VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION future be provided to the shower rooms during unlocking times. According to the house rules, prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes. According to staff, detainees awaiting deportation must wear prison clothing. In order to approximate their situation as closely as possible to life outside the facility, it should be ensured that detainees awaiting deportation can wear their own clothes. Likewise, opportunities should be created for detainees awaiting deportation to wash their clothes. were held in the facility on average. This is linked to court decisions following the Federal Court of Justice’s decision of 11 July 2013 to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.33 The prison thus needs to await a final ruling. Until then at any rate the detainees awaiting deportation are being placed in very good conditions in Frankfurt I Prison. 1.9.1 – Positive findings During its visit the Joint Commission noted the good atmosphere in the facility. The head of the institution appears to put a lot of effort into granting detainees awaiting deportation as many freedoms as possible within the prison. This impression was also confirmed in the meetings the Joint Commission had with a Protestant pastor, for instance. Frankfurt I Prison is a new building which was taken into operation in 2011. Block C III in which detainees awaiting deportation are accommodated thus also has new and modern fittings and furnishings. Each detention room has its own separate wet cell (with a wash basin and toilet), the necessary furnishings, plus a fridge, a TV, a radio and a kettle. The Block has a homely atmosphere on account of the painted walls and the plants. Detainees awaiting deportation are allowed out of their rooms all day and may also use the common room and the kitchen at any time during the day. The shower room is also accessible all day and has one shower with partitions to protect detainees’ privacy. Detainees awaiting deportation are offered a varied range of purposeful activities. As well as sports in the recreation yard, which has a small basketball pitch and table tennis tables, detainees can use the fitness and the cardio room between 9.30 am and 11.30 am on Mondays. On Fridays between 10 am and 11.30 am they can also do sports in the sports hall. The limited amount of time available for making use of the wideranging sports activities indicates that there are organisational issues which are linked to detainees awaiting deportation being held in a prison. As well as providing a range of sports activities, efforts are made to offer detainees awaiting deportation the opportunity to do simple jobs. Since October 2013 members of Amnesty International have been providing legal advice in the facility. The Joint Commission would like to emphasise the solution which Frankfurt I Prison has found in regard to monitoring of its specially secured rooms: The rooms are fitted with CCTV cameras, but the images in the toilet area are pixellated. Pixellation means detainees’ privacy is protected, at the same time those 1.9 – THE PRE-DEPORTATION DETENTION WING IN FRANKFURT I PRISON The Joint Commission visited the Pre-Deportation Detention Wing in Frankfurt I Prison on 5 December 2013. It inspected various parts of the facility, including the specially secured room, the pre-deportation detention wings and a recreation room, the sanitary facilities, the medical section and the sports hall. In addition, the Joint Commission spoke with one detainee awaiting deportation, a prison doctor and a prison chaplain. The Joint Commission was also given access to the files. Frankfurt I Prison is responsible for enforcing remand detention against male juveniles and adults, as well as for enforcing custody pending deportation against male adults. Detainees awaiting deportation are held separately from remand prisoners within the prison in a separate wing in Block C. The wing for detainees awaiting deportation can hold a total of 42 detainees (38 in single cells plus four in a multi-occupancy cell). At the time of the visit the wing had 32 male detainees awaiting deportation in single cells. The Joint Commission is of the opinion that detainees awaiting deportation must be held in separate facilities enforcing custody pending deportation and not in prisons. In separate facilities the custody pending deportation can be organised in such a manner that appropriate attention is paid to fulfilling the specific needs of detainees awaiting 32 deportation. Response: Reference was first made to the fact that one key change has been made since the Joint Commission’s visit: Whilst 30 detainees awaiting deportation were still being accommodated in Frankfurt I Prison in early December 2013, that figure has dropped considerably since January 2014. Since then less than 10 detainees awaiting deportation 32 33 Cf. II.1.3 above 65 Federal Court of Justice, NVwZ 2014, 166