REPORT on the visit to the Miercurea Ciuc penitentiary
On 9 June 2000, the APADOR-CH representatives visited the Miercurea Ciuc penitentiary.
1. Background information
The penitentiary, which covers the counties of Harghita and Covasna, was built in 1898. The administrative building and one of the three detention wings were built in 1990 and 1991. The penitentiary was designed to accommodate 435 detainees. At the time of this visit, 854 detainees were accommodated in 702 beds (719 detainees had been pronounced final sentences, 81 had been sentenced by a first instance court, 52 were detained on remand and 2 were petty offenders; out of the total number, 713 were men, 15, women, 104 youth and 22 minors).
The penitentiary is designed mainly for first-time offenders whose sentences do not exceed 10 years. Actually, it also receives multi-offenders or detainees whose sentences exceed 10 years.
The farm consists of only 1.8 hectares of arable land. The penitentiary has to lease, from enterprises and from the population, about 10 hectares, where they grow potatoes. The animal farm breeds about 750 pigs, 260 poultry and 7 horses. The milk is processed in a small dairy. According to the commander, the cheese thus obtained covers half of the penitentiary's demands. The penitentiary rents hay-fields and pastures to grow cattle. One of the problems is related to the high production cost per kilogram of meat (about lei 35,000), due to the fact that no cereals are grown in the area and the penitentiary does not have a fodder plant. The penitentiary management asked DGP to support its efforts to purchase such a plant.
About 100 detainees go to work, especially in agriculture and in constructions (small working points, where the unguarded detainees work). On the basis of a contract concluded with the townhall, 15 detainees work in town, cleaning the streets daily (they are detained in the semi-open regime, attired in civilian protection clothes, specific to those who work in this field, watched by unarmed guards). This contract has been concluded since 1991. The penitentiary commander mentioned the open, sometimes even sympathetic attitude of the inhabitants who meet these detainees in town.
Out of the 854 detainees, 468 were Hungarians (55%), 193 Romanians (22%), 191 Roma and 2 Germans. According to the penitentiary commander, the ratio of Hungarians sometimes goes up to 70-75% of the total number of detainees. There are no relevant communication problems between detainees and staff, or any other kind of ethnic problems. Out of the 160 staff members, about 40% are Hungarians. About 5% of the total number of Hungarian detainees do not speak Romanian at all. The penitentiary commander used to be Hungarian until 4 years ago (currently, he is Romanian, and his deputy in charge of the guards in Hungarian). Almost all the Romanian officers and non-commissioned officers speak Hungarian. The three trainers speak fluent Hungarian. Since 1 June 2000, the penitentiary has hired a roman-Catholic priest, besides the Orthodox one. The cultural-educational department has also hired a social assistant and was also going to hire a psychologist.
In 1999, the penitentiary participated with its own team in a football championship in the town of Miercurea Ciuc, ranking second. Detainees attended the game alongside with the civilians and no special problems occurred. Encouraged by this situation, the penitentiary management intends to organise similar events this year (including the participation of detainees at various shows in town). The detainees receive visits every day of the week from morning till evening, including Saturdays and Sundays until 3p.m., function of the first letter of their names. The penitentiary management wants to observe this schedule, but is flexible with the visitors that do not respect it. About 180 detainees receive no visits. The detainees who have phone cards can make phone calls three times a month. The APADOR-CH representatives appreciate the fact that the detainees are allowed to make more than one phone call a month, as it happens in most penitentiaries visited so far. Still, APADOR-CH considers that the procedures that must be followed by the detainees in order to be allowed to make phone calls are excessive and should be given up. They cannot be justified even by the intention to put an end to "barters" with phone cards (which cannot be worse than trading food, cigarettes, etc.).
The penitentiary has a good working relationship with the local public administration. According to the commander, a local commission that monitors detention conditions functions at the local level. It consists of 18 members, namely representatives of the County Council, Municipal Council, the Prefect’s Office, the County Labour and Social Protection Department, the County Police Inspectorate, the Bar Association, the County Court, primary school "Liviu Rebreanu", the League for the Defence of Human Rights. The commission members can visit the penitentiary at any time (either individually or as a group) upon the commander’s prior approval. APADOR-CH suggested and the commander agreed that the visits could be unannounced, on the basis of a pass issued by the penitentiary management to each of the commission members. The detainees are familiar with the composition of this commission and know that they can apply to any of its members. Once every 3 or 4 months, the commander submits an activity report to the County Council, with the participation of mayors from the two counties covered by the penitentiary.
The penitentiary took part in a joint experiment on probation services with the association "Pro Democratia" in 1999 and the first 5 months of the year 2000 (10 detainees and 5 petty offenders sentenced to community work). The Humanitarian Service for Penitentiaries organised in the penitentiary a 6-month training course for carpenters, attended by 25 detainees, and a training course for computer operators (for 10 detainees). The Humanitarian service paid the trainers and made available the necessary equipment (finally, it donated a computer to the penitentiary).
The room chiefs (representatives) are elected by means of secret vote by the detainees and then confirmed by the penitentiary management. The commander specified that the room representatives chosen from among the "dummies" (only to be manipulated by the other detainees) or those who obtained the votes by putting pressure on the detainees are not confirmed by the management. The APADOR-CH representatives mentioned that these restrictions, even if worded this way, are liable to restrict the detainees’ freedom of choice and to lead to the election of detainees favoured by the management as room representatives. The penitentiary commander organises a monthly analysis with the room representatives, section representatives and the three detainees elected by the other inmates as representatives at penitentiary level. The detainees can report to the management as follows: in the 1st and 3rd week of the month – to the deputy commander in charge of guards; in the 2nd week – to the chief doctor ad the deputy commander in charge of logistics and in the 4th week – to the commander (the commander also organises such meetings every time the detainees ask to report to him).
The penitentiary follows the "incident report" procedure in cases of violations of internal regulations. The commission for discipline hears the detainees every time they are supposed to be punished with isolation or suspension of the right to visits and parcels. The commander agreed with APADOR-CH that hearings should be compulsory in all situations, as on the one hand the members of the discipline commission cannot anticipate how the detainee is going to be punished and, on the other, even if punishments with reprimand or warning are less severe, they can have serious consequences when the detainees thus punished apply to be released on parole.
The medical department is staffed by two doctors (a general practitioner and a dentist), 4 medical assistants and a dental technician. There is a second job opening for a general practitioner, which has been vacant for two years and a half. In the last one year and a half, four detainees died (2 in 1999 and 2 in 2000). All died of heart failure; their heart condition was known ever since they had got to the penitentiary.
2. Visit to the penitentiary
2.1. The kitchen area
On the day of the visit, the regular menu consisted of: biscuits, bacon, marmalade and tea for breakfast, vegetable soup with rice and beans with meat for lunch, potato stew with bacon for dinner. Diet menu consisted of: biscuits, marmalade, margarine and tea for breakfast, peasant soup and vegetable stew with potatoes for lunch, potato stew with bacon for dinner. The ingredients used that day were: 74 kg. pork, 23 kg. meat by-products and 77 kg. bacon/lard. The APADOR-CH representatives noted that the second courses looked good and were quite consistent. The pantry and the kitchen have tiled walls and a satisfactory degree of hygiene (the sinks used to wash the dishes had, however, several tiles missing, which should be replaced). The thermal plant ensured hot running water round the clock. Once every two weeks or so, the section representatives of the detainees are present when the ingredients for the day’s meal are taken out of the pantry. The association’s representatives suggested to the penitentiary management to apply the practice in use in other penitentiaries, where the detainees’ representatives are present on a daily basis when the ingredients are taken out of the pantry and cooked and then taste the food.
2.2. The sick room (Room 5 – chronic diseases)
There were 4 patients and 4 beds in the room. Tokes Arpad, sentenced to 5 years in prison for murder attempt, was suffering from megaloblastic anaemia, asthma and an ulcer for which he had underwent surgery and part of his stomach had been removed. The detainee was extremely frail: he was 1.75 metres tall and had only 28 kg. He had to make efforts in order to get to his knees and talk to the APADOR-CH representatives and the effort was exhausting. From 1997 until several months before, Tokes’ sentence had been suspended and he had succeeded in getting somewhat better. When he returned to the penitentiary, his health deteriorated fast (he lost about 17 kg. in several months). On 14 June 2000, several months after he had applied for a new suspension of his punishment, the detainee was scheduled for a hearing (he had also asked to be pardoned about one month and a half before). APADOR-CH considers that Tokes Arpad’s case is typical for the carelessness and lack of speed of administrative and judicial authorities in solving cases as serious and pressing as the above. Although they were aware that each passing day could be fatal for Tokes Arpad, the administrative and medical officials of the penitentiary have done almost nothing, in the opinion of APADOR-CH, to prevent such an outcome and to alleviate the detainee’s suffering. Although they knew that some foodstuffs (liver paste, for instance, obviously in small quantities) were well assimilated by the patient, the management and medical officials of the penitentiary said they could do nothing and invoked – insistently and in a very rigid manner – the "norms in force" (which had already proved to be one of the causes for the patient’s state of health).
Another patient, Kovacs Geza, was also in a poor state of health (he had a heart condition and had suffered an infarction). As he was going to be heard by the parole board soon, he was asking the penitentiary management to support his application to be released (his behaviour had been proper during detention and he had not been punished for violations of discipline). The commander promised to pay more attention to this case.
The patients who are willing and able to go out for walks are allowed to do so daily, for half an hour up to one hour. The lavatory consisted of a toilet hole and a sink. Hot and cold water ran round the clock.
2.3. The medical office
The medical assistants examine and treat the detainees on a daily basis (from 6:30a.m. to 6:30p.m.). The general practitioner tends especially to the staff, except for serious cases when his presence is requested by the medical assistants. Asked what the second general practitioner would do, if hired, the doctor answered without hesitation: "take care of the detainees, obviously". The APADOR-CH representatives believe that the current situation is abnormal: the only general practitioner takes care of 160 persons (who live at large and could resort to a wide range of medical services) while the 850 detainees are left to the medical assistants with less medical training. When admitted to civilian hospitals, the detainees are usually handcuffed to the beds (and, obviously, watched by guards). The penitentiary management explained that, when the detainees’ state of health is so poor as to eliminate all risks to escape, they are no longer handcuffed. The penitentiary officials also specified that, following the penitentiary’s requests, the surgical department of the County Hospital organised a separate ward for detainees, who are no longer handcuffed. APADOR-CH appreciates this initiative and considers that the penitentiaries should do their best to extend this practice. The most frequent diseases are mental troubles (49 cases at the time of this visit). 9 patients with syphilis are under treatment, followed by check-ups every 6 months. No HIV tests have been performed in the penitentiary for the last two years. The penitentiary has one shower room with 21 showers for all the men sections.
2.4. Detention wings
Room 11
The room (30 detainees and 24 beds) was being painted. As it was for the first time that the APADOR-CH representatives encountered such an activity – only in Room 11 and in the medical office, from the whole penitentiary – the APADOR-CH representatives asked if it had anything to do with the DGP control that was going to take place in two day’s time in Miercurea Ciuc. The answer was negative. Allegedly, this kind of activity takes place every spring. Anyway, none of the other rooms was being painted and many seemed to have been left unpainted for more than a year.
The APADOR-CH representatives met in the hallway 10 detainees who had just been brought from police lockups, whose heads had been shaved. Asked why the measure was taken, the detainees answered: "prison regulations". APADOR-CH considers that shaving the detainees’ heads is unacceptable as a general rule. Such measure can only be accepted on a case-by-case basis, motivated by medical or sanitary arguments by the penitentiary doctor. The officials said that the rule had been instituted by the doctor for the hot season.
Room 16 – youth
When the APADOR-CH representatives entered the room, they were overwhelmed by the wave of hot stale air. When the room representative shouted "Attention", the 47 detainees, accommodated in 32 tiered beds on 4 levels tried to form a line in a very narrow space, stepping on each other’s toes. Until several days before, 25 detainees used to go to work, digging trenches. Those who do not work spend their time in the room, playing rummy of chess. They go to the club twice a week, to play table tennis and talk with the trainers for one hour up to one hour and a half. They are taken out for walks once every two weeks, for about 30 minutes. The detainees complained about the roaches, lice and, some of them, about scab. They said the food was good. The room is provided with a TV set that functions according to a schedule (9a.m. to 1p.m., 2p.m. to 7p.m. and 8p.m. to 10p.m.). Sometimes, when there is an interesting broadcast on, they can watch TV up to 12p.m. The detainees asked that the door be left open during the day in the summer time (a second section made of iron bard remains in place). They take baths once a week, on Fridays, for 25-30 minutes. Those who have phone cards can make three phone calls a month, upon the commander’s approval (the guards do not listen in). They receive visits in penitentiary uniform. The detainees said they had no communication problems with the staff and no other difference related to their ethnic background.
Room 17 – multi-offenders
The air was as hot and stale as in Room 16. The room accommodated 32 detainees and had 43 tiered beds. The detainee Gyuri Sandor has a heart condition (he had had two pre-infarctions and had been transferred in this state of health from the Targu Mures penitentiary. He complained that, although the doctor had put him on a diet he did not receive appropriate food at Miercurea Ciuc and that he was allotted the highest bed, under the ceiling, where the temperature is inappropriately high for his condition, which has turned for the worse. The detainees are taken out for walks very seldom, once every 2-3 weeks, for about half an hour. They had been taken to the club only once in the previous three months, to play table tennis. The can play rummy in their room. The room is provided with a TV set, which functions according to the schedule mentioned above. They take baths once a week, being split into two series that are allowed to wash for 15-20 minutes each. The detainees are not supplied with detergent, toilet paper or toothpaste; they get only a piece of soap every week. The detainee did not mention any problems derived from their ethnic appurtenance. The lavatory consists of a toilet hole and a sink. The right to parcels is observed, but the detainees asked the penitentiary employees to show a little understanding when the parcels exceed the regular weight. They said that the food was better than in other penitentiaries. Two of them, Toth Ferencz and Tripon Csaba, complained that they had repeatedly asked to be examined by the doctor (for a month and two months, respectively) which had not happened yet until this visit. (Tripon Csaba was in a poor state due to his heart condition.) The mattresses were dirty and torn. The detainees that get no visits asked to get some envelopes too, as the others do. During the visits, they wait for about 15 minutes until their visitors are brought in, which means that the visits last 15 minutes instead of the prescribed 30.
Room 23 – multi-offenders
The "Ten Commandments" and "Our Father" were posted in Romanian and Hungarian on one of the walls in the hallway of the section where this cell is located. The numerous other aphorisms and quotes from classics of philosophy and literature or from the Romanian Constitution and legislation were all in Romanian.
The 43 detainees were accommodated in superposed beds, on 4 levels. The lavatory consisted of a toilet hole and a sink. The detainees complained that it is hard for them to get to the medical office and that the treatment they get is often inappropriate (e.g. Bodo Stefan, a detainee who had had a fungus on both legs since March this year). Kolones Laszlo had asked several times to be examined by a doctor, because his back hurt since December of last year. He only got to be examined by the medical assistant and his back still hurt. Allegedly, they go out for walks only once every week or two, for about 10-15 minutes, and to the club "only on holidays". The room is provided with a TV set and rummy and chess games and the detainees get newspapers in Romanian and Hungarian (the books they can borrow from the library are also in both languages). The internal regulations are written only in Romanian, despite what the penitentiary officials had declared at the beginning of the visit. The detainee Fabian Romeo complained that his punishment (suspension of the right to parcels and visits for 3 months) was too harsh for his deed – he had tried to send a letter through one of the inmates, who had just been released. Vasloban Carol, sentenced to 4 years and a half, asked via the APADOR-CH representatives for a visit "round the table" from his wife; he asked the penitentiary management to take into account the fact that his behaviour had improved and he had got several reward reports.
Room 25 (isolation)
No detainee was under isolation (for about a week). The lavatory – separated from the rest of the room by a wall halfway to the ceiling, consisted of a toilet hole and a tap. According to the penitentiary officials, the partition wall is going to be lowered to 1 metre, for the guard to be able to see from the hallway if the detainees do not try to commit suicide. The APADOR-CH representatives argued that, far from preventing the detainees from committing suicide (especially if they really set their minds to it), this would increase the stench in the room and ensure even less privacy to detainees who go to the toilet. The window (about 1x1.5 metres) was almost useless because of the row of bars and the two thick wire nets.
Room 30 (restrictive regime)
No detainee has been punished with restrictive regime for the part two years. The room had two beds and a lavatory consisting of a toilet hole and a sink.
The club
All the 35 detainees from Room 11 were a the club, which was being painted. Many quotes from philosophers, writers and pieces of legislation were posted on the walls, all in Romanian. No copy of the internal regulations in Hungarian was posted on the walls.
Room 31 – dangerous detainees
The room had 9 beds and accommodated 8 detainees. Iacob Ferencz had a hernia for which he had undergone surgery but which had not healed and was infected. Although he had insistently asked to get proper treatment, he did not get it. He was simply "examined" by a medical assistant through the peephole and advised to use cold water compresses. Borcsa Csaba owed his presence in this room to the fact that he had been labelled "difficult to get on with" at the Bistrita penitentiary from which he had been transferred and because he had had a fight with the room representative (the inmates said, however, that the incident occurred because Borcsa had refused to pay the room representative his due). Ilyes Oliver Albert was labelled dangerous because he had been drawn up 3 incident reports for aggressive behaviour and for threatening the staff. However, he alleged that non-commissioned officer Romica from the medical office had beaten him on 31 March 2000 (breaking one of his teeth). According to Sorin Asanache’s medical file, his presence in this room was due to the fact that he had allegedly said, before commission, that he had cut the bars and escaped from a penitentiary in Germany. However, he told the APADOR-CH representatives that he had heard he had been labelled dangerous because of that, but that the story was made up: he had not escaped any German prison, let alone mention this in front of the penitentiary commission.
Room 33 – dangerous detainees
There were 7 detainees and 9 beds in the room. Boldiszar Emil knew he was there for an escape attempt 5 years old and because he had been accused that he had wanted to assault a staff member 2 months before (he said he had not even been transferred to Miercurea Ciuc at that time). According to his file, he was dangerous because he had said in March 1997 that he would try to escape from the work point (it is not clear why the detainee would have revealed this intention, knowing that this would cause him trouble). Gabriel Chitic was told he was dangerous because he intended to escape. He denied this accusation. The report by means of which the detainee was labelled as dangerous mentions that the detainee intended to escape, with no further proof of this accusation. The commander said that this mention had been made by the SIPA officers, who told him they could not provide evidence for this allegation. Bela Marius Gociu’s presence among the dangerous detainees was due to the fact that he had allegedly tried to compromise a non-commissioned officer (by saying that he had given the latter a bribe). The detainee denied the accusation – allegedly also a self-denunciation, which is bizarre to say the least – and the commander told him to talk to the SIPA officer who "knew better what all that was about". His penitentiary file contains several incident reports, but none for the "intention to assault the staff", a charge also established by the SIPA officers. Gabor Szolt had never got an incident report, but SIPA had established that he had threatened the staff and therefore had labelled him as dangerous. Kiss Laszlo was transferred from Jilava as a "violent, recalcitrant" detainee. No one checked him and he was admitted directly to the room for dangerous detainees. The detainees complained that they had been beaten by the penitentiary staff (namely, by non-commissioned officer Sandor Zoltan, among others). They had lodged a complaint with the Military Prosecutor’s Office a week before.
The women section – Room 3
There were 8 detainees and 12 beds in the room. One of the walls was very damp, because the plumbing kept leaking. The detainees get newspapers and books both in Romanian and Hungarian. They go for walks almost daily, for half an hour up to one hour. The detainees have to wear their penitentiary uniforms when they get visits. The section has its own shower room with 6 showers, which is not used because of the low water pressure.
The visiting area
6 detainees can be visited simultaneously: 2 at the table and 4 in booths (1 at the booth provided with a windowpane and 3 in windowless booths). The non-commissioned officers do not listen in to the detainees' phone conversations.
3. Conclusions:
- the Miercurea Ciuc penitentiary stands out due to the ethnic and cultural differences among detainees and the administrative staff. APADOR-CH appreciates the fact that the penitentiary management have done their best to establish an environment based on respect for otherness and on non-discrimination, so that these differences have led to no special problems. APADOR-CH considers that, however, the penitentiary management can and must take more such steps, such as: translating into Hungarians the internal regulations, which must be posted in each room, translating the quotes and law excerpts posted in detention spaces and in those especially designed for cultural and educational activities, providing access to a television channel in Hungarian.
- Although no concrete solution could be provided during the visit, it is obvious that an appropriate solution must be found for the daily walks. The penitentiary has only one walking yard (15x30 metres), too small for the number of prisoners in the penitentiary, so that sometimes the detainees are taken out for walks only once every two or three weeks.
- APADOR-CH urges DGP to support the penitentiary in the purchase of a fodder plant.
- Given the serious consequences of declaring some detainees dangerous, APADOR-CH considers that the rules in the field must be reviewed immediately on the basis of the following principles:
- DGP can establish the general framework and several general criteria, but penitentiaries must be granted more powers in analysing each case and making decisions, without any rigid constraints, which force them to make decisions that depart from the concrete situations that they are most familiar with;
- The police bodies that transfer detainees to penitentiaries and the SIPA officers that label detainees as dangerous should be asked for concrete and official elements to that effect (a line scribbled on the detainee's file, under an incomprehensible signature, without any stamp or additional documentation can hardly be accepted as the main element on which the legal and administrative situation of the detainees depend; the same is true for the "information" provided by the mysterious SIPA officers);
- The detainees must be explained accurately and officially why they have been labelled as dangerous; in the opinion of APADOR-CH, they should have the opportunity to defend themselves when such decisions are made, at least according to the procedures of the incident report (hearing before a commission, appeal before the commander and the prosecutor, etc.).
- APADOR-CH suggests that DGP should issue an order to the effect that the doors of overcrowded cells be left open for as long as possible.
- APADOR-CH urges the penitentiary management to pay special attention to the medical assistance granted to detainees (the doctors should pay more attention to the detainees than to the staff, the penitentiary management should analyse why the detainees are delayed when they want to be examined by a doctor).
- The association asks the penitentiary management to take all necessary measures in order to solve the case involving the detainee Tokes Arpad without further delay.
Manuela
Stefanescu
Valerian Stan