Processing by the Ombudsman of complaints of ill treatment
183. Regarding Prison Facilities (CP), 38 complaints were received of
suspected ill treatment in prison during 2015.
Prison facilities
184. An inmate in the A Lama Prison Facility (Pontevedra), who according to their statements needed crutches for moving around, made a
complaint because they had been subjected to unwarranted physical force
by officers after requesting a change of cell. According to their testimony,
they were taken to the infirmary instead of to the solitary confinement wing
due to the state they were in. In their complaint they stated their disagreement with the facts submitted by the service staff and also reported the
absence of personal belongings. The Administration’s report did not contain any reference to the events that had given rise to the incident (the
prior request for a change of cell), nor to whether or not the person affected
was taken to the infirmary, nor to the reported absence of personal belongings. Nor was it clarified if it was true that the person could not walk without
crutches. Proceedings were initiated with the SGIP and the case is still
being processed.
Omission of information in
reports Case in A Lama CP
185. Another case was opened following a complaint of suspected ill
treatment in the Castellón II CP. The person appearing stated that, following an argument amongst inmates, their relative detained in prison was
taken from their cell to a ground floor room where two officers used unwarranted physical force. They were taken to the infirmary and during the
transfer were threatened. An injury report was prepared, of which a copy
was not provided to the detainee, and they were later driven to the isolation
unit, where they remained until their transfer to the Alicante I CP for legal
reasons. Although images were extracted and played back, the recording
of the incident was not saved.
Suspected ill treatment in
Castellón II CP
Another complaint was received regarding the request by a legal body with
criminal jurisdiction for access to recordings from the video surveillance
system, in relation to an incident which caused a person deprived of liberty
to request legal protection. Said request by the legal body was not granted
by the administration, which claims that the recording system in the facility
stores recordings for a maximum of 20 days, after which time recordings
are made over those already on the hard disk.
Video surveillance
§162 AR 2014
In another case, an inmate stated their disagreement with the version of
events provided by the prison administration after reporting having been
struck, rather than having caused the injuries to themselves whilst restrained by handcuffs and held by an officer, as was claimed by the administration. The inmate requested that this be verified by way of recordings
from the security cameras.
In light of all of the above, this institution has continued to insist upon all CP
having proper video surveillance systems which provide sufficient coverage, and on their use as a complementary tool during court-ordered investigations into ill treatment or during disciplinary sanction proceedings
against persons deprived of liberty. There should also be a procedure for
recording, storing, extracting, keeping and submitting images, and the ex
Video surveillance systems
§63, 216 AR 2014
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