NORWEGIAN PARLIAMENTARY OMBUDSMAN
National Preventive Mechanism
4
5
USE OF RESTRAINT BEDS IN NORWEGIAN PRISONS
Table of Contents
1 Introduction.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 Method.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Human Rights Standards and National Legislation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4 Intrusive and Detrimental to Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5 Use of Restraint Beds in Norwegian Prisons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figures for the Last Six Years (2013–2018). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Procedures in Prisons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Role and Procedures of the Health Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Restraint Beds and the Prohibition Against Inhuman Treatment. . . . . . . . . . 17
The Requirement of Strict Necessity.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Duration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Supervision. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Inmates with Mental Illnesses.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Other Conditions that Increase the Risk of Violations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7 Summary and Recommendation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Risk to Life and Health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Discrimination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Lack of Legal Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
The Parliamentary
Ombudsman's Prevention
Mandate
The prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman
or degrading treatment or punishment is established
in several international conventions that are binding
on Norway.
The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(the Convention against Torture), adopted in 1984, plays
a central role in this connection. The same prohibition is
enshrined in the UN International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (Article 7), the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child (Article 37), the UN Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 15), and
the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 3).
Norway has ratified all these conventions.
Individuals deprived of their liberty are sensitive
to violations of the prohibition against torture and
inhuman treatment, which is why the UN adopted an
Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (OPCAT) in 2002.
1
Section 3a of the Parliamentary Ombudsman Act.
Norway ratified the Optional Protocol in 2013. It obliges
the State parties to set up bodies to protect persons
deprived of their liberty from torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.1
The Parliamentary Ombudsman was given this task,
and a separate National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)
was set up as part of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s
office in 2014.
Under the OPCAT mandate, the Parliamentary
Ombudsman has access to all places where people
are deprived of their liberty and access to all necessary
information with a bearing on the conditions of
detention. The National Preventive Mechanism visits
places where people are deprived of their liberty, such
as prisons, police custody facilities, mental health care
institutions and child welfare institutions. The visits can
be both announced and unannounced.
In its endeavours to fulfil the prevention mandate,
the Parliamentary Ombudsman also engages in
extensive dialogue with national authorities, inspection
and supervisory bodies in public administration,
civil society and international human rights bodies.