office. The facility is a prison which a panoptical structure. Only one wing is currently in use. It had a capacity of 299 places at the time of the visit. The prison
was occupied with 247 inmates. The Commission inspected the security area (solitary confinement), the arrivals department, various penal detention wings with
sanitary facilities, specially-secured cells containing no dangerous objects, the
visiting area, as well as free-time yards. It spoke with the prison governor and his
representative, as well as with other officers of the general prison service. It
spoke with the members of the prisoners’ co-responsibility body and with all the
inmates who were accommodated in the security area at the time of the inspection, as well as inspecting their files.
Positive findings
The internal differentiation within the prison regime in accordance with various (a total of three) accommodation groups should be commended.20 When a
convict starts his/her detention, after being received in the arrivals department
he/she would initially be transferred to one of the “basic wings”. It was discussed
at six-monthly intervals in the prison planning whether the inmate was effectively contributing towards his/her treatment and whether a transfer to the next
higher wing was indicated. At the same time, however, the specific requirements
made of the inmate as to the objective of enforcement of sentence would also increase. This procedure was said to create an incentive to behave according to the
rules. At the last stage, the inmates were given a much larger cell by combining
two single cells (approx. 16 to 17 m²), which they could furnish and arrange individually. What is more, this group was given longer out-of-cell time and exercise
at the weekend. The system also permitted demotions. This was obligatory in
case of serious misconduct which was prosecuted by disciplinary or criminal
provisions. As a rule, the length of stay in the basic wing was six months, and
nine months in the development wing (of which three months on probation) and
on the probation level the stay was open-ended as a matter of principle and dependent on the conduct of the inmate (of which three months as a probationary
period). There were no differences as to the scheduling of the day between the
three levels (basis-development-probation): For instance, the cell doors were
open from Monday to Friday from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m., from 11:00 to 12:30 a.m., as
well as from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. The vast majority of the recreation that was offered
, and the visiting times, took place during these out-of-cell times, during which
food was also distributed and it was possible to take a shower.
20 The security wing (for inmates who are to be accommodated separately), the wing for young inmates, as well
as the wing for persons in preventive detention are excepted from this.
42
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