REPORT on the visit to the Margineni penitentiary
On 19 April 2000, the APADOR-CH representatives visited the Margineni penitentiary, situated in the municipality of Caragiale, county of Dambovita.
At the time of this visit, the Margineni penitentiary accommodated 1821 detainees (for a capacity of 1700 beds), as follows: 1655 adults, 142 youth, 11 minors and 13 petty offenders. Out of the total number of adults, 1491 have been pronounced a sentence (806 do not have a prior criminal record; 211 have a criminal record; 474 are multi-offenders), while 164 are detained on remand (69 do not have a prior criminal record, 37 do, 58 are multi-offenders). As for the youth, 123 have been pronounced a sentence (83 have no prior criminal record, 36 do, 4 are multi-offenders), and 19 are detained on remand (13 have no prior criminal record, 3 do, 3 are multi-offenders). About 50 inmates are placed under semi-open regime, 80 detainees are not guarded.
Because of the lack of funds, the military barrack in the municipality of Movila Vulpii has not yet been fitted out, but the penitentiary management is optimistic and hopes the repairs will be finished by the month of August 2000. About 150 detainees will be transferred there under semi-open regime as agricultural workers (corn, vineyards).
Mr. Rizea, manager of the furniture factory operating in the penitentiary (an independent branch of the "Multiproduct" trade enterprise) provided details related to the detainees’ labor regime. Thus, the detainees who are not qualified go through a "initiation period" (a training of 1 to 3 months), during which time they are paid as untrained workers. The over 500 detainees working in the factory are paid function of their achievements; only those who exceed their work quota (that is, the equivalent of the minimal wages – lei 700,000) can benefit from deductions from the sentence. The penitentiary also organizes a carpentry course that starts in April and lasts for 9 months; the newcomers whose sentences exceed 10 years work as untrained workers until a new course begins. The factory manager said that the detainees work Monday through Saturday, from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with lunch and smoking breaks); the discussions with the detainees revealed that a second shift work until 10 p.m. The penitentiary organizes sports activities every Saturday, even genuine football championships; Sunday is off.
With regard to professional training, the penitentiary management said they hoped to organize a new qualification course in carpentry and masonry, funded by the Humanitarian Service for Penitentiaries (SUP), using the equipment left by this organization at the penitentiary on the occasion of the previous course.
The cultural-educational activities consisted in two painting exhibitions on sale in Targoviste and two performances organized by the Targoviste theatre at the officers’ club, attended by 280 detainees.
The detainees are no longer allowed to visit the Targsor women penitentiary; with regard to this aspect, the deputy commander said that this decision was made by the Targsor penitentiary management, mainly due to transportation problems. The APADOR-CH representatives understand the difficulties faced by the penitentiary staff in such situations. However, they consider that it is detrimental to grant such facilities (which are very popular with the detainees) and to put an end to them all of a sudden. Given that for some detainees, that get no visits, the encounter with women detainees are a genuine event, APADOR-CH urges the penitentiary management to review this situation and find a way to resume these visits
Punishments for violations of the internal regulations
Within 24 hours since the occurrence of the violation, the officer/non-commissioned officer who acknowledges the violation draws up the incident report without suggesting a punishment. The report is analyzed by a commission made of the chief of the service for the security of detention and penitentiary treatment, the chief of the social-educational department, the doctor and the section commander. The detainee is heard regardless of the nature of his deed and gives a written statement about the incident. The witnesses – if any – also give written statements, attached to the file, after which the commission establishes the punishment. If the detainee is dissatisfied with the punishment, he can challenge it before the penitentiary commander and then before the prosecutor in charge of the carry out of punishments. The detainee is not isolated from his inmates by being sent to isolation; he is merely moved to another room until the investigation is finished.
If a detainee was punished at the police lockup, the punishment is no longer carried out at the Margineni penitentiary.
The day’s menu consisted of: tea, bread, biscuits and marmalade (regular and diet menu); tea, bread and biscuits (for the detainees who work) for breakfast; vegetable soup and beans (regular menu and working detainees)/vegetable soup and stew with potatoes (diet menu) for lunch; stew with potatoes (regular diet and working detainees)/ pilaf (diet menu)/rice with milk (TB patients) for dinner. 99.217 kg. pork, 24.591 kg bacon (meat substitute) and 42.705 kg. pork fat had been used to cook the day’s meals.
The APADOR-CH representatives checked the food and expressed serious doubts related to the use of the whole quantity of meat (99.217) for the detainees’ meals. APADOR-CH suggested the establishment of a commission to supervise the use of foodstuffs, made of the detainees’ representatives(that has been successful in other penitentiaries). The deputy commander rejected this suggestion, on account that it might prejudice the image of the staff in charge of the kitchen. The washing room, provided with 4 sinks, looked acceptable.
2.2 The sports field and the walking yards
The Margineni penitentiary has 6 walking yards and a sports field, an improvement as opposed to most penitentiaries visited by APADOR-CH. The sports field includes a football field and a volleyball court. On the day of this visit, Rooms 18 and 19 (section III – detainees on remand and detainees sentenced by a first instance court) were in the sports field. They go out for walks for two hours daily (one in the morning and one in the evening) and have access to the sports field twice a week, for one hour.
Every week, 11 programs coordinated by officers with the educational department are carried out for the duration of one hour and consisting of 5 topics each. The detainees (10-15 in each group) are selected by these officers.
At the time of this visit, the detainees’ band was rehearsing for the performance they were going to give soon.
The library where the detainees can borrow books is also located in the club. The detainees receive the daily newspapers, on the basis of subscriptions to several publications: Romania Libera, Jurnalul National, Adevarul, National, Jurnalul de Dambovita.
The club is provided with table tennis facilities. The detainees can also play chess or backgammon.
The penitentiary’s radio station, operated by detainees supervised by educators, continues to broadcast.
Section Iv is regarded as the toughest, because it accommodates (in small rooms, most having 9 beds) the troublemakers, the detainees placed under restrictive regime and those on hunger strike. The rooms are provided with a seatless toilet and a pipe with a tap. The section has its own shower room, with 4 showers.
Room 36 (restrictive regime)
The Margineni penitentiary has 6 rooms for detainees placed under restrictive regime (7 at the time of this visit) or in isolation. No detainee was in isolation at the time of this visit. The detainees take showers once a week (on Tuesdays) are taken out for walks once a day, for about 30 minutes; they are handcuffed on the way to the walking yard.
In Room 36 there were 2 detainees placed under restrictive regime. Marius Bacanu had been punished with 10 months of restrictive regime (since January) for having assaulted another detainee. The APADOR-CH representatives reiterated that Bacanu should be committed in a mental institution, given his serious mental troubles that are the main cause of repeated self-maiming and assaults. The other detainee, Vasile Spilca, is one of the 6 detainees who had recently escaped from the Colibasi penitentiary. Arrested on the night of 8-9 March 2000, Spilca complained that on the way to the police lockup he had been beaten by police officers and gendarmes until he fainted. Transported to the Colibasi penitentiary, Spilca had spent 20 days in isolation, handcuffed face up to the bed.
Room 37 (restrictive regime)
The "most dangerous" detainee in the Margineni penitentiary, Marian Fieraru, who had organized the escape from the Colibasi penitentiary, was detained in this room. Fieraru was serving a one-year punishment with restrictive regime. He also said he had been beaten by police officers and gendarmes after being caught.
Fieraru also recounted an incident occurred on 13 April 2000, when a non-commissioned officer had slapped him. Fieraru had caught him by the wrist. Later on, his hands and feet were cuffed and he got a punishment report (for assaulting a staff member).
Room 34 (restrictive regime)
Florin Comanaru and Marian Cobianu, another detainee who had escaped from Colibasi, were detained under restrictive regime in this room.
Comanaru had been punished with one year in isolation for his escape from the Codlea penitentiary. When he was caught, he was shot three times from a small distance in both legs and in the testicles. Comanaru was examined by the doctors in the penitentiary and complained about the poor medical care, especially as he also suffers from coxarthrosis. Both detainees complained about the "inedible food" (while Comanaru’s preserves were turning stale in the warehouse) and because they had been forbidden to use their own clothes and underwear. They are allowed to send two letters a month. The two said they received no letters. Cobianu complained that on 15 April 2000, although the judge had granted him the right to discuss with the lawyer, the chief of the Margineni penitentiary escort had prevented him from talking to his lawyer. The room is provided with a seatless toilet (flushing continuously), separated from the rest of the room only by a lateral wall of about 1.5 meters. Therefore, the air is always stale. APADOR-CH asks the penitentiary management to take measures in order to separate the toilet from the rest of the room, especially as the association’s representatives had noted that similar walls had been erected in other rooms in very good circumstances (in room 21, for instance).
Room 32
In this room, there were10 detainees and 8 beds. The room was provided with a tape player. The detainees received newspapers every day. They are taken out for walks for 2 hours every day (on Saturdays and Sundays included). Once a week, they are allowed to go to the club where they can play table tennis, backgammon and chess. A negative aspect is the fact that the detainees do not have access to the sports field, although the cell is very small and does not allow them to move much. Bed sheets are changed once a week. The detainees take showers once a week, on Tuesdays. The detainees said they sent one letter a month, when they got an envelope and stamps.
Room 26
There were 7 detainees and 9 beds in this room. The detainees are taken out for walks for one hour and a half every day and to the club once a week. They received newspapers daily and had no complaints related to the correspondence. However, they complained about the "terrible food" and about the medical assistance, including the fact that the doctors allegedly drew up incident reports.
Room 21 (section III, minors)
There were 14 inmates and 18 beds in the room. The issues related with overcrowding were solved by the penitentiary management by means of an agreement with the Gaiesti re-education center for minors, according to which the detainees are transferred to Margineni only for hearings; only part of the minors who have been pronounced a final sentence are detained permanently in the penitentiary. The minors are taken out for walks twice a day (for about 3 hours, all in all), they play football 3 times a week (for one hour), go to the club once a week, where they play table tennis or listen to music. The room is provided with a television set, a radio and a tape player; the minors receive newspapers and books. The lavatory consisted of a sink ad a toilet. The minors take one shower a week. Their bed sheets are changed once a week. These inmates have to wear the uniform when they go out for walks and even when they play football.
Room 24 (section III, detainees unfit to work)
The room was overcrowded: 58 detainees unfit to work shared 45 beds. These detainees are taken out in the open for 4 hours every day (2 hours in the morning, 2 in the afternoon). They take one shower a week (on Tuesdays); their bed sheets are also changed once a week. They listen to the radio or watch TV from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., with a half-hour break for the night call, although these inmates are unfit to work and therefore their efficiency would not be diminished if they were allowed to watch TV or listen to the radio more. The detainees complained about the food (they get almost no meat)and about the fact that the water does not always run. Ion Lefter – a detainee sentenced to 20 years in prison for murder – said he lost his eyesight as a result of a labor accident at the furniture factory. The doctor said he had been suffering from juvenile glaucoma ever since he had been transferred from the Aiud penitentiary and had been treated at the Margineni penitentiary. Although the Dambovita Forensic Laboratory diagnosed him in 1999 as unrecoverable and had twice applied for a suspension of the sentence, Lefter was still in prison.
The shower room used by sections I, II, III, V, VI and VII, with 30 showers, was being renovated; there is a separate shower room (2 showers) for the detainees with catchy diseases.
Room 5 (detainees who are allowed to work)
The room was also overcrowded, with 56 detainees sharing 51 beds. This was the best of the cells visited by APADOR-CH, as it was provided with a large caboose used to deposit food, a table, two benches and a lavatory consisting of 3 toilets and 3 sinks. The room was provided with a television set and two tape players with incorporated radio sets.
Room 17 (detainees who do not work)
The room was overcrowded: 40 detainees shared 30 beds. Ion Neacsu complained about the food (that he called "slops") and about the fact that, although he was suffering from an infection of the lower jaw (a medical problem that the doctor denied knowing about at first, but which appeared in the detainee’s medical file) he had been thrown out of the medical office when he had complained about the poor medical assistance. The room was provided with a television set and a tape recorder with an incorporated radio set. The detainees complained that they only got one newspaper for the whole room. The lavatory consisted of 2 toilets and 2 sinks.
The penitentiary management informed the APADOR-CH representatives that medical assistance was ensured by 3 general practitioners and a dentist. One of the doctors was missing at the time of this visit (he was preparing an examination for the status of resident) and another one worked part-time, as he was convalescing. Out of the 7 medical assistants provided in the employment plan, two were on maternity leave and a third was retired. According to the penitentiary management, medical assistance will be provided by only one medical assistant at the future section in Movila Vulpii.
There are 14 detainees with active TB in the penitentiary; other 46-49 have stabilized TB. The doctor on duty said they had no problems with medicines. He denied having drawn up incident reports to the detainees that had complained about the treatment, but admitted that he had threatened to report them to the commander.
Serious medical cases are treated at the Moreni and the Targoviste hospital. The decision to handcuff detainees treated in the regular hospital network is made by the penitentiary doctor and by the chief of the detention security and penitentiary treatment service, but in some cases this measure was requested by hospital doctors themselves. However, unacceptable situations occurred when 4 detainees were guarded by 3 penitentiary staff.
None of the penitentiary doctors is a family doctor. They allot three hours a day (from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.) to the staff, in a separate medical office, although this practice should have been abandoned long ago, by virtue of DGP order dated June 1999.
Constantin Rosca from Constanta has one year left until he can apply for release on parole. Rosca is ill and asks to be moved back to the Poarta Alba penitentiary, in order to be closer to his relatives who could support his social reinsertion.
Lascar Visarion told the APADOR-CH representatives that he had been sentenced for "incest with rape" and that the other detainees scorned him for his deed. He had been "left alone and understood" both by detainees and penitentiary staff at the Aiud penitentiary (from which he was transferred first to Galati and then to Margineni); therefore, he asked the APADOR-CH representatives to notify the DGP officials of his case, so that he might be transferred back to Aiud.
Ionel Cosman was allegedly beaten by non-commissioned officers Nicolae Anton and Dragulescu on 16 June 1999. Although he had complained before the penitentiary officials, his case had still not been solved. Moreover, since his mother had informed the DGP officials of his situation, several of the penitentiary staff (Captain Macavei) bullied him and punished him without any reason or for minor deeds.
The visiting area consists of a room that allows 5 simultaneous discussions round the table plus 2 booths for dangerous detainees.7 families can visit simultaneously the detainees for "round the table" discussions. A positive aspect is related to the fact that the detainees can be visited by persons they are not related to.
The penitentiary management has given up asking the detainees who wish to make phone calls to apply in writing. Currently, the procedure consists of drawing up in advance a list of detainees who want to make phone calls, with the date and phone number they are going to dial. However, the situation encountered in the phone booth (2 pay phones) was unacceptable: besides the fact that the booth was quite small, a guard seated at a table listens to all phone conversations.
- The previous APADOR-CH visit to the Margineni penitentiary had taken place in July 1999. The situation in the penitentiary has improved to a certain extent between the two visits. The walking schedule (2 or even 3 hours a day, in most cases Saturdays and Sundays included) and the sports activities (as well as cultural-educational activities, to a certain extent) are positive measures that deserve special attention. Another positive aspect is related to the fact that sanctions for violations of internal regulations follow the incident report procedure and suppose the compulsory hearing of the detainee involved, thus ensuring an effective defense. It should also be stressed that "isolation from the group" does not mean transfer to isolation, as it does in most penitentiaries, but merely a transfer to another regular detention room, when necessary.
- APADOR-CH considers that the penitentiary management should pay special attention to the following:
Manuela
Stefanescu
George Anglitoiu