15. Summary
nizations, registered and operating in Hungary, with outstanding practical
and/or high-level theoretical knowledge relative to the treatment of persons
deprived of their liberty.
Using the data received from the competent governmental organs, my
colleagues updated, as at December 31, 2016, the list of places of detention
as defined in Article 4 of the OPCAT, originally compiled by the middle of
November 2014. Based on the data at my disposal, on December 31, 2016,
there were some 4,000 places of detention under Hungarian jurisdiction
with a total capacity of about 123 thousand detainees.
During the second year of the NPM, I inspected ten places of detention with
a total capacity of 3,061 detainees. The average utilization rate of these places
of detention stood at 71.6%.235 The visiting delegations found the highest utilization rate (101%) in the Sátoraljaújhely Strict and Medium Regime Prison.
Although there had been no prior notifications, the visiting delegations
were given access to almost all the places of detention without delay. There
was one exception: my colleagues could enter the Holding Facility of the
National Bureau of Investigation of the Emergency Response Team of the
National Police Headquarters only 30 minutes after having presented their
letter of authorization.
The visiting delegation’s objective was to meet, if possible, all persons deprived
of their liberty present at the given place of detention at the time of the visit.
The visiting delegations inspected the premises of the places of detention, their
furnishing and equipment, documents related to the number, treatment, and
conditions of placement of the detainees, made photocopies of some of the
documents, reviewed the engagement of the persons deprived of their liberty
and conducted interviews with the detainees and the staff members as well.
The staff members of the places of detention, with one exception, fully complied with their obligation to cooperate in performing the tasks of the NPM. On
the second day of the two-day visit, the Director of the Cseppkõ (Dripstone)
Children’s Home took the children on an off-site program, so the visiting delegation could not interview them. To fully implement the objectives set in the
schedule of visits, my colleagues conducted interviews with the children on
April 26, 2016, within the frameworks of an unexpected, unscheduled visit.
The National Preventive Mechanism prepared reports on his inspections,
specifying their findings and the conclusions based thereon.236 In 2016, I published
ten reports altogether within the frameworks of performing the tasks of the
National Preventive Mechanism. The visiting delegations did not detect any
circumstances indicative of intentional abuse by the staff of the places of
detention, potentially resulting in severe physical or psychological trauma.
235
236
See Schedule 3.
See Section 28, Subsection (1) of the Ombudsman Act.
109
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