VISITS BY THE JOINT COMMISSION administrative assistance for the Ministry of the Interior. The Langenhagen Unit is also responsible for enforcing short terms of imprisonment and substitute prison sentences. The facility can hold a total of 22 male and six female detainees awaiting deportation. At the time of the visit the facility had only seven male detainees in custody pending deportation. In February 2014 the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony informed the Joint Commission, as a preliminary result, that the Langenhagen Unit has since 1 January 2014 been responsible solely for enforcing custody pending deportation. The male sentenced prisoners who had latterly been accommodated in the unit had since been moved to the main facility in Hanover Prison. Further, a working group comprising members of staff in Hanover Prison, led by the head of the facility, is currently drafting a recommendation for reorganising the enforcement of custody pending deportation which will then be discussed and, if necessary, developed further with external people and groups in the context of a round table. In May 2014 the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony informed the National Agency of the outcome of the round table, which had in the meantime taken place. Representatives of the refugee council, the Catholic aid organisation Caritas, the churches, Hanover Local Court and the ministries of the interior and of justice had taken part. The results are outlined in the following. with other Länder, sound out how the conditions of detention could be made more suitable in future. The National Agency suggests improving the detainees’ situation in custody pending deportation by taking suitable measures, for example bringing in a social worker or stepping up cooperation with volunteers or volunteer associations. Response: Times which detainees can spend outside have been extended to two hours each morning and two hours each afternoon; sports and leisure-time activities run by fulltime staff are available at these times. The aim is to counter the detainees’ tendency to withdraw into their rooms. Female detainees are kept in a separate unit in the prison. According to the head of the institution, sometimes only one woman is held there. At the time of the visit there were no women in custody pending deportation. The documents shown to the Joint Commission indicate that the number of women being detained in custody pending deportation has steadily dropped. So far in 2013 only four women have been held in custody pending deportation. This can prove a problem. The detention of individual females who do not have the opportunity to talk to other women is tantamount to solitary confinement. The Joint Commission therefore recommends ensuring that women are not kept alone in custody pending deportation, for example by cooperating with other Länder. Response: After the necessary building measures have been completed, women will in future be accommodated in the Hildesheim Unit of Vechta Prison, which is responsible for adult women. In the Joint Commission’s view language barriers might also be contributing to the detainees’ situation. This became especially clear during the private meetings members of the Joint Commission held with detainees. Detainees have different linguistic and cultural backgrounds and that may be why they cannot find any common ground. This is exacerbated by the steady drop in occupancy rates. Staff are also unable to alleviate the situation, since they themselves do not have the necessary language skills. In addition, communication problems easily arise between the detainees awaiting deportation and members of staff. The CPT standards also emphasise that staff have a key role to play in dealings with detainees awaiting 66 deportation. According to the CPT, staff must be carefully selected and given appropriate training in order to be able to deal with interpersonal and intercultural problems. Further, they need the relevant language skills. An external interpreter is involved where necessary in the admission meetings as well as medical examina- Recommendations and response During its visit the delegation found that most of the detainees awaiting deportation were in their rooms. The majority of them gave the impression of being quite apathetic. Staff confirmed that they often neither went outside during yard exercise times nor engaged in any sports or recreational activities. There are also no employment opportunities, a fact the detainees criticised in their meetings with the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission regrets that the detainees make limited use of what is on offer to them. One possible reason might be the fact that due to the facility’s low occupancy rates the detainees hardly communicate with each other. Average occupancy rates have dropped from 27.48 in 2010 to 8.6 so far in 2013. Communication with other detainees and staff is difficult due to language barriers. Specialised facilities with higher occupancy rates could offer detainees awaiting deportation more activities. In addition, it would be easier for detainees to get into contact with other detainees, to share their experiences and engage in recreational activities together. In the long term, the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony should, therefore, possibly together 66 64 CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 - Rev. 2010, p. 63