APPENDIX Dnr O 7-2018 The own-initiative inquiry After a series of Opcat inspections1 of remand prisons in spring 2017, I stated that the Prison and Probation Service should ensure the amount of time inmates spend in association is reported and documented in a standardised manner. The reason is that it should be possible to follow the conditions for inmates over time. Furthermore, I stated that the use of isolation-breaking measures should be reported and documented for inmates who, for various reasons, do not associate with other inmates. The documentation should state the category – held with restrictions, held without restrictions or migration detainees– to which an inmate belongs. Finally, I requested that the Prison and Probation Service report back on how the agency monitors the time that inmates spend in association and the use of isolation-breaking measures.2 The response was received by the Parliamentary Ombudsmen on 14 June 2018. The details which emerged in the response to the request led me to decide to open an own-initiative inquiry to follow up on the issues of placing inmates in association and the use of isolation-breaking measures. On 31 January 2019, the Prison and Probation Service submitted another report that I had requested in a previous own-initiative inquiry concerning the placement of inmates in segregation.3 This reporting back is also covered by this own-initiative inquiry. On 12 March 2019, I had a dialogue meeting with, amongst others, the Prison and Probation Service's Director of Prisons and Remand Prisons. At the meeting, I raised a number of issues such as concerns regarding the agency's work with isolation-breaking measures. The meeting was recorded in minutes and the Prison and Probation Service was given the opportunity to comment on the report of the meeting that followed. The agency has provided some additional information. Background This decision marks the conclusion of work which began in 2017. For three years, my staff and I have, in various ways, shed light on issues concerning the situation of inmates in remand prisons. Before I go into more detail on these issues, I will initially touch upon certain fundamental principles and concepts, the risks that isolation can entail for an inmate, the international criticism that Opcat is the English abbreviation for the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. States Parties to the Protocol have committed themselves to establishing a national preventive mechanism that regularly visits places where individuals can be deprived of their liberty. In Sweden, the Parliamentary Ombudsmen has been assigned this task. 2 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s inspection report from e.g. Huddinge Remand Prison (dnr 416-2017 and others). 3 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen 2018/19 p. 146. 1 – 83 – Page 2 (21) C