29
Selected topics from 2019
that the restraint bed does not become more
attractive to inmates than the security cell. In one
prison, the restraint bed was placed in a way that
prevented the person in restraints from seeing
whether anyone was keeping an eye on them. Such
circumstances can reinforce the feeling of being
powerless and isolated when the inmate is already
subject to a highly intrusive measure.
Several of the prisons' supervision logs lacked
information that could document whether and
when medical personnel had seen the inmate.
Inmates with mental illness
The ECtHR ruling from 2012 pointed out that people with mental illness are particularly vulnerable,
and that this must be considered when determining whether Article 3 has been violated.38
We know from Norwegian studies that inmates
in general have a high rate of mental illnesses.39
When inmates are put in a restraint bed in order
to prevent self-harm, this produces a clear risk
of additional trauma and worsening of their mental
health.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture points out
that ‘any restraint on people with mental disabilities
for even a short period of time may constitute
torture and ill-treatment'.40
One of the supervisory logs stated that the ‘inmate
had childhood traumas concerning restraint beds’.
The inmate was nonetheless placed in a restraint
bed. In another decision concerning restraint beds,
it emerged that the person placed in restraints
had been declared unfit to serve the sentence,
due to extensive trauma after serious sexual abuse
in their youth.
Other conditions that increase the risk of violations
Clothing
Very few supervision logs contained clear
information about the inmate’s clothing. The
wording in several of the supervision logs
suggested that inmates had been naked in the
restraint bed. It has also emerged several times
during the NPM's visits that inmates have been
placed naked in restraint beds.
When placed in restraints, people are denied
the possibility to defend themselves, and are
therefore particularly vulnerable to abuse and
inhuman treatment. Not wearing clothes in such
situations increases this risk. It also reinforces
the feeling of vulnerability and increases the risk
of negative psychological effects as a consequence
of being placed in restraints.
The revised guidelines have incorporated a
requirement that the person placed in restraints
must be clothed or his or her body must be covered.
However, the new guidelines do not state that a
person placed in restraints should never be naked.
In one of the supervision logs, an inmate was
described as being restrained in a restraint bed
without a tunic, even though she wanted to wear
one. According to the supervision log, the inmate
was told that personnel from the healthcare
department would speak to her first. There were
four members of staff in the room at the time, of
whom at least three were men. No documentation
showed that the inmate was covered by a blanket.
The decision to give her a tunic was not made
until one hour later. Other supervision logs also
indicated that inmates were placed naked in
restraint beds, in some instances with, and in other
instances without, a blanket.
38 Bures v. the Czech Republic, application no. 37679/08, judgment of 18 October 2012, paragraphs 85 and 88.
39 Cramer, V. (2014). Forekomst av psykiske lidelser hos domfelte i norske fengsler. Oslo: Oslo University Hospital.
40 See the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez’s report to the UN Human Rights Council 1 February 2013, A/HRC/22/53,
pages 14–15, section 63 and page 23, section 89 b).
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents