Places of short-Term Deprivation of Liberty
233. In the cells men are separated from women and convicted prisoners from
Detainees are separated by
police detainees, and attempts are made to group detainees by type. The juvenile
gender and grouped by
court buildings in Cordoba and Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands) have specific
type insofar as possible
holding areas for juvenile detainees known as “arrest rooms” [salas de arresto]. By
contrast, at the rest of the courthouse buildings visited juvenile courts share the
same building with criminal courts of other types, so there is only one holding
area. If there are no specific cells for juveniles they are usually held in other
rooms.
234. The temperature in the various establishments depended on whether there
A reminder was issued that
was heating and air conditioning or not, so a reminder was issued that it should
temperatures should be
be kept at between 18 and 25ºC throughout the year. Some establishments had no
extractor fans and at others they were not working properly, resulting in
kept at 18-25ºC. A request
to remedy poor lighting
was issued at the juvenile
unpleasant smells in some cells [A Coruña, Cordoba, Gijon (Asturias), Las Palmas
court buildings in Palma de
de Gran Canaria, Logroño (La Rioja), Madrid, Valladolid and Zaragoza]. Requests
Mallorca (Balearic Islands)
for this shortcoming to be remedied were issued. Bearing in mind the short time
spent by occupants in these cells, the lighting can be considered in general as
and Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria (Las Palmas)
acceptable, except in the juvenile court building in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic
Islands) and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Las Palmas), so it was also requested
that this be remedied.
235. The standard of cleanliness in cells at the times of the inspection visits
In general, cells were
was satisfactory, with cells being cleaned once or twice a day by external
acceptably clean. Those at
contracted firms, and disinfection and pest extermination procedures being
taken at regular intervals or whenever required. Once again the JJI at Plaza de
the JJI at Plaza de Castilla
(Madrid) stood out
negatively
Castilla in Madrid stand out in negative terms. A request for substantial
improvements was made accordingly.
236. The cell areas visited had CCTV surveillance systems comprising CCTV
Increased CCTV
cameras in corridors and access areas, but no recordings were kept. The courthouse
surveillance cover and
buildings in Gijon and Oviedo (Asturias), Pamplona and Tafalla (Navarre) were
the only ones visited that had cameras in the cells and that made recordings.
generalised use of video
recordings were requested
Requests were made for increased cover, including cells, and more generalised
use of CCTV recordings.
237. Most of the establishments visited were found to be equipped with fire
The need to ensure fire
extinguishers and smoke detectors. Shortcomings in this regard were observed in
fighting measures was
Logroño (La Rioja), Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Valladolid and
Zaragoza, while in A Coruña, Leon and Madrid there were practically no fire
indicated in A Coruña, Leon
and Madrid
fighting measures at all. Recommendations were made as to the need to ensure
that such measure were available.
THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN
105
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