detainees (on repeated offence) and 6 beds. The TV set in the room was out of order, so the detainees were taken 2 – 3 times a week to the club for watching the TV there. The food was said to be better than in other penitentiary (Rahova and Jilava) and the daily exercise is of about half-hour. The heating was turned off several days ago and the detainees complained that it was cold during the night. As they do not get razor blades from the penitentiary many shave themselves with the same blade.
Room 228 had 6 beds and 6 persons, underage detainees. When entering the room "attention" was shouted strongly, just like in other rooms (the association representatives believe that such a practice should be given up in the Giurgiu penitentiary, too). The underage had their clothes worn out, did not all have boots, and, generally, their room and their exterior aspect suggested a negligent treatment by the staff. For several weeks now - because of one of the minors, it seems - the lower window of the room was broken and during the night it was very cold in the room. Four of them are illiterate and the cultural-educational department is teaching them to read and write. They make their exercise every day, from Monday to Friday, for about an hour and because they do not have TV in the room they are taken to the club every day between 15.00 and 17.00. APADOR-CH representatives opinioned that the TV watching schedule should be established for other hours than the ones mentioned, in order to give the minors the possibility of watching more interesting programs (movies, matches, entertainment shows etc). The lavatory had the same utilities as in the previous rooms, only that the showerhead was absent.
In room 302 there were 2 beds and 2 detainees. There was no TV, loudspeaker or radio either and the lavatory, which was in the room, had a toilet and a sink.
The penitentiary has 8 rooms for isolation in all. In room 317 there was detainee Aurelian Capalau. He was given 10 days of severe isolation because he broke down an electric transformer. The disciplinary commission heard him and after he was given the punishment he challenged it to the commander and to the unit prosecutor (both contestations have been repelled). Before he started executing his punishment he was given a medical examination. He is taken out for exercise every day, without handcuffs, for half an hour. Between 5.00 (waking up) and 22.00 (bedtime), the wardens take away the barracks equipage and the sheets. There was a standing water closet and a sink in the room (there was water on the floor because the installation was broken). In room 318 there was detainee Florin Tincu. He had been given 10 days of isolation because he tried to commit suicide. In the association opinion to sanction such facts is not justified and is counterproductive. A detainee who tried to commit suicide needs medical assistance, psychological assistance, possibly religious even more attentive than so far and not repressive measures. The repressive measures can only make his discontentment bigger, and possibly strengthen his decision to commit suicide. In addition, a disciplinary punishment will never be a discouraging measure for a person that proved he/she had no hesitation to commit suicide.
Until three months ago, the penitentiary had no educators. From the discussion with one of the two educators that filled these positions recently - a young officer - the APADOR-CH representatives were left with the impression that there were premises that the cultural-educational activity contribute in the proper extent to the good operation of the activity in the unit. In the opinion of the association representatives the priorities should be the detainees with problems, the underage, the organization of cultural-educational activities (including in cooperation with the similar institutions in Giurgiu) etc; this department should also have in view the effective and efficient use of clubs and sports halls in the detention unit. In the whole penitentiary there are only 10 subscriptions to newspapers, which explains the big number of detainees who complained that they do not get newspapers. An apparently minor problem is the lack of table tennis balls. There are tennis tables but withought balls they are just for "decoration".
The detainee has been executing, since 1990, two sentences for participation in the incidents of June 1990 of the Public Television and for an attempted escape. According to what Matei said, one of the courts that judged his first case decided he was innocent and gave him a substantial compensation (around 4 billion lei). In connection with this, as well as with the fact that he is a firm militant for the observance of the detainees' rights and dignity, Matei upholds that especially lately he has been subject to completely unfair persecution by the penitentiary. "I am asking", Matei says, “that my rights and my dignity be observed and when I have the possibility I teach my colleague to do the same". The penitentiary officials' response is that by what he is doing Matei "instigates to revolt" although the APADOR-CH representatives did not find in the detainee's file any data to confirm such an allegation. On March 28-th 2001, for reasons that are not clear to him, Matei was transferred to Giurgiu from the Bucharest Rahova penitentiary. The detainee gave an envelope to the APOADOR-CH representatives which he received from the newspaper "Evenimentul Zilei" which was opened at the Bucharest Rahova penitentiary (on the letter there was the stamp of the Rahova penitentiary registration office and later on of the Giurgiu penitentiary). A few days after being brought to Giurgiu, Matei was put in the category "dangerous" and in the past year since then he has been made 4 reports for punishment, more than in all the 10 years since he has been in the penitentiary system (since then he has had only 3 reports). In September 2001, when Matei filed an application for release on parole the unit asked the court to postpone the release with one year and the court decided to reduce to half the period of time envisaged by the penitentiary. The association representatives have not so far met a case in which the penitentiary is more severe that the court.
After being brought to the unit, Matei upholds that he was kept in solitary confinment for 4 months, and another two months together with another detainee (the penitentiary representatives mentioned that it was much less than that). In 2001, the detainee was kept several times in chains; early last May, because he wanted to commit suicide; in June because he protested against the fact that another detainee was kept in chains and was not taken to the toilet; in August, with hand cuffs and chains in solitary confinment. On May 2nd and August 11-th he was beaten by the officers in the penitentiary and on a separate incident he was reported for punishment because he refused to talk to the educator with his hand cuffs on. Matei knew that a though treatment had been applied also to the other 3 detainees that had been transferred together with him from Bucharest Rahova: Iulian Fenter, Amet Metin and Petrisor Duduianu.
The detainee talked to the association representatives about his wish to be treated decently, according to regulations, by the penitentiary staff. He does not understand the antipathy shown to him by the officers only because he wants that he and the other detainees enjoy the rights that they have according to the law, including to be respected like any other person. Since the postponement of his release last autumn he has not had any reports for punishment Matei would like to be moved to Rahova (his family is in Bucharest) and the penitentiary should not reject his next application for release (which is to be discussed in about two weeks). Matei suffers from epilepsy.
APADOR-CH considers that the penitentiary - a relatively new unit - has the human and material conditions for a good future development. It is obvious that the penitentiary officials are preoccupied with ensuring adequate detention conditions.
In that unit the association considers that it is necessary to:
At the level of the GDP the association appreciates that it is necessary:
Manuela Stefanescu
Valerian Stan