the prison and probation service
38
During the inspection of the remand prison in Göteborg, the Parliamentary
Ombudsmen’s employees talked to young persons under 18 years of age. Inter
alia, they stated that they had not received information concerning how to
contact the nurse and that it had taken several days before they were given
the opportunity to take a shower. Following the inspection, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman emphasised the importance of all prison staff who have
contact with young people held on remand having or receiving the necessary
training to treat them in the best possible way. The premise must be that the
treatment of individual young person is adapted to their degree of maturity.
Part of the work can be to communicate pedagogically, on several occasions
both in writing and orally, the rights the young personhas whilst in remand
prison. Staff should also make sure that the young person has understood the
information to ensure that young people can understand their rights.16
Conditions in an association remand prison
The Prison and Probation Service has a number of so-called association
remand prisons where inmates without restrictions are allowed to associate
with other inmates during the day.
The remand prison branch Berga of Helsingborg remand prison was established
in premises that were previously used as a prison. This means that inmates
are given the opportunity to associate with other inmates for a large part of
the day. During the inspection, it emerged that the inmates were not given
the opportunity to associate outdoors in the former prison area and that
they were not allowed to use the sports hall. Instead, the individuals held on
remand were directed to use small exercise yards and small exercise rooms.
The Prison and
Probation Service’s
remand prisons
that receive individuals on remand
without restrictions
must have premises
intended for inmates’ association with
others
Following the inspection, the Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman stated that
the remand prison branch is a positive example of how the Prison and Probation Service can organise its operations to give remand prisoners the opportunity to associate with each other. By establishing the association remand
prison in premises that were previously used as a prison, remand prisoners
without restrictions are given significantly better conditions for associating
with others compared with if they were held in an association place. An
inmate in the remand prison branch has the opportunity to associate with
others for seven hours a day on weekdays. The experiences from the remand
prison branch and other association remand prisons (for example, the remand prisons Salberga, Storboda and Ystad) show, in the Chief Parliamentary
Ombudsman’s view, the need for remand prisons that receive individuals
on remand without restrictions to have premises intended for association
amongst the remand prisoners. At the same time, the Chief Parliamentary
Ombudsman stated that if the inmates in the Berga remand prison branch
were given the opportunity to use, for example, the sports hall, it could
16 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report p. 17, ref. no. O 7-2019.
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