Police detention centres
measures. However, the NPM found that the recommendations of May 2016
had not yet been fully implemented in the year under review.
As stated in the NPM Report 2016 (p. 134), the Directive on Workplaces should
be adjusted so that the standards for detention in single cells and specially
secured cells as well as visiting hours and visiting rules can be implemented. In
October 2017, the Federal Ministry of the Interior stated that a draft had been
developed. The standards could be included in a decree after internal review
by the relevant departments. The Federal Ministry of the Interior promised to
issue this decree in the 1st quarter of 2018.
Adjustments to the
Directive on Workplaces
The NPM‘s Report 2016 (p. 135 et seq.) deals with the extension of lock-up
times for persons in detention pending forced return at Hernalser Gürtel
police detention centre. The NPM not only criticised the action, which was
in violation of the decree, but also the lack of prior notice from the Federal
Ministry of the Interior.
Extension of
lock-up times
The Federal Ministry regretted this and announced that it would include the
requirement to notify the NPM in the decree and republish it. This requirement
to notify the NPM is intended to ensure the reporting of lengthy deviations from
the agreed-upon standard of open detention. However, no such notification
was given during the year under review, and the criticised extension of lock-up
times at Hernalser Gürtel police detention centre continued in effect.
Under the standards for designing single cells and specially secured cells
(see NPM Report 2014, p. 119), over the long term, security cells in all police
detention centres are to be subject to video monitoring with infra-red cameras,
which operate independently of any light source. These standards are being
implemented very slowly in the view of the NPM. However, the NPM recognises
that the Federal Ministry has stated to the working group that it also wants to
equip detention rooms in police stations with infra-red cameras in the future.
Infra-red camera in
security cell in police
stations
In 2017, the working group again devoted itself to developing standards for
employment and leisure-time opportunities in police detention centres. It came
to the same conclusions already expressed in the NPM Report 2016 (see NPM
Report 2016, p. 136 et seq.). Only Thera bands were rejected due to security
concerns. The NPM recommended that the Federal Ministry of the Interior
implement the standards for employment and leisure-time opportunities and
access to information regarding the outside world as quickly as possible.
Employment
opportunities
At the same time, the NPM recommended that the Federal Ministry of the
Interior also quickly implement the hygiene standards for detention in police
detention centres which the working group formulated in 2017. Based on the
goals already reported in the NPM Report 2016 (p. 137 et seq.), these standards
encompass the following basic conditions:
Hygiene standards
Generally, inmate cells have to be kept in hygienic condition. Detainees
should have access to sanitary facilities (toilets, showers) which are hygienic
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