Long-term Deprivation of Liberty
lar in respect to the possible appearance of emotional or depressive symptoms, by
means of training courses or practice in the use of screening instruments. In
addition, the prison should provide inmates with training to support the Suicide
Prevention Program, as is done at the Murcia II prison. This deficiency has been
detected in particular at the Araba/Alava prison.
At the women’s prison of Barcelona, which is under the authority of the Govern
ment of Catalonia, it was noted that there is no systematic application of a pro
gram to detect the risk of suicide, and that there is no specific protocol for the
prevention of suicides, something which should be corrected.
It was noted that at the
100. The majority of the inmates interviewed did not express any objection to
body searches and searches in their cells, full body searches not being frequent.
However, during the inspection of the prison of A Lama (Pontevedra), a consid
erable increase in recent years of the practice of strip searches was noted (15
in 2010, 27 in 2011 and 45 in 2012). Its use was motivated, amongst other circum
stances, by suspicions of possession or introduction by inmates of forbidden sub
stances, following communications with relatives or reentry following a period
of leave. For the purpose of assessing whether the practice was justified or not,
the Office of the SGIP has been requested to inform the Ombudsman Institution
of the result obtained in each one of these strip searches, indicating the date,
inmate, module, motives and whether any forbidden or toxic substance was
found.
During the inspection visit
101. During the inspection visits, a sample of the disciplinary proceedings pro
cessed at each prison was examined. The criterion used in selecting the files was
the application of restraining measures to the inmates and /or processing of sev
eral disciplinary proceedings against the same inmate. In all of them, it was veri
fied that they had been processed correctly and that the Parole Judge had been
properly notified. The sanction that is most often imposed is depriving an inmate
of group strolls and recreational activities, followed by solitary confinement, ei
ther in the inmate’s own cell –if it is single– or in the special secure detention
department or module.
In the disciplinary
102. Likewise, as indicated in paragraph 140 of the 2011 Annual Report, the
use of restraining measures is analyzed in the course of the inspection visits:
review of records, review of individual cases and verification of the circum
stances, duration of the measure, verification of supervision and control during
the application of the measure, and verification that the Parole Judge was in
formed of application of the restraining measure. Provisional solitary confine
ment is the restraining measure most commonly employed; physical restraints
are rarely used, and physical force, handcuffs and aerosol sprays are even more
rare (there was only one case in which the latter was used at the prison of A
Lama, Pontevedra).
Provisional solitary
THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN
women’s prison in
Barcelona it is not applied
systematically
to the prison of A Lama
(Pontevedra) a
considerable increase in the
practice of strip searches
was noted
proceedings examined, it
was verified that the Parole
Judge had been properly
informed
confinement is the
restraining measure used
most often
89
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