Report on the situation of detainee Paul Surdu
from Bucuresti – Rahova penitentiary

1. On 14 May 2001, following the notification from detainee Paul Surdu’s mother, the representatives of the association went to Rahova penitentiary.

2. The statement of detainee Paul Surdu (born in 1979; convicted to 7 years in prison, out of which he has carried out 3 years; with no previous convictions)

On 25 April 2001, during the evening call (at 7:00 p.m.), Paul Surdu requested to be taken to the dentistry cabinet since he had a very bad tooth ache. His request was denied. Around 10:00 p.m., the guard on duty took him, however, to the cabinet. Since the nurse on duty told him that she did not have any painkiller the detainee asked to be taken to the emergency room. Paul Surdu says that he did not insult or threaten anybody. Despite all these, around 10 guards appeared immediately, handcuffed him and took him to the isolation room. Around 2:00 or 3:00 a.m., the officer on duty, accompanied by a non-commissioned officer from the intervention troops, a non-commissioned officer from Section 5 (to which Paul Surdu belongs) and other two guards, entered the isolation room and beat the detainee. They hit him with the fists and feet in the head and the abdomen, they spat him, cursed him and stuffed the bed sheet in his mouth to stop crying.

Next day in the morning, the dentistry nurse came to see him. She found him in such a bad shape that she requested the head of the section to take him immediately to an emergency room. Paul Surdu was transported to the University Hospital where he was examined by several specialised physicians. After circa 4 hours, he was brought back to the penitentiary and, since he refused to be committed to the infirmary, he came back to room 525 where he had been accommodated before the incident.

Paul Surdu declares that he was so disfigured after the beating that many detainees from Section 5 almost did not recognise him. He also says that all his roommates, out of whom he named Ghita – head of the room – Ion Stoian and a third one nicknamed Valoi, saw him with bruises all over his body and on his face and swollen ears. Detainee says that after the incident he started to spit blood. As of the date of the visit of the representatives of the association, Paul Surdu complained that his left side of the body was still in pain, he had nausea and could not hear well with one ear.

Two days after the incident, the detainees from room 525 were spread to other rooms. Paul Surdu was first moved to room 510 and then to room 507, where he is currently accommodated. According to his statement, the detainees from room 507 did not want initially to accept him because they knew what had happened to him and that the non-commissioned officers who had beaten him threatened him that "if they filed a complaint, he will regret for the rest of his life", they feared that they would suffer, too.

Although the detainee reported the incident to the heads of the Rahova penitentiary to his knowledge no measure was taken against the non-commissioned officers involved in the incident from the night of 25 – 26 April.

The detainee’s mother, Maria Surdu, filed a complaint to the Military Prosecutor’s Office on 4 May 2001.

3. Medical reports

The detainee’s medical file includes "dispatch note" to the University Hospital, signed and stamped by the penitentiary doctor (Dr. Andreea Cristea) and dated 26 April 2001. The note mentions "possible fracture of rib VI-VII (...) sensitive epigastrium (...)bilateral oto-hematoma, multiple ecchymoses on the right side of the thorax (…)", the doctor’s recommendation being "surgical and neurosurgical consultation".

The doctors from the University Hospital ascertained minor cerebral contusions, bilateral oto-hematoma with wounds and a contusion on the left side of the body. He was recommended a 6-day treatment with Diclofenac and Algocalmin (painkillers).

On 5 May, probably due to the constant pain felt by the detainee in the left side of the body and the fact that he was spitting blood, he was x-rayed at the Penitentiary Hospital in Jilava, with the diagnosis of rib bone "calcification".

APADOR-CH considers that the treatment applied by the non-commissioned officers involved in the incident of April 2001 may be qualified as inhuman treatment and requests the General Directorate of Penitentiaries to thoroughly investigate the facts of the incident. The notes in the detainee’s medical file are clear indications that Paul Surdu was the victim of violence. In the opinion of the association, nothing can justify four guards beating a handcuffed detainee. Even if he had an inadequate attitude towards the nurse, which is denied by the detainee, the normal procedure would have supposed drawing up an incident report followed by the possible punishment of the detainee and in no case beating him. In addition to that, the association emphasises the fact that the non-commissioned officer in charge of Section 5 who participated to the beating puts moral pressure on the detainee, attempting, according to Paul Surdu, to provoke him. It would be desirable that the involved guard and the detainee should not be in contact anymore, at least until the end of the investigations.

Manuela Stefanescu
Valerian Stan