highly suicidal, had access on the cuffing bed to any dangerous items hidden in their own clothing or to dangerous items with which they could do themselves considerable damage. If binding was indispensable, the person to be cuffed was in most cases in such a highly excited state that it was impossible to change their clothes entirely (under and over garment). Particularly in order to respect the sense of shame, therefore, a special undergarment had been provided. Changing into these underpants was also required in terms of the principle of proportionality. Redressing in underpants as widely available on the market would take an amount of time that could not be justified and would considerably delay or possibly prevent the phase of quiet into which the inmate was to be placed through fixation. A short, superficial inspection of the existing underpants was furthermore inadequate to completely rule out the presence of dangerous items. There were no partitions between the shower areas in the common shower rooms. Constructional measures should be applied to the common showers so that the protection of the inmates’ privacy is adequately taken care of. Reaction: Since protection against attacks between inmates is of outstanding importance, particularly when shower rooms are used together, constructional changes restricting the view into these rooms had to be examined with particular care. All common showers in the normal wing would now be fitted with partitions during the renovation of a wing (A wing) in Fuhlsbüttel prison. These were walls approximately 100 cm high and 85 cm wide which were fitted between the individual shower heads roughly 60 cm above the upper side of the floor. It was planned for partitions to be fitted when future basic repairs of shower areas were carried out in the normal wing at Fuhlsbüttel prison. 5.1.4 Diez prison The Joint Commission visited Diez prison on 9 May 2012. Diez prison is responsible for the execution of life prison sentences and prison sentences of more than eight years, and also for shorter prison sentences from three years upwards within certain regional limits. Furthermore, the prison is responsible for the execution of preventive detention for Rhineland-Palatinate and the Saarland. The prison also has an open prison department and a social therapy department. The Joint Commission inspected cells that were occupied singly and doubly, sanitary areas, common rooms and cellular confinement cells in various departments. It furthermore inspected the infirmary, in which there were video-monitored cells containing no dangerous objects, as well as the bed with fixation equipment. The social therapy department and the department for preventive detention, the clothing store as well as the admissions area, and the visiting area, were also inspected. During the visit, the Commission had talks with the prison governor, with representatives of the staff council, and with all the inmates who were in 46