Visits in 2019 in relation to minors. Measures have also been implemented to ensure satisfactory treatment of minors in the future. The prison health services had also ­implemented measures after the visit. The health services had become familiar with the content of the Istanbul Protocol, which includes important principles for identifying, documenting and ­reporting any abuse that takes place before or during the transfer to prison. The health services had obtained a camera in order to document and register possible injuries and had also ­introduced ­procedures for documenting injuries to inmates. The prison health service was working towards r­ eaching an agreement with one of the ­municipality’s female GPs, so that female inmates could be referred to her. They had also held a course on medication for all the prison officers. Oslo Prison 19–22 November 2018 The NPM visited Oslo Prison on 19–22 November 2018. The visit took place too late in the year to be included in the annual report for 2018, which is why both a summary and a review of the follow-up is provided here. The prison is one of Norway’s biggest, with 240 places for male inmates. The NPM’s visit was limited to Section B (Bayern). Oslo Prison is primarily a remand prison and is the prison in Norway with the highest number and highest percentage of inmates on remand. This impacts the operations in a number of ways. Summary of the visit Oslo Prison was in need of extensive maintenance, and the building's design was not expedient. The building had few natural communal areas. 73 The NPM was informed that renovation had begun in some of the cells and bathrooms where the conditions were worst. The exercise opportunities for inmates excluded from the company of other inmates warranted criticism. The prison had what were referred to as exercise cells on the roof of the building. The cells had walls and ceilings that ­prevented views of the outside or the sky. The ­prison’s exercise areas were sparsely equipped and it was not possible to sit under cover. The Parliamentary Ombudsman’s visit showed that the healthcare department’s procedures for medical assessments were not in line with ­international standards, which stipulate that medical ­assessments must take place within 24 hours. The written information given to inmates in the admission phase at Oslo Prison was also inadequate. The visit showed that the inmates endured widespread lock-ups and solitary confinement. A clear majority of inmates in Oslo Prison were locked in their cells for more than 16 hours a day. A significant proportion of inmates were locked in their cells for more than 22 hours per day, a situation equivalent to solitary confinement according to international standards. The weekends were characterised by the inmates being locked up for even longer periods. No administrative decision had been made for most of the inmates who were locked up for 22 hours per day. The Parliamentary Ombudsman pointed out that the extensive use of lock-ups was in breach of international human rights standards and constituted a clear risk of inhuman treatment. It also means that a high proportion of those subject to solitary ­confinement in Oslo Prison are not visible in the solitary ­confinement statistics. During the NPM's visit, we found few measures to compensate for the detrimental effects of solitary confinement for inmates who were excluded from the company of other inmates.

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents