Report On the visit to the Iaşi penitentiary
On 25 July 2001, two representatives of APADOR-CH visited the penitentiary in Iaşi.
Since 15 June, the penitentiary is a maximum security penitentiary. On the day of the visit, there were 1,458 detainees with final convictions, 335 in pre-trial detention and 28 petty offenders. There were 55 minors, 257 young detainees and 47 women, out of whom 2 minors. A number of 127 detainees were in “no guard” regime and 181 in “semi-open” regime. The normed capacity of the prison is 1,195 seats and there were 1,925 installed beds. According to the prison officials, there were around 500 detainees sleeping two in one bed.
The biannual review was undergoing in the penitentiary (for the first half of 2001)) with the judges and prosecutors from the courts in Iaşi judging the requests for parole of detainees (this activity is performed in all the penitentiaries following an order of the Ministry of Justice). In the first half of 2001 were discussed 564 requests for parole. Out of the 355 requests from the first time offenders, 21 were postponed by the commission and out of the 334 proposed by the commission, the court approved 293 requests and rejected 41 requests. As for the 209 repeated offenders, 17 were postponed by the commission, and from the 192 proposed by it, the court approved 128 requests and rejected 64 requests. Therefore, 87% of the penitentiary’s proposals were approved for first time offenders and 66% for the repeated offenders. The representatives of APADOR-CH reiterated their opinion that the courts should approve to a higher extent the proposals made by the penitentiaries, since they know better than everyone does whether a detainee deserves or not to be released based on his behaviour in the penitentiary.
The disciplinary procedures in the case of violating the internal order rules include the binding hearing by the in-house disciplinary commission irrespective to the seriousness of the violation and the foreseen sanction. The representatives of the association appreciated this fact (which is not yet happening in some penitentiaries), the more that the commission has such hearings with detainees for whom, following his own investigations, the officer in charge of disciplinary matters proposes not to be punished. In the cases of “offensive language towards officers”, the detainees are not punished unless there are witnesses (other detainees) confirming those notified by the respective officer / unlisted officer. There were around 50 detainees categorised as dangerous. It is a positive fact that introducing a detainee in the “dangerous detainees” category is made only in justified cases (detainees convicted for escape, who attacked the officers etc.), rather than based on superficially documented information – “escape intentions”, “intentions of attacking the officers” – from the police, the internal intelligence service etc. In such cases, the commanding officers pay more attention to the respective detainees and after observing for a while their behaviour, unless those notified are confirmed, they are treated like the rest of the detainees. Unlike the other sections, the searches are more frequent for the “dangerous detainees”. Moreover, the detainees are handcuffed when taken to various places within the penitentiary (reporting to the commanding officer, visits etc.; the handcuffs are removed during the visits and, which is a positive thing, they are allowed to have “regular” visits, without using the maximum security booth). The situation of the “dangerous” detainees is made on a monthly basis. It is also positive the fact the minors are not applied other punishments than “admonishing” and “isolation from the community” (the representatives of the associations encountered other cases where the “isolation from the community” was applied to minors in almost the same conditions as the “severe isolation”). A negative aspect is the fact that the documents drafted during the disciplinary procedures (incident report, statements, minutes etc.) are filed and kept separately from the personal file of the detainees (and in case of transfer to another penitentiary, such documentation stays where it was drawn up). It is also negative the fact that “the detainees cannot see whatever they want and whenever they want anything from their personal file”. The opinion of APADOR-CH is that all the documents regarding the legal status and the carrying out of the punishment should be in the detainees’ personal file and should be accessible in full and whenever they request access to them. Each of such documents is as relevant as possible for the situation of the detainees and none of them should be inaccessible to the subject (since it has the most serious consequences on him, from the penal, administrative, material etc. point of view).
The farm has around 90 hectares of farming land (only 30 own hectares and the rest leased). In the farm they breed around 700 pigs and 70 cows. About 800 detainees were out for work during the day of the visit. Most of them were working in the farming sector and the rest were cleaning the city and were working in constructions. The refusal to work is punished. Since in the post-1989 constitutional norms, thus subsequent to Law 23/1969, which is unfortunately still in force, the labour is no longer “a duty of each citizen”, and the detainees’ refusal to go out for work should no longer be punished.
Since recently, representatives of the “civil inspection” have access to the penitentiary, that is, representatives of an NGO (the Centre for community security and interposing from Iaşi), the city hall and the local police. The visit may last for maximum one hour between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and the “civil inspectors” may check the detention conditions of detainees, according to the penitentiary officials, and may talk to the detainees. APADOR-CH considers that is a positive measure that may have more significant consequences if the length of the visit was increased and the discussion themes more varied, touching for instance all the fundamental rights and freedoms to be ensured to detainees during the terms in prison.
The health care is provided by 3 general practitioners, 1 dentist, 8 nurses and 1 pharmacist. The dentist is a resident coming to the penitentiary once a week and he had not been in the penitentiary either during the previous visit made by the representatives of the association in October 1999 (the general practitioner and the dentist were then “on training courses”, which had been the case for almost 3 years). Every Thursday, the penitentiary benefits from the services of an outside psychiatrist. The physicians also deal with the staff (between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m. and between 4:00 and 5:00 a.m.). A number of around 120 detainees are seen every day. According to the present physician, the detainees known as homosexuals are kept in separate rooms from the other detainees, based on the wish to avoid exposing them to the manifestations based on the prejudice of the latter ones. The opinion of the APADOR-CH representatives was that such isolation could be accepted only if the homosexual detainees requested it themselves in order to protect themselves from possible negative reactions from the straight detainees. Otherwise, isolating them in separate rooms can only individualise them on a disallowed criterion, inspiring and fuelling prejudices that are likely to expose them to an unfair contempt. The sick detainees committed to civilian hospitals are usually handcuffed. APADOR-CH reiterates its opinion that such a measure is unacceptable and excessive (since the sick detainees are permanently escorted by two unlisted officers). The supply of medicines and equipment is generally good. The medical department has recently requested the support of the General Police Directorate for purchasing an ecograph and a test machine.
The food ward
The kitchen was recently painted and the woodwork was being replaced at the time of the visit. The dishwashing room was clean, with 4 stainless steel waterspouts and no running water problems. The refrigerators in the food storage room and potato peeling machine are very old. The menu for that day was as follows: for breakfast – no diet – beans and fried lard, diet menu – margarine, milk and vegetable hotchpotch; lunch, same menu for diet and no diet – vegetables soup and rice with meat; dinner – no diet – lard and tea, and diet – tea and marmalade. The food looked good (especially the vegetables soup, which had enough green peas). However, the second course, the “rice with meat”, had very little meat in it (although the accounting books showed that 161 kilos of meat were used for it) and a lot of lard. On the same day the kitchen used 234 kilos of lard and 16 kilos of pork sub-products. The impression of the APADOR-CH representatives wad that during the previous visit the team of 3 detainees assisting to the introduction of foodstuff in the cauldron used to work more effectively. They proposed to the penitentiary officials – based on the experience with other penitentiaries – that the respective team should change its composition periodically and that the detainees should be consulted on the composition of that team and the frequency of changing it.
Detention sections
Section III (closed regime, first time offenders)
In room 23, recently renovated, there were 56 detainees and 54 beds (superposed on three rows). The daily exercise (from Monday to Friday) takes around half an hour. Due to the short time of exercise during the week (and the general lack of activity), the detainees requested the penitentiary officials to consider the possibility to be taken out for on Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes they are taken to the club twice a month and other times never (until a month before, they had organised chess, football and backgammon tournaments). The detainees had two TV sets, newspapers, books and a few rummy games. It was very hot in the room and the detainees complained that in some shifts the unlisted officers do not leave the door open for more than 10 minutes (the rule is that when the outside temperature reaches 30 degrees Celsius, every two doors are opened by turns for one hour). The detainees considered that the food was good (“better than in other penitentiaries”). The lavatory had two rooms with 8 showers, 8 sinks and 3 cabins with standing water closets. There was hot water once or twice a week. Detainee Benone Cionca has since 1982 prosthesis on his left foot that is broken and cannot be used anymore. Since he did not have any money to buy another one, Cionca found a company (SC Euro Medical System SRL from Bucharest) willing to manufacture another prosthesis for free on the condition that he is transferred to a penitentiary in Bucharest, where he could be contacted by a representative of the company. In early July, the detainee submitted the General Police Directorate a request for a temporary transfer, yet he has not received any reply yet. Detainee Marius Ştefănescu told the representatives of the association that due to the rules in force, saying that no more than one person can visit a detainee, on the visit of 7 July he could only meet his mother and not his father who came over, too. Iani Leon complained that although he had filed a request for two months, he had not got a lung x-ray that he considers necessary. The doctors replied that an x-ray had been performed on this detainee this May, when a caravan from the Military Hospital from Iaşi came into the penitentiary and that Leon had been found healthy. Emil Grigoraş, with a final sentence of 33 months, has his family (his wife and two minor children) in Vidra commune, Ilfov county. Two weeks before, he had filed a request to the General Police Directorate asking to be transferred to the penitentiary in Giurgiu or Bucharest-Rahova.
The bathroom for sections II, III, IV and V has 24 showers (The above mentioned room 23 is the only one in section III with its own showers). The ceiling and walls of the shower room’s anteroom was dank (was to be painting soon).
Section II
Room 17 (detainees sentenced for murder and used for labour) had 30 beds, superposed on 3rows and 30 detainees. The detainees are taken to the club and the church almost every Sunday. These detainees also appreciated the food as good. They have hot water on Wednesday and when back from work they wash with cold water in the room’s lavatory (concrete waterspout with 3 taps and 2 cabins with standing water closets). The detainees do not receive razor blades, toilet paper, tooth paste or detergent (in exchange they receive one bar of laundry soap per month for two persons). The detainees would like to be able to have the right again to two phone calls a month (since May the number of phone calls that the detainees are allowed to make has come down to one).
In the section’s medical cabinet (servicing sections I – V and the women’s section) there were more detainees with very serious dental affections (infections) for a long time (between 3 months and one year), who could only get pain killers in the absence of the dentist (Gheorghe Cotiugă, Remus Maftei, Nicolae Rudac etc., the latter having an infection for more than a year). The presence of the penitentiary dentist 3 or 4 times a month, and the 3 or 4 cases treated every week in the Military Hospital are far from solving the serious situation faced by the penitentiary.
The women’s section
The female detainees from room 56 (6 detainees in 12 beds) were working in the staff mess.
The lavatory consisted in a cabin with a sitting water closet and a sink (due to infiltration, the ceiling was dank, as well as a part of the room’s ceiling).
In room 1 there were 11 female detainees (9 beds). A number of 9 detainees were out for work, weeding in a greenhouse. There was no TV set, yet one of the detainees had just been approved to get a TV from home. The daily exercise takes between an hour and one and a half hours, and the detainees receive newspapers and books from the penitentiary library. The detainees were sponsored with jackets with quite a “fashionable” cut, yet they have printed, even if discretely, vertical stripes. During visits, the detainees were wearing such jackets and in court they were wearing dark blue uniforms. The representatives of APADOR-CH reiterated their opinion that the female detainees (as well as the minors and all the other detainees) should be allowed to wear their own clothes (if any). In addition to that, if the penitentiary would find more such sponsors for detainees’ clothes, they should be encouraged to find models that do not suggest the penitentiary uniform. The lavatory consisted in a shower room (3 showers 3 sinks with a mirror) and a cabin with a standing water closet (the women’s section has hot water every day, since the network is connected to the staff mess). Friday is the day when the female detainees may visit the medical cabinet (except for emergencies).
Room 2 had 26 female detainees in 30 beds. A number of 14 out of the 26 detainees go out for work. Especially during the holiday period, the detainees participate to artistic and entertaining activities in the club and go to church. They have daily activities with the penitentiary psychologist, with the social worker and other staff from the socio-educational department. They said that they found the food good yet they were dissatisfied by the fact that for 3 months now they are allowed to make only one phone call a month, as opposed to two before that. They bathe on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, they have hot water practically everyday (for doing their laundry they receive laundry soap and detergent). The detainees said that the penitentiary officials are quite understanding with their problems and they do not have reasons for dissatisfaction towards the staff on their section. However, they requested to be allowed to get from home crochets and knitting needles and to have more than one person per visit. The daily exercise lasts between 1 and 2 hours. Since the women have their own exercise yard (empty at the time of the visit), it would be better if the daily exercise was longer. Elena Cazacu also has her son, Ionuţ Cazacu, in the penitentiary yet despite her repeated requests, she had not been able to speak to him since March. Valeria Spătaru complained that she suffers from spondylosis and that she was prescribed a treatment of 10 shots, one each day. After the first two shots, the treatment was suspended with no explanation.
Section VII A (medical section)
The infirmary has two emergency rooms, one for tuberculosis treatments and one for disabled detainees. In room 83 (infirmary) there were 7 beds and 7 sick detainees. Ilie Giosan had had 10 days before an accident and he had broken his jaw. Although he went immediately to the medical cabinet, he had been seen by a doctor (from the “Sfântu Spiridon” hospital in Iaşi, where he had been operated) only two days before. He was not able to eat anything and, although on the day of the APADOR-CH visit he was supposed to be taken for a consultation, this had not happened. The lavatory had a shower, a sitting water closet and a sink.
Section VII (“dangerous detainees”)
In room 69 there was detainee Ion Zaharia, who had to carry out 6 months of restrictive regime because, according to the penitentiary officials, he would have forced another detainee to have same sex relationships with him. Although the Prosecutor’s Office decided not to prosecute Zaharia for that deed, it seems that the investigations carry on regarding the self-mutilation inflicted by the victim following that incident. The detainee gets out for exercise by himself without handcuffs (he is handcuffed when he goes to the medical cabinet or in places within the penitentiary’s administrative area). He does not receive any visits or parcels and he is entitled only to a quarter of the cigarette ration of the other detainees. The lavatory had standing water closet and a sink (during the bathing day the detainee receives a shower head to be attached to the sink).
In room 70 was detainee Rome Militaru. The representatives of APADOR-CH found him in a very serious condition: lying in bed, handcuffed, with a corpse-like face, with symptoms similar to epilepsy, with clutching fingers and heavy, irregular, breathing. Nobody was able to communicate in any way with him (not even the doctor asked to come to the room in the meantime), since he was delirious and incomprehensible. His roommates said that Militaru had been brought there 4 days before and had been handcuffed ever since. The penitentiary officials and doctors said that Militaru had to be handcuffed since he had a very unstable behaviour – “now he’s perfectly normal, the next moment you can’t understand him anymore” – and that he had frequent self-mutilation attempts. They also mentioned that they had treated and were treating Rome Militaru’s case very carefully yet not much can be done in the penitentiary. The representatives of APADOR-CH were surprised to find out that the month before the detainee had been committed to the penitentiary hospital in Bucharest Jilava, where he came back from with the diagnosis of “personality disorders” and with the mention that is “able for light works”.
In the isolation room (71) there were 4 detainees in 3 stone beds. Constantin Claudiu Diaconu had to carry out 10 days of severe isolation because during another isolation punishment he had ripped a window bar and attempted to self-mutilate with it. Constantin Daniel Viriu also had 10 days of isolation for having refuse to work. He announced his option not to work right in from of the commission for labour allocation. The opinion of APADOR-CH – considering that under the constitutional norms in force the labour is no longer a citizens’ duty – the cases when the detainees opt from the very beginning not to go out for work (thus not resulting in disturbances of labour planning) should not be sanctioned in any way. The detainees Iulian Bălan and Amar Ispir were punished to 5 days of isolation because during the daily call they were found lying in bed. They also had other 5 days of isolation, the former for being involved in an incident between two detainees, and the latter for threatening another detainee. (Amar Ispir denied that he would have threatened anyone and complained that he had been beaten and handcuffed by unlisted officer Eugen Dumitrache). The opinion of the representatives of APADOR-CH was that in the case of detainees Bălan and Ispir the penitentiary officials ignored the principle of proportionality between the committed violation and the applied punishment. The opinion of the association is that a detainee found in bed during the call should get a definitely lighter punishment (if any, unless this is becomes a rule or shows contempt towards the staff) then one threatening or fighting with other detainees. The mattresses and linen are taken away between the wake up call and the curfew. The lavatory consisted in a cabin with a standing water closet and a concrete sink.
The minors’ section
In room 107 there were 8 minors in 6 beds (“within a few weeks” two of them were to be released). The minors have daily activities with the staff from the socio-educational department (lately they had frequent sports activities – gymnastics, football, tennis – as well as films featured in the club on videotapes). On 1 June they had a show performed by a theatre company from the city. There was a TV set in the room. The lavatory consisted in a cabin with a standing water closet, a sink and a shower (a lot of garbage was there and the room had in unbearable smell). The penitentiary officials said that the minors might be moved to Târgu Ocna, where they intend to have a regional minors’ centre for the region of Moldavia.
Section V
In room 38 there were 37 detainees (first time offenders with final sentences, used for work) and 30 beds (superposed on three levels). In the last few days, the detainees were working in a vineyard. Although the door is left open for about three hours during the day, they complained that they were very hot. The room had one TV set and the detainees play football for one or two hours on Saturday. The lavatory had two cabins with standing water closets (water kept on running from one of the basins) and a concrete waterspout with 4 taps. On Friday they have their hot water bath. Detainee Ioan Băbălan, convicted to 5 years for manslaughter, out of which he has carried out two years, suffers from silicosis (he had worked for 20 years as a miner). The only treatment he gets is Miofilin (painkiller).
Section IV (pre-trial detention)
In room 50 there were 45 persons and only 30 beds. It was very hot and one could hardly breathe (although in the hot season the door is left open for around 3 hours a day). The detainees complained that they had absolute no activity and that they get out for exercise very rarely – 2, 3 or 4 days a week – for half an hour. They also said that the letters they sent and received are rather late (the letters they send are picked up only on Monday and Wednesday). The lavatory consisted in 2 cabins with standing water closets and one concrete waterspout with 5 taps. There was a TV set in the room. Detainee Maximoi Totoi complained that the head doctor prescribed him a treatment for his arthritis and the nurse administrates him another one.
The socio-educational department
The department consists of 4 officers (out of whom one psychologist and one sociologist) and 4 unlisted officers. They organise classes for 1st to 8th grade (recently, all the 5 minor candidates have passed the capacity exam). An intensive alphabetisation course was undergoing with 10 minor detainees. They organised one-year courses for house painters and they are preparing woodwork for young men). The penitentiary together with the “Iosif” Foundation from Iaşi (with funds from the Open Society Foundation) have a joint project for the minors convicted for manslaughter. The department also envisages a social assistance programme for women and, where the case may be, a family placement programme for their children. They have civic education programmes with the minors (“good citizenship education”), where the representative of the foundation prepare and lead discussions with the minors. The foundation places a special attention to homeless children, whom it manages in some cases to assist also after their release. Together with the “Catarsis” Foundation they have psychological counselling and moral support programmes. On 1 June, students from the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” high school performed a show in the penitentiary. The penitentiary also collaborates with the psychology and social assistance faculties (2-3 groups have their practice every week in the penitentiary; they fill in acquiantedness forms, they take interviews etc). The penitentiary has 165 subscriptions to dailies such as “Adevărul”, “Jurnalul Naţional”, “Cronica Română” and “Evenimentul Zilei”. The opinion of the APADOR-CH representatives was that a better balance should be ensured between the various biases of the newspapers for which subscriptions are made. The penitentiary has its own singing and dancing group that performs frequent shows for the detainees. In addition to that, they organise literary circles and they print a monthly magazine for detainees.
In the visit ward – a very narrow area – 4 regular visits can be organised in the same time, as well as one at a table and one in the maximum security booth (the penitentiary has given up lately to this kind of visit). In the regular visit area a detainee was receiving the visit of 5 persons (2 adults and 3 children). In the room for receiving parcels from visitors, a parcel was being received without the receiving detainee to assist to it being taken over by an unlisted officer (the falling board separating the room where the detainee was being kept was shut down).
Manuela Ştefănescu
Valerian Stan