Rights behind bars: Access to justice for victims of violent crime suffered in pre-trial or immigration detention issues relating to detention conditions, the right to legal advice in some circumstances, and the right to access medical assistance. They are not informed of their rights to file a criminal complaint to Law Enforcement Authorities if they become victims of crime. Contrary to pre-trial detainees, migrants in detention do not always have access to any information on their rights and duties as detainees. Where information is provided, it is not done systematically or does not cover all the aspects that pre-trial detainees receive. As with pre-trial detention, none of the Member States researched include information on Victims’ Rights. Information on detainees’ rights is not accessible and not efficiently provided Even though information is not being provided to detainees on Victims’ Rights (including the right to file a criminal complaint), some of the rights that are being notified to detainees would be relevant to a detainee who becomes a victim of violence during detention. In particular, the right to contact a lawyer, the right to legal aid in certain circumstances and the right to file complaints through specific internal or external administrative mechanisms. When information on rights (and duties) of detainees is provided, it is usually provided once, upon their admission to the detention facility. This information is rarely provided at any other time throughout detention by the Detention Administration. Detainees are often incapable of absorbing the information provided at that time in a meaningful way upon their admittance to Detention Centres, which can happen hours after the start of their detention and typically in a situation of significant stress. In Belgium for instance, the information pack is about 50 pages long, and includes the internal rules and regulations as well as forms such as requests for televisions, medical appointments etc. complain to internal and external mechanisms in pre-trial detention are only available in a limited number of languages. In Croatia, migrants are informed of their obligations and rights on bulletin boards in multiple languages and, in Belgium, they are given brochures translated into 25 languages.66 When the relevant translation is not available, Detention Staff tend to ask for assistance from other detainees who may speak two languages. In Belgium, it is not unusual for Detention Staff to use tools such as “Google Translate” to try to communicate with detainees. Information is sometimes provided only in writing (including translations when available). This means that illiterate detainees do not have access to information. Detainees who are illiterate or do not speak one of the languages used in this written material may be left without any information on their rights. There is no protocol or guidance on how to inform detainees who do not speak one of the selected languages. When the information is provided (including translations), it is often drafted or explained in technical jargon that is not sufficiently accessible for most detainees (or non-lawyers generally). For example, where copies of prisons’ internal regulations are provided to detainees, they are not drafted in a language sufficiently accessible to be understood and used by detainees. In Hungary, the rights and obligations of pre-trial detainees are provided to them in writing. Brochures are translated into 24 languages, but research shows that the language used in the brochures remains unclear and too complex to understand for most detainees. The same problem was identified in Belgium in both pre-trial and immigration detention. Recommendations Public Authorities • Detention Staff must be expressly designated as “competent authorities” under the 2012 Directive. Because detainees will rarely, if ever, come into contact with Law Enforcement Authorities (typically designated as “competent authorities”), public authorities should clearly identify Detention Staff as a “competent authority” for the purposes of the 2012 Directive. Detention Staff are often the first and the only contact with authorities that a victim of violent crime suffered in detention may have. • Adopt a code of ethics for Detention Staff. In order to prevent the risk of conflicts of interest, clear guidelines on the role and obligations of “competent authorities” with respect to victims should be established at a national level. • Train Detention Staff on Victims’ Rights and on identifying victims of crime in detention. Such training should be made a formal part of the education of Detention Staff and workshops should be organised in There are other sources of information available after admittance. For instance, information is provided by social services, on billboards and in Detention Centre libraries; but it is often out-dated and not particularly helpful. Information could be provided by external stakeholders including lawyers, NGOs and other services available inside Detention Centres. However, as discussed above, NGOs and even lawyers often face difficulties in accessing Detention Centres. Language barriers and illiteracy also obstruct effective access to information about rights for some detainees. As discussed above, in many Member States, the detained population in prisons includes a high percentage of foreigners and this is by definition the case in immigration detention. Effectively providing information to detainees requires the use of interpreters and translations. These are rarely available or accessible. For example, in Croatia and the Netherlands, the forms and brochures that contain rights such as the right to 66 MYRIA, Myriadocs 5, Détention, retour et éloignement des étrangers en Belgique, 2017, p. 58, available at: https://www.myria.be/files/Myriadoc_5_D%C3%A9tention__retour_et_%C3%A9loignement.pdf. 27