Report on the visit to the Juvenile Re-education Centre in Tg. Ocna
On February 5th, 2004, two representatives of APADOR-CH visited the Juvenile Re-education Centre in Tg. Ocna.
The Juvenile Re-education Centre in Tg. Ocna was reopened on August 1st, 2001, on the same premises as the Non-commissioned Officers School in Tg. Ocna. The students and the juveniles shared the two floors of the living unit (the juveniles live at the first floor, the student at the ground floor), the school building and the canteen.
The Centre takes in juveniles from all over the Moldova region, as well as from the counties of Bihor, Maramureş, Cluj, Bistriţa-Năsăud, Covasna, Harghita, and Buzău.
On the day of the visit, the centre accommodated 71 juveniles (all of them boys) for whom courts had decided the measure of placement in a re-education institution, as provided by Article 104 of the Criminal Code. Of the juveniles, 11 were aged between 14 and 16, 59 were aged between 16 and 18 and one was over 18. During 2003, the centre had taken in a number of 89 juveniles, from which 44 had been released.
One year after admittance, the Teachers’ Council analyzes the situation of each juvenile and, in case they show evidence of improvement, diligence in study and professional training, it is entitled to suggest to the court (the one which had disposed the measure of placement) to release the respective juveniles before they turn 18. The situation of juveniles is also discussed at the end of every school year and before they turn 18. In 2003, 21 juveniles were released before coming of age. The suggestions made by the Teachers’ Council were accepted by the Courts in 100% of cases. In the case of minors who came of age and had no disciplinary or school problems, the Centre is able to decide the release without approval from the court. Juveniles are not invited at the Teachers’ Council debates. They are informed about their situation personally, prior to the Council decision. Those who are about to be released are moved into a separate room and included in a special program to prepare them for life in freedom, “Prolib”, running for about one month.
The living and school conditions were good. The seven bedrooms for juveniles were on the first floor of the same building which also accommodated the military school students. In the future, the students were expected to be moved to another building, so that the whole unit would be left for the Re-education Centre. Rooms were large, well heated and accommodated about 10-11 juveniles each (although the number of bunk beds was of 14-18). Two of the rooms had their own lavatories. The juveniles had access to the following facilities: a lavatory with 21 sinks, a bathroom room with 11 showers, two W.C. rooms with several cubicles each, a reading-room, a room for educational activities (also including two computers), a club, a storage room (where they were allowed to store food received from home or bought inside the centre) and a room with tables and chairs where they could eat their own food in appropriate conditions. Everything was functional and perfectly clean. The juveniles were free to circulate to the other rooms and to the facilities, which were all on the same floor, and had to be accompanied by members of the staff only if they left the floor.
The juveniles had access to a mailbox, near the canteen door, and to a pay phone in the visitation area. According to the new regulations, juveniles were not allowed to borrow or lend phone cards. Juveniles had to ask the members of the staff to accompany them to the phone, to the mailbox or to shops inside the Centre.
Inside the Centre, juveniles had to wear uniforms, even when they received the visit of their family. When they went outside the Centre, they all wore the same velvet suits, and in wintertime, the same jackets, obtained by the Centre with the support of a NGO.
As for disciplinary sanctions, during 2003 11.5 % of the juveniles received either reprimands or days of confinement. The Centre authority informed the representatives of APADOR-CH that confinement sanctions were usually used in case of violence against other mates. Disciplinary sanctions statistics indicated that during the second semester of 2003 there were only three reprimands (two juveniles received them for making prohibited items and another one for instigation to violence). At the same time, the juveniles enjoyed recognition in 125 cases, they received family leaves in 7 cases and went out with their family in 19 cases as a reward for good behavior. In January 2004, there were two instances of sanctioning by confinement.
In January 2003, a minor complained that he was bludgeoned by three non-commissioned officers. The officers were sanctioned by 5, 4, respectively 3 days of arrest served as community punishment at the penitentiary, the misconduct was written down in their records, and they were taken off the guard duty.
The staff of the Centre included 97 employees. The education, training, and social assistance/psychology departments included: 3 teachers, 1 primary school teacher, 3 technical trainers, 1 librarian, 1 psychologist (an officer), 1 social worker, 6 educators, 3 expert officers, 4 military technicians, 10 technical non-commissioned officers. From discussions with the staff it resulted that the number of educators needed to be doubled to 12 persons.
The Centre hosted “Tg. Ocna School no. 7 for 1st to 8th grades” and “Tg. Ocna Professional School no. 2”.
The former ran an elementary school course (grades 1 to 4) in which 17 juveniles are enlisted, a 5th grade class (12 juveniles), a 6th grade class (12 juveniles) a 7th grade class (13 juveniles) and an 8th grade class (7 juveniles). From the 6th grade on, the classes had part-time program. Besides school, part-time students also went to one-year professional training courses: the 6th and 7th grade students took locksmith/mechanic courses (25 juveniles) and the 8th grade students took carpentry courses (7 juveniles). The arts and crafts school (for locksmiths/mechanics) had 7 juveniles in the 9th grade. In addition, as part of the “professional activities” class in the curriculum, the 5th and 6th grades learned hairdressing and the 7th and 8th grades table-waiting.
For the future, the Center planned to organize, in cooperation with the national Labor Agency, short-term qualification courses in the area of services, vegetable growing, tree growing, gardening and plumbing.
School classes were held by the four employed teachers, plus two history/geography teachers and a civic education/ psychology teacher paid by the hour. The “professional activities” classes were held by members of the staff (the barber and the non-commissioned officer in charge of the kitchen).
Classes and workshop training took place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, until 14.00. From Thursday to Sunday, there were recreational and educational activities. On Thursday and Friday afternoons, the juveniles had their own spare time. Those who took part in the activities of the Pupils’ Club in Tg. Ocna did so on Friday afternoons.
The costs of didactic materials and equipment for the workshops were going to be covered in 2004 by a 100 000 Euro PHARE grant. The school management estimated that the grant would be sufficient to cover all the needs.
From discussions with the psychologist and the social worker, it resulted that upon admittance in the Centre, juveniles underwent a general evaluation in terms of psychological state, social and family background (following a series of tests and interviews). Then, juveniles were included in education and therapy programs according to their individual needs.
As part of the social and educational programs, during the second semester of 2003, 8 juveniles went to the Vânătorul summer camp in Dâmboviţa (with the support of the “Terre des Hommes” Foundation) 34 juveniles went in various trips (for instance to the History Museum in Oneşti, to Borzeşti, to the Mărăşeşti Mausoleum, etc), and 15 juveniles played a football match against the Re-education Centre in Găeşti. Also, as part of the project “A Home for Everyone” run in cooperation with “Familia” Association, a juvenile released from the centre (former homeless child) was offered a place to live.
In November 2003, the Centre organized a round-table for juveniles together with children from School no. 2. The juveniles went to the First of March Ball together with the other students in town.
In December 2003 eight juveniles took part to a painting exhibition hosted by an economic high-school in Bucureşti and were able to visit the capital city. In December 2002, other two juveniles had sent icons painted on glass to an exhibition organized by the Ministry of Justice.
Several educational programs were on-going at the moment of the visit. For instance, as part of the “Education by influence” Program, each military school student had a juvenile in care. The “Integrated Education” Program allowed juveniles to take part in activities of the Pupils’ Club in Tg. Ocna and in activities organized by School no. 2, and the Professional School in town. At the Pupil’s Club, 30 juveniles participated once a week in activities including carting, music, painting and electronics. The Social Reinsertion and Observation Service (SRSS) in Bacău ran the “Seven Steps” Program at the Centre.
As part of the “Preparation for release” Program, the juveniles about to be released were moved into a special room a month before the event. At the same time, the SRSS, the County Labor Agency, the tutelary authority, the county Departments for Child Protection, the local church were notified in writing about the release of the juvenile and asked to support his social reinsertion. A SRRS counselor from Bacău came to the Centre to inform the juveniles that they were able to ask the SRSS for post-penal assistance.
The staff of the department also tried to reestablish relations with the family in the case of juveniles who were not contacted by their parents. They tried to find the families and, in some of the cases, had succeeded to help reestablish family ties.
At the moment of the visit, there were 15 juveniles (grades 1-4) at the club within the accommodation unit, occupied with various activities under the guidance of an educator. The juveniles said that they had similar activities every Thursday and Friday morning. In the afternoons of those days, they were free to fill their time as they pleased or, on Friday afternoons, to go to the Pupils’ Club. The juveniles said they were free to circulate from one bedroom to another, to the club and to the other facilities on the floor, which was highly appreciated by those who had previously been at the Găeşti Centre, where they did not enjoy such freedom. They were able to use the phone any time they wanted, but only accompanied by a member of the staff. They were able to watch TV (connected to the cable network) in their rooms until lights out at 22.00, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 23.00. They took a bath twice a week. As for the clothes, the juveniles required to be allowed to wear their own clothes and use the Centre’s uniform only if they did not own clothes.
The representatives of APADOR-CH visited three of the seven bedrooms while their occupants were not inside. Room no. 1 had 14 bunk beds and accommodated 11 juveniles (according to the list in the room). The mattresses on the metallic beds were extremely worn-out. Juveniles were able to put their things in metal lockers (one for two people). There were three perfectly functional sinks and a TV set. Rooms no. 2 (12 juveniles in 18 beds) and 3 (11 juveniles in 18 beds, approximately 50 sq m) were similar to the first except for the fact that Room no. 2 had no sinks. Te rooms were clear, well aired and warm.
The bathroom was also clean and contained 10 shower cabins. A vestibule contained metal lockers where the juveniles left their shoes. The two lavatories had 4 toilet cabins, 3 urinals and 1 sink each, all of them functional and in good state. On the same floor there was another lavatory with 21 sinks, all very clean and in good state. The storage room, where juveniles were able to leave the food they bought or received from home, was locked, and one needed to ask the staff in order to have access to the food. A separate room furnished with tables, chair and a sink allowed the juveniles to eat their food in civilized conditions.
The reading room, containing several individual desks, had been turned into a confinement room. It contained a metallic bunk-bed and no TV set.
The room for juveniles about to be released had wooden furniture: four normal beds, a table and chairs, a small book-case and a wardrobe. The room had three sinks and access to a toilet cabin and shower, reserved for the juveniles who were part of the program.
The quarantine and infirmary wards were in a separate building. The rather small quarantine ward hosted 8 juveniles in the 10 available beds. The room had a TV set and a table with 6 chairs. All juveniles in quarantine had their heads clean-shaved upon admittance, although none of them had been infested by lice or other parasites. The doctor confirmed, during the discussion which followed, that this measure was not necessary for hygiene reasons. Information on brothers G.R. (16) and B.R. (15) had been published by the “Ancheta” newspaper in Brăila without their permission while the two juveniles were in police custody, a practice against all international regulations.
The two juveniles in the infirmary had no health problems. One of them, K.A.G, had asked, on January 29th, 2003, to be separated from the group because he was in conflict with some mates and did not want to cause any problems right before his release. The other one was included in an intensive therapy program to reduce his behavior problems. He was separated only during the spare time, and continued to go to classes and educational activities (the representatives of APADOR-CH had already met him at the Club).
The infirmary and the dentist provided care for the juveniles, the military school students, the staff and the adult detainees working at the Center’s farm and living in a separate unit. The medical department consisted of 1 GP and 5 GP nurses of which one was detached to the Tg. Ocna Penitentiary Hospital. In 2003, the infirmary had offered about 6000 consultations, of which 2500 to juveniles (around 8 per day). The infirmary used the penitentiary hospital lab for tests, but taking into account the specialty of the hospital (active TBC) test samples were collected at the Centre. The doctor said that the juveniles had no special health problems, only simple cold viruses as a rule. That is why he believed that one doctor was able to ensure the appropriate medical assistance. The infirmary needed, however, another GP nurse and a pharmacy nurse. A request in that sense had already been filed with the General Direction of Penitentiaries (DGP).
The dentist cabinet employed one dentist, one assistant and one technician, as well as a technical lab. The cabinet offered about 10 consultations per day, half of which for juveniles.
The canteen was used by both juveniles and military school students. At the moment of the visit, the students were on practical training and did not attend the meals. Lunch was at 14.00. On the day when APADOR-CH was on the premises, the menu included beans soup, meat and potatoes (as far as one could see, the dishes contained tiny pieces of meat and fat), bread and biscuits. For breakfast, there had been tea, cheese, margarine, omelet, marmalade and salami. For dinner, there was going to be pasta and meat followed by biscuits. For lunch and dinner, the store rooms had released 7 kilos of meat (100 grams for each juvenile), divided in equal portions for each meal. The representatives of APADOR-CH could check for themselves that there were 3.5 kilos of meat left for dinner.
After lunch, the representatives of APADPR-CH went back to the dorms to talk to the juveniles who had been sanctioned by confinement in January 2004. H.D. had received 5 days of punishment for beating up a mate. The juvenile said that he had not beaten anyone but that non-commissioned officer Zamfir nevertheless reported him for misconduct. The juvenile was heard by the Discipline Board but did not contest the sanction. During confinement he did not attend classes. Juvenile D.V.I. had a fight with a mate on January 16th, 2004 and was sanctioned by 10 days of confinement (the director of the centre argued that the juvenile was a repeated offender and this explained the sanction). Until his sanction was decided, the juvenile spent 4 days in confinement, so, all in all, he was isolated for 14 days.
The representatives of APADOR-CH also talked to juveniles in room no. 4, of the 6th grade (11 juveniles in 16 beds). They said they were getting toilet paper, toothbrushes and toothpaste and disposable razors every month. They were also allowed to use the money they earned at the workshop to buy things at the Centre shop. For their activity at the workshop, the juveniles were paid by the hour. Juvenile H.A. earned 347.000 lei in a month for making doors and hospital beds. The smallest wage among the juveniles in the room was 138 000 lei in a month. The juveniles here also expressed the wish to wear their own clothes instead of the Centre uniform.
The representatives of APADOR-CH found D.C.A., 15 and homosexual, in the confinement room. He was not sanctioned, but had asked to be separated from the others because of the attitude of his mates. The representatives of APADOR-CH noted that D.C.A. also ate by himself, at a separate table. The juvenile complained that he had no TV set in the room and was unable to join the others at the Club, to watch TV.
APADOR-CH appreciates the relaxed environment of the Reeducation Centre. It is due to the attitude of the staff and to their openness towards the juveniles’ problems. It is remarkable that the director knows the boys and their problems. This is possible thanks to the reduced number of juveniles in the Centre. APADOR-CH believes that having the staff wear civilian clothes is also important for maintaining a good atmosphere. The lack of hostility is proven by the fact that the furniture and equipment, desks and school materials are well kept by the minors, not destroyed.
Also commendable is the participation of juveniles in joint programs with other students in the town, their participation in Club activities and in summer camps, as well as their direct relation with the military school students. This type of integrated educational activities is essential for successful social reinsertion following release.
APADOR-CH considers, however, that:
- although there is no indication of abuse in applying sanctions and although rewards are efficiently used to stimulate the juveniles, confinement sanctions must be applied with great care. They must only be used exceptionally, for very serious misconduct, not for every fight (even repeated) among juveniles. Also, if confinement is decided, the number of days spent in confinement before the decision must be deducted from the total number of days;
- the possibility that juveniles whose cases are discussed by the Teachers’ Council be present should be taken into consideration. The director of the Centre showed openness to this proposal;
- the juveniles should be allowed to wear their own clothes, not an uniform. The Centre should provide clothing only to those who cannot afford them;
- the procedure of shaving the juveniles’ heads upon admittance in the Centre – even on grounds of hygiene – is against international standards and against the ECHR jurisprudence which qualifies it as degrading treatment;
- the Association asks the DGP to reconsider the decision to prohibit the borrowing and lending of phone cards (experience has shown that juveniles were able to borrow or lend phone cards from each other without creating discipline problems or other inconveniences);
- the Association asks the DGP to support the centre in: repairing the roof of the school; buying a new heating boiler; finalizing the renovation works of a separate building supposed to accommodate military school students; creating two extra positions for a GP nurse and a pharmacy one.
Diana Călinescu Valerian Stan