Correctional institutions 2.5 Correctional institutions 2.5.1 Introduction The NPM made a total of 35 visits in 2017 to observe the conditions under which persons were held in facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders. The main results of these visits can be divided into ten sections. The first section presents criticisms of the placement and treatment of persons who were mentally ill when they committed criminal offences. The second section covers prison inmates with psychological idiosyncrasies, and the third section is devoted to the topic of women in prison. The fourth part concerns health care. The fifth part deals with the right to privacy. Recommendations regarding psychological supervision for employees in facilities of the penitentiary system and facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders can be found in the sixth chapter. Details regarding the challenges of dealing with persons who speak different languages can be found in the part entitled “Access to information”. The deficiencies in living conditions that the NPM observed are followed by remarks on structural deficits at the facilities visited. As in past years, the reporting part ends with positive observations. 2.5.2 Summary of observations Facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders and follow-up care facilities 2.5.2.1 Reform of facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders The core area of the NPM’s mandate includes monitoring of the living conditions of persons who were mentally ill when they committed criminal offences and were deprived of their liberty for special preventive reasons. The court may order that “preventive measures” be taken with respect to these persons – in addition to or in place of the punishment. It depends on whether said persons could be held accountable for their actions at the time of the crime. “Preventive measures” are ordered for an indefinite period of time. They are to be carried out for as long as their purpose requires. This does not preclude life-long detention and is precidely why placement of persons in facilities for the detention of mentally ill offenders is particularly sensitive from a human rights perspective. Any encroachment on personal freedom may only continue for as long as “necessary”. One many only be deprived of personal freedom “if and to the extent that this action is not disproportionate to the purpose of the measure” (Art. 1 (3) of the Federal Constitutional Act on the Protection of Personal Liberty ). Problems from a human righst point of view 101