VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION Deportation Detention Wing was particularly stressful. This was, firstly, due to communication difficulties, and, secondly, due to the fact that the detainees find themselves in an especially tense situation. So far the facility has held one training course on custody pending detention. The Joint Commission welcomes the fact that the head of the institution assured the Joint Commission in the final meeting that he would discuss the possibility of further training courses with the Ministry of Justice. The Joint Commission would like to be informed about the outcome of these discussions. Response: Training courses specifically for staff employed in the Pre-Deportation Detention Wing have already been held; staff at Mannheim Prison and staff at Schwäbisch Gmünd Prison took part. Another one-day training course on “Intercultural Skills in Custody Pending Deportation” is planned for December 2013. At the time of the visit, staff employed in the PreDeportation Detention Wing were not offered any supervision. However, both staff in the general prison service and those in the specialist services described the work in this unit as particularly stressful, as many detainees awaiting deportation did not understand why they had been taken into custody. The detainees’ situation was very dispiriting and led to many all-toohuman problems. This can be seen from the relatively large number of special incidents, such as 22 hunger strikes between 26 October 2012 and 10 April 2013, three instances in which a detainee was caught playing with fire and one case of arson in the same period. The prison chaplain reported that staff in the general prison service working in the Pre-Deportation Detention Wing often sought him out. The Joint Commission welcomes the fact that, according to the head of the institution, the issue of supervision was being discussed throughout Baden-Württemberg and that the situation in custody pending deportation in particular was being discussed in that context. Response: There is definitely a need for supervision for staff working in custody pending deportation and over and above that too. However, given the current efforts at budget consolidation, it is rather unlikely that the required funding will be made available anytime soon. Only one social worker on a 0.4 contract and a prison chaplain on a 0.3 contract are available to those in custody pending deportation. According to the head of the institution, an external social counselling service has been dropped. Both the social worker and the prison chaplain pointed out to the Joint Commission that there was a great need for counselling and support, in particular by a social worker. Response: The competent social worker has increased her hours in the Pre-Deportation Detention Wing and is now available to detainees awaiting deportation all day on Tuesdays and for half a day on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; this amounts to 50 per cent of her hours. It is not possible to further increase staffing levels by drawing on available prison staff. Detainees awaiting deportation are given information by the foreigners’ authority about the reasons for their custody prior to deportation, its duration and further information regarding the procedure. This information is available in German, Serbian, Russian, French, English, Arabic, Albanian and Turkish. The Pre-Deportation Detention Wing’s house rules are, by contrast, only available in German, English, Arabic and French. Translations of the languages most commonly spoken by detainees should also be commissioned. Response: There are plans to have the house rules translated into other commonly spoken languages where a real and sustainable need is established therefor. There is no dimmable night light in the specially secured room containing no dangerous objects. Without a dimmable night light detainees only have a choice between bright lighting or total darkness. Whilst bright lighting prevents detainees from sleeping, darkness makes it impossible for them to find their way around the room, so that in an emergency they cannot quickly find the call button, and there is thus a risk of injury. Response: The suggestions made by the National Agency have already been taken up and a dimmable night light fitted to the specially secured rooms. The remaining facilities in Baden-Württemberg will also follow the National Agency’s suggestion. The documents forwarded by Mannheim Prison indicate that in 2012 one detainee awaiting deportation was ordered to “participate in yard exercise with non-working sentenced prisoners”. In order to be able to fulfil the principle that prisoners and detainees awaiting deportation be held separately (Trennungsgebot) no such instructions should be issued. Response: Mannheim Prison pays very precise attention to ensuring that detainees awaiting deportation are kept separate from prisoners. However, especially in the more recent past detainees awaiting deportation have again and again behaved aggressively and posed a danger to others. The only option available to the prison in the extreme case is to order special precautionary measures. In such cases it is essential that the detainees affected can be placed in the segregation area in the main building as part of a precautionary measure, in which case the principle that prisoners and detainees awaiting deportation must be kept separate is also observed. The Joint Commission would like to point out that it also in principle recommends the creation of separate detention facilities for the enforcement of 53