Report on the Performance of Activities of the National Preventive Mechanism for 2017
case of high security prisons and the Lepoglava State Prison, enough treatment officials of relevant
professions have to be provided for (psychologists, social pedagogues, social workers) since these
prisons accommodate prisoners serving long-term prison sentence, high-risk prisoners and recidivists.
As a rule, recidivists are not separated from prisoners serving their first sentence. This is not in line with
the Execution of Prison Sentence Act (hereinafter: EPSA). Plus, such a practice makes treatment work
even more difficult.
Treatment officials usually talk to prisoners without judicial police officers being present. In some penal
institutions (e.g. the Glina State Prison) each ward includes a special room for this purpose and generally,
the conversations are enabled for all
prisoners who apply. This is not the case
in small penal institutions, e.g. the
Karlovac
County
Prison,
in
which
treatment officials have to talk to the
prisoners in the judicial police’s dining
room.
Treatment work is difficult due to the insufficient
treatment staff - in some penal institutions available
treatment officials cannot cover the minimum
conditions of work. This fact is even more exacerbated
by inappropriate accommodation conditions and
practice whereby, as a rule, recidivists are not separated
from the prisoners serving their first sentence.
Lack of treatment staff has negative effects on their presence in prison wards and prisoners often
complain that their talks are too short. In some prisons, e.g. the Bjelovar County Prison, prisoners on
remand were not even aware of the fact that they can apply to have a talk with the treatment official.
On the other hand, in the Zadar County Prison, they are invited to such meetings immediately upon
their arrival. Such a proactive approach represents a good practice example, also applied by the
treatment official of the Dubrovnik County Prison.
Compared to other penal institutions, security measures of compulsory psychiatric treatment and
compulsory addiction treatment are much more easily implemented in the Glina State Prison given a
full-time employed psychiatrist.
Available free-time activities are not diverse. Objective factors come into play in terms of their
organization (insufficient premises, poorly equipped workshops, lack of brushes and paints, computers
are in poor condition etc.). Some prisons do not even ensure organized free-time activities so persons
deprived of liberty have to take initiative to organize them on their own, for example in the Bjelovar
County Prison.
Apart from managing treatment groups of prisoners, treatment officials carry out special programmes
established within individual programmes of execution of prison sentence, depending on the
assessment of prisoners’ criminogenic risks and treatment needs. For instance, 25% of prisoners in the
Lepoglava State Prison are involved in different special programmes, such as modified clubs of treated
alcoholics, treated addicts, PTSD treatment etc. Yet, due to the data confidentiality issues in terms of
information that they might disclose during these meetings, some prisoners refuse to take part in
programmes managed by treatment officials who are obliged to report serious disciplinary breaches,
so prisoners might think that these programmes are not very useful since they cannot speak up openly.
Due to the lack of treatment staff, some prisons, for instance, the Bjelovar County Prison, do not
organize special programmes that require group work. Others (the Karlovac County Prison) do not
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