Report on the visit to the Tulcea penitentiary
The penitentiary is under construction for a few years now. As to the previous visit (1999), the representatives of the association noticed a certain progress (the food ward has been finalised, an old and inadequate pavilion was demolished, the foundation for a new pavilion was laid, which will be designated for medical cabinets, women and minors sections, visit areas etc.) as well as the very slow pace of works, mainly due to the insufficient funds. Therefore, the visit area is now in a very small room of around 6 square metres, where the parcels are also received and where is the only public phone in the penitentiary. Due to the lack of space, the parcels are distributed only when there are no visits. The same as two years ago, if the weather is nice a few tables are taken out in the yard where the detainees sit with their visitors. The association noticed an ad in the visit area mentioning the fact that the detainees are bound to speak to their visitors only Romania. The penitentiary accommodates Russian speaking detainees of a Turkish origin as well as seven foreigners (four Moldovans, two Turks and one Ukrainian). If they or their visitors do not speak Romanian the penitentiary uses officers speaking those languages as interpreters. This illogical since the correspondence is free and not censored. Consequently, whatever the detainees would like to transmit to the addressees – and the other way round – can be done by mail. Therefore, it is not clear why the unlisted officers participating to the visits should listen and understand what the detainees are discussing with their visitors. As for using the interpreters, it is obvious that this method halves the visit time and that this is uncomfortable both for the detainees and for the interpreting unlisted officers. What is a detainee wants to make a phone call and he or the person he is calling does not speak Romanian? Is he denied the right to phone calls? Or do they use an interpreter?
Another ad stated that “during the visit only personal and family matters should be discussed. Otherwise, the visit is interrupted.” Do the personal matters include the detainee’s legal situation? If not, the opinion of APADOR-CH is that this restriction is unacceptable. It is natural that, in the light of the right to defence, the detainees ask for the support of their families (for obtaining documents from authorities, hiring a lawyer etc.).
Since the representatives of the association encountered the same restrictions in the Poarta Alb\ penitentiary, they request the General Police Directorate to give up the interdiction to speak another language than Romanian and to clarify whether the detainees may discuss with visitors issues related to their legal situation.
Due to the construction works, the exercise area is limited to a yard that is not arranged where cars and trucks going in and out all the time. However, a few detainees complained that they do not get out for exercise every day.
The same as two years before, the detention unit in Chilia Veche is still the “black sheep” of the penitentiary. APADOR-CH reiterates that the access to this unit is almost impossible, that the detainees cannot be visited for this reason, that the health care is unsatisfactory, that there is no drinking water, that detainees who are unable to work are also transferred here (it is true, only if they do not have serious diseases, yet this is a labour unit), that the barracks's hygiene is inadequate etc. In 1999 the association proposed the dismantling of the unit, which has not happened. APADOR-CH requested that at least a speedboat is purchased in order to ensure a minimal contact with the unit in emergency situations and to facilitate the access of visitors. This has not been done either. Of course, such measures were not up to the Tulcea penitentiary but the General Police Directorate. The commanding officer from Tulcea declared that he had done his best: the nurse from Chilia Veche cannot have a day of leave unless a replacement is sent from Tulcea (on the day of the visit of the representatives of the association, the nurse from Chilia Veche had a five days leave, without having any replacement and he also took the only site of keys from the pharmaceutical point). In addition to that, there are about to finalise the negotiations to purchase a water treatment station, including the necessary filters.
3. Socio-educational activities
The same as during the previous visit, the representatives of the association noticed the constant preoccupation of the penitentiary officials and the socio-educational department to organise various activities with and for detainees. Thus, the association of chess players “Donaris” from Tulcea organises chess games with the detainees on a weekly basis. In June 2000, they organised in town a exhibition of paintings, sculptures and osier knitting performed by detainees. The Foundation for Youth from Tulcea frequently organises dance, music and theatre performances in the penitentiary as well as in the foundation building. Within a project entitled “Hello teenage”, the foundation put on several shows in co-operation with the penitentiary. The same foundation together with the County Directorate for Youth and Sports unfolded the educational programme “A detainee today, a free man tomorrow”, where teachers and students came to the penitentiary and discussed with the detainees.
The association “St@nca veacurilor” sends its representatives to the penitentiary once a week and provides both civic and religious educational programmes and small aid to the detainees.
The Baptist church and, since recently, the Orthodox church also send aid.
All the material contributions are received by the penitentiary officials and distributed mainly to the detainees who have no visits or with very poor families. A good initiative was that the clothes for children donated by “St@nca veacurilor” to be allocated to the families of the detainees with many children and very low income.
Recently, the Humanitarian Service for Penitentiaries came with a very good proposal: provided that it will obtain the necessary funding, the association wished to organise a farm where the detainees released from the penitentiary having no place to go may live and work for a period of 6 months. They would be thus provided an opportunity to readapt to the freedom and it is hoped that this “transit” period they would be able to find a job and a place to live.
Another very good initiative is screening films in the exercise yard on an improvised screen as well as bringing videotapes that are played in the club.
The socio-educational department consists in three educators, a psychologist and a technical unlisted officer. During the day of APADOR-CH visit, a book was launched in the penitentiary, with the author’s participation (Gheorghe Iova launching a book of poems).
Unfortunately, most of the programmes are aimed at the detainees in semi-open and no-guard regimes (around a quarter of the total number of detainees). The others, especially the “stationary” detainees (who do not go out for work either because they are unable to or they had refused to work or they are considered dangerous) benefit less often from such initiatives. The department head said that every day from 9 to 10 a.m. he has meetings with these detainees, when they discuss all their problems.
On the day of the visit took place the weekly meeting of the parole commission, where the department is also a member. Out of the 42 files under discussion, 6 were postponed (usually for no more than a year), because the respective detainees had “outstanding” punishments, that is, they did not have merit reports annulling the punishments, some of them in other penitentiaries. The representatives of the association expressed their doubts about this criterion, since enough incident reports resulting in punishments refer to minor violations (the refusal to get out of the bed, mocking attitude etc.) or that are difficult to demonstrate. It would be more normal that the parole commissions should take into account the nature of the violations and the evidence for sanctioning each detainee.
The psychologist’s working hours are alternating, one day in the morning, one day in the afternoon. In theory, the psychologist has daily consultation with the detainees, individually or in small groups. The representatives of APADOR-CH believe that the detainees do not know exactly what is the role and purpose of such consultations. It would be necessary to have a clarification campaign, perhaps via the internal radio station, on the psychologist’s responsibilities.
The penitentiary only has alphabetisation classes (1st to 4th grade). They also had specialisation courses in agriculture and animal farming, yet no graduation diplomas were granted.
There is a young officers dealing mostly with the minors (on the day of the visit there were ten minor detainees). Although most of the minors are only transiting the Tulcea penitentiary, where they are brought for trials, the unlisted officer took his job seriously, having an approach with four directions: counselling, schooling, sports and entertainment. A day before the visit, he had given the minors a general knowledge quiz test. Based on the test results, he would decide what should be done with each minor (at first sight, it seems that one of the minors is almost illiterate). The sports activities consist in two days a week of table tennis and one of football tennis. The entertainment aspects includes – besides the shows and meetings organised by the penitentiary – playing films on videocassettes in club, followed by, which is very important, discussions with the minors.
Besides these activities, although the minors had frequented for a while the penitentiary workshops (mechanic, woodwork, shoes) where they work as “apprentices”, on the date of the APADOR-CH visit they were not following anymore, to their disappointment, those improvised “courses”. The official explanation was that for the moment there were no orders for the shops.
4. Number of detainees
In early July, there were 2,252 detainees, out of which 1,467 in Tulcea and 785 in Chilia Veche. Out of them, 41 (including 4 minors) were in pre-trial custody and 82 (out of whom one minor) had been convicted in first instance. Out of the total, 930 were first time offenders (including 6 minors), 1,169 were repeated offenders and 26 were petty offenders (20 of them had been initially convicted to community service, yet the measure was revoked due to the fact that they did not go to their assigned workplace).
Until the day of the visit, some had been released and some had been committed yet the total number of detainees was around 2,250.
The installed capacity 1,468 beds in Tulcea and 774 in Chilia Veche, thus a total of 2,242. In other words, a “minor” overcrowding, which becomes “major” if we take into account the normed capacity (circa 1,120 places).
A total number of 340 staff, out of whom around 270 in the operative department (circa 210 in Tulcea and 60 in Chilia Veche), deal with the detainees, with a ratio of 1 staff per 8 detainees, way above the European standard norm of 1/8.
Around a thousand detainees are taken out for work, out of whom 610 for paid work, 313 in the penitentiary farm and 112 in services. All the 610 are detained in Tulcea, those from Chilia do not have external contracts. In order to benefit from the punishment cut of up to 7 days a month, the detainees must exceed their norm by at least 10%.
5. The visit to the penitentiary
5.1. The food ward
The food ward was renovated and had modern equipment. A number of eight cauldrons and a potato-peeling machine are to be discarded. APADOR-CH requests the General Police Directorate to review the possibility to recap the cauldrons and the potato peeling machine and to send them, or even some of them, to the unit from Mo[neni of the Poarta Alb\ penitentiary. The association also mentions the need to find a washing machine for Mo[neni, the only facility visited by APADOR-CH where the laundry was done manually.
Currently the Tulcea penitentiary has 6 new cauldrons and a new potato peeling machine.
The daily menu was as follows:
The association notified once again, the same in most of the visited penitentiaries, the bad quality of the meat, practically lard with some meat on it. For that day, the cooks took out from the warehouse 138 kilos of meat, 41 kilos of lard and 35 kilos of sub-products, also covering the 48 portions prepared for the persons in the Tulcea police lockup.
The dishwashing was made in a room with three basins in satisfactory hygienic conditions with permanent hot and cold water.
5.2. The medical cabinet
The penitentiary has a general practitioner (a young woman who came from Bucharest), 6 nurses, a pharmacist, an orthodontist, a dental technician and a nurse. The lady doctor also visits the unit in Chilia Veche once every two or three weeks, or upon the request of the nurse based there.
It is obvious that one doctor cannot cover over 2,200 detainees and 340 staff. APADOR-CH insists for regulating the health care provided to the staff (in Tulcea, for around two hours a day, from Monday to Friday), so that the penitentiary doctors to take exclusively of the detainees and only in emergency cases the staff.
Out of the 7 hours of daily consultations, there are only 5 left for detainees (without taking into consideration the possible breaks). As the average number of consultations is 60 – 70, even one hundred sometimes, therefore a consultation takes between 3 and 5 minutes.
Many detainees (circa 120) have serious cardio-vascular problems. A number of 18 detainees have syphilis in various stages of treatment.
Right before the visit to the cabinet, the representatives of the association discussed with some detainees who were in the yard. Two of them – Valeriu Balmo[ (room 405, convicted to 15 years in prison) and Szocs Andras (room 113, convicted to 6 years in prison) have similar medical problems, that is tearing of peritoneum following an operation. Both have big a tumescence on the abdomen following the “escape” of their bowels. Both need operations for implanting special metallic nets. The doctor confirmed their medical problems mentioning the following: in Balmo[‘s case, the test performed by the Forensic Medicine Institute established that he can be assisted within the penitentiary system, which is not wanted by the detainee because, as he is still young, he wants that the operation is followed by a skin transplant, which can only be done in a civilian hospital; Szocs Andras is 56, he is convicted for 6 years for attempted murder and he has also hypertension.
In the hospital infirmary (7 rooms) there were several detainees with extremely serious medical problems including the following:
In an infirmary room there were four detainees suffering from lues in an active stage. They are separated from the other detainees with whom they only mix in the exercise yard and, very rarely, in the club. The medical staff declared that this is due to the adverse reaction of the other detainees towards them. The patients’ wish is to have a TV set in the room, as the only possibility to maintain the contact with the outside world.
If the sick detainees have to be transported to a civilian hospital they are not handcuffed during the transport, only during the time spent in the hospital. APADOR-CH reiterates that according to the European Committee for Torture Prevention and the UN Special Reporteur against Torture, the penitentiaries should give up to the use of handcuffs for the sick detainees. The suggestion made by APADOR-CH was to reach an understanding with the civilian hospitals with whom they have a permanent relationship to place bars to some windows, which would eliminate the danger of escape and could result in reducing guard from two unlisted officers by shift to only one. In the event when the patients would become agitated, they could be immobilised with elastic straps.
5.3. The detention rooms
At the date of the visit there were no detainees under restrictive regime in the penitentiary. That rooms has not been occupied since this March.
The penitentiary has two isolation rooms at the ground floor (rooms 5 and 6), each with three beds. There were 5 detainees there, all with punishments of 10 days of isolation. Only one considered that his punishment was disproportionately high for his deed (while at work outside the penitentiary, sweeping streets, he argued with other detainees and refused to work anymore). All the punished detainees had been heard by the officer in charge of discipline and then by the disciplinary commission.
The punished detainees are taken out for exercise for about half an hour every day. The association mentioned in other reports, too, that the removal of mattresses and bed linen between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when the detainees sit on their metallic beds, is both excessive and hazardous for their health.
Section V is the one with the “stationary” detainees, including “dangerous” detainees. In room 403 there were 16 detainees and 15 beds (all the rooms have 15 beds each, although the initial design provided only for two). A few days before the visit, 20 detainees had been accommodated there. The official explanation was that that room is “for transit”, since there are brought firstly all those allocated in that section and are then distributed by rooms (in room 406 there were 10 detainees and in room 405, 8 detainees). The detainees complained, unlike the majority, that they are taken out for exercise only two or three times a week for no more than an hour. The impression of the representatives of the association was that in that room they brought together the detainees considered recalcitrant and/or dangerous, which could explain the slightly harsher regime.
They also complained that the water is cut quite often (if the water pressure is low it does not reach the 6th floor, where this section is located).
Detainee Vasile Floc\neci (born in 1966) submitted (or is to submit) a transfer request to Coliba[i. He said that all his family lives in R@mnicu V@lcea, that his wife had died two months before and his two minor children are temporarily in the care of some relatives.
Detainee Nicolae Radu (born in 1968) was brought from the Rahova-Bucharest penitentiary to Chilia Veche, then he was moved to Tulcea. He wished to be moved back in Rahova, since his entire family, including a minor child, lives in Bucharest.
There is hot water for two hours on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Each room in the penitentiary has its own lavatory consisting of a water closet, a sink and a shower. In some rooms, the loudspeakers were broken.
Unlike in other penitentiaries, in Tulcea one razor blade is distributed every month for each detainee (“it is in the norms”, according to the penitentiary officials). The representatives of the association encountered cases in other penitentiaries where the barbers were shaving several detainees with the same blade, which is extremely dangerous for their health. The reply given in other penitentiaries was that the razor blades “were taken out of the norms”.
The minors have two rooms in a separate section yet at the date of the visit only one was occupied by 10 detainees. They confirmed that they actually participate to all the actions presented by the young officer from the socio-educational department (table tennis, football tennis, film screenings followed by discussions etc.) and they only complained that they did not go to the workshops, which kept them busy and provide them with the basics of the trade. The minors receive every day 400 ml of milk and margarine in the morning.
They wear civilian clothes both in the room and during the visits. The association noticed that, at least in this penitentiary, the head of the room was not an adult but also a minor.
In the women section there were six female detainees in a room, also with 15 beds. They complained of nothing, they were even satisfied with the treatment. The detainees said that they were staying outside for about two hours a day every day, and, very importantly, that they went to visits wearing civilian clothes.
In each of the 5 penitentiary sections there is a club where most of the socio-educational activities are held as well as the individual and collective therapy sessions held by the psychologist. Unfortunately, the psychologist has not special programmes for women and minors, although this would be commendable.
At the first floor of the penitentiary there is a fitness room for the penitentiary staff, where the detainees have access on some Saturdays and Sundays.
Conclusions:
Manuela Stefanescu
Valerian Stan