talks with inmates and representatives of the prisoners’ co-responsibility body,
who stressed the pleasant atmosphere.
The long out-of-cell time is also noteworthy (for instance on working days for
non-workers 6:30-6:50 a.m., 11:45-12:30 a.m., 4:00-8:00 p.m.). This enables the inmates to choose for themselves the time when they shower. The showers in the
prison are each equipped with a lockable cabin enabling the inmates to shower
shielded from the other inmates if they wish to do so for religious or personal
reasons.
A project should be stressed which was in the test phase in Tonna prison at the
time of the visit. This is an inmates’ communication system by the name of “multio”, which is a combination of television (50 TV stations), telephone and Internet
access. Inmates are offered this bundle for 14.95 € per month, and it enables them
to call from their cells with telephone numbers which have been checked and
approved in advance. E-mails can also be sent to approved addresses, after being
checked. The project aims to enable inmates to gain access to pre-approved websites such as that of the Federal Employment Agency and to familiarise them
with the Internet.
Finally, the clean state of the entire prison was positively noted.
Recommendations by the Joint Commission
The prison has “settlement cells” with furniture that is fixed to the floor and sanitary facilities made of stainless steel. The windows in the “settlement cells” that
were inspected on the ground floor of the detention buildings had a frosted glass
pane. This makes it impossible to see out, as well as preventing daylight coming
in. According to the prison governor, the pane had been fitted because the cells
on the ground floor are next to a path. Contact between inmates inside and outside was to be prevented.
The Commission takes the view that an inmate must be able to see out. It is recommended to remove the frosted glass pane. The prison governor intends to replace it with a one-way pane.
For the use of the settlement cells, the prison governor stated that they were used
to implement both special security measures in accordance with section 88 subsection (2) nos. 1 and 3 of the Prison Act, and measures in accordance with section 17 subsection (3) of the Prison Act. Unlike “cellular confinement cells”, the
use of settlement cells is not governed by the Act. The Commission hence takes
the view that particular care must be paid to accommodation in such cells. Particularly because of the lack of a definition in the Act and of the different
measures which have to be implemented in this cell, the prerequisites for its use
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