Detention: extent and concerns, including radicalisation
of becoming radicalised are included in the mentoring
programme.148
The best way to prevent radicalisation in prison is likely
genuinely good prison management that effectively
addresses fundamental rights problems and ensures
that social rehabilitation is taken very seriously from
the very outset of the sentence served.
Conclusion and FRA Opinion
International human rights law requires making pretrial detention – when a suspect has not yet been found
guilty – the exception rather than the rule. For example,
Article 6.1 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for NonCustodial Measures (the so-called Tokyo Rules) refers
to pre-trial detention as a means of “last resort”. Similarly, Article 37 (b) of the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child provides that detention of children shall be
a measure of last resort, and Article 5 of the European
Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) outlines limitations
on the use of detention generally. UN and European
experts and expert bodies warn against the overuse
of detention. Detention should be used as penalty for
crimes against individuals and society, to deter potential offenders from committing crimes, and to protect
victims and society.
Compared to data relating to the specific Framework
Decisions covered in this study, existing data and information on detention in the EU Member States are rather
good, with the Council of Europe providing particularly
useful sources. Further harmonisation of categories,
even such basic aspects as what constitutes pre-trial
detention, would certainly still be needed to improve
the quality and level of detail of the data, and, as has
been stated, more could be done to make the data and
information more accessible.
While the use of detention varies significantly across
EU Member States, according to FRA’s comparison, the
average across the 28 is reasonable when compared
globally. However, in several EU Member States, and to
some extent in all of them, detention could and should
be used less. The number of persons in detention who
are from other EU Member States (and the proportion
of these) logically also varies significantly across the EU.
But there is a potential for greater use of the three
Framework Decisions, more so in some EU Member
States than in others.
According to the data analysed by FRA and the information available from international monitoring mecha
nisms, fundamental rights-related problems with
detention in the EU include – in addition to over-use –
overcrowding and poor detention conditions. This can
undermine mutual trust, and also undermine a central
goal of the three Framework Decisions: to enhance
social rehabilitation.
FRA Opinion 5
To ensure effective implementation of the three
Framework Decisions, the EU and its Member
States need to take further action. Pre-trial
detention must be reduced in many Member
States to comply with international human rights
standards and, as stated, to avoid discrimination
on the basis of nationality. A general reduction
of detention must also be sought to avoid
overcrowding, which can lead to poor prison
conditions. The interests of society in terms
of the financial costs of detention and poorly
rehabilitated former detainees must also be
considered. To facilitate this, transfers of best
practices and full use of the Framework Decisions
are needed.
148 European Network of Deradicalisation; European
Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs.
59
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