Report of the Human Rights Defender on the activities of the National Preventive Mechanism in Poland in 2012
instruments provided for in the Executive Penal Code.” The assumptions presented
by the above judgment may not be considered valid for the reasons stated in HRD
petitions.
2.3 Strengths of and good practices in penitentiary units.
The training for Prison Service officers carried out in the Prison in Rzeszów
is recommendable and praiseworthy as a good practice. The training concerned
shaping correct interpersonal relations of officers with inmates and eliminating
the emotional tensions between convicts.
It should also be highlighted that the Prison in Chełmno appointed a Social
Council for Post-Penitentiary Support composed of prison counsellors from the establishment, professional court-appointed custodians and a social worker from the
local Poviat Family Support Centre. According to the information provided by prison
management, Council members provide practical information on the possibility of
obtaining help after detention ends and organise monthly meetings to discuss the current needs of persons prepared for release. The Council provides support to about 40
people a year. Considering the wide range of problems faced by persons released from
penitentiary units, the NPM representatives appreciate the officers’ initiatives that
serve facilitating inmates’ transition from penitentiary isolation to life at liberty.
It should be emphasised that the management of the Prison in Wronki cares
for the intimacy of inmates during showers well. Each shower is separated by
a plastic curtain, which ensures that inmates use the showers in private.57
Analysing the previous year in terms of strengths of penitentiary units, it is
worth to praise the Prison in Czarne that has adequate infrastructure for sport,
cultural and educational activities. The prisoners serving imprisonment in the unit
can use facilities to practice a number of sports, such as football, volleyball, basketball, beach football, badminton, football tennis and running; there is also a gym.
The unit organises many family meetings, e.g. for Children’s Day and Mother’s Day
for inmates and their families, and meetings with famous athletes. Christmas Eve
meetings of the unit’s personnel with inmates, during which they have a Christmas meal together, are a well-entrenched tradition.
It is worth to reiterate the position of the Central Board of Prison Service. In the letter of 15.03.2010 r.
(BPR-0510/932/10/Z-1), it informed the Office of the Human Rights Defender that after controls
of prisons and pre-trial detention centres, the representatives of the Quartermaster and Investment
Bureau of the Central Board of Prison Service each time highlight it is necessary to install partition
walls between showers so that each convict occupies a separate stall.
57
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