Implementation of Duties and Powers of the National Preventive Mechanism in 2010
UIKS also plans to move ZPKZ Ljubljana, one of the constantly overcrowded institutions in
the country, to a new location, but we believe this will not happen within a reasonable time,
nor will any other such changes in the institutions. The efficient use of any small additional
areas is thus even more important (for example, while we were in ZPKZ Maribor, Murska
Sobota Section, a room became available as the archive was being transferred to another
location in the city).
Six, i.e. two thirds of the visited institutions were overcrowded (ZPMZ and KZ Celje, ZPKZ
Ljubljana, ZPKZ Maribor, Murska Sobota Section, ZPKZ Ljubljana, Novo mesto Section, ZPKZ
Dob pri Mirni and ZPKZ Maribor). We should add that the Heads of ZPKZ Maribor, Rogoza
Open Prison Section, and ZPKZ Ljubljana, Ig Open Prison Section, the official capacities
of which were not exceeded while we were there, also explained that this had not been the
case until recently. Overcrowding thus remains one of the main characteristics of Slovenian
prisons, although in some cases the divergence is only between the official capacity and the
actual number of each category of imprisoned persons in the institution or its section. For
example, the number of detained persons in ZPMZ and KZ Celje was more than double the
official capacity, but the number of convicted persons and juveniles was considerably below
the official capacity, therefore detained persons are being accommodated in these rooms as
well, and the total capacity of the prison was not exceeded. Such a practice can be a suitable
solution; however, it sometimes creates more difficulties than may appear at first glance. A
different security regime applies to detained persons in comparison to convicts, so several
restrictions might apply to the latter if they are accommodated in the same section.
The same applies - but for slightly different reasons – to persons in compliance detention.
They are often brought into an institution or section in an intoxicated condition, and at night,
which may cause agitation and tension among other imprisoned persons. We therefore
welcomed the change in ZPKZ Ljubljana, Ig Open Prison Section, to which persons are no
longer sent for compliance detention; the Head of the Section explained that there had been
fewer disputes, and working with convicts had been easier since then.
Bearing in mind the realistic options, we also welcomed a short-term solution, the agreement
between UIKS and ZPKZ Ljubljana stating that the institution may accept only up to 245
imprisoned persons (which still exceeds its official capacity by 90%); if more capacity is
required, prisoners are transferred to one of the less crowded institutions. The Novo mesto
Section of this institution operates in a similar way, and in cooperation with UIKS, immediately
begins the procedure for transferring detained persons to other institutions or sections when
its official capacity is exceeded.
Nevertheless, the institutions could sometimes use their capacities in a more reasonable
way. In ZPKZ Ljubljana, we pointed out that two rooms of the detention section are used for
the accommodation of convicts, although there were still some rooms with free beds in the
prison section intended for convicts. However, it was commendable that a group room on
the ground floor of section two in ZPKZ Dob pri Mirni was divided by a wall into three smaller
rooms in order to improve living conditions considerably, at least for those convicts.
An interesting incident occurred in ZPKZ Ljubljana, Novo mesto Section. It was the same
section in which we had found a year before that a detained person had to sleep on a mattress
on the floor due to overcrowding. This time, we noticed that two beds were placed one next
to another in one of the rooms for convicts, making a kind of double bed in this multiple-bed
room. A single convict was lying there at the time, but the pedagogue later explained that two
people were using the room. The DPM believes that even if both imprisoned persons agree,
the arbitrary rearrangement of furniture in multiple-bed rooms should not be allowed. In
Article 29, the Rules on the Implementation of Prison Sentences also state that “each convict
has his or her own bed”, and Article 12 of the house rules of ZPKZ Ljubljana (the provisions
National Preventive Mechanism in the Republic of Slovenia under the Optional Protocol to
the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
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