JUVENILE PENAL INSTITUTIONS variety of methods, to harm themselves or to prepare renewed attacks against staff. Blind spots and cameras rendered unusable provide the ideal conditions for this. This is comparable to pixellating the images of the toilet. Experience has repeatedly shown that attempts are made to render the camera unusable by hitting it, spitting on it or besmearing it with other bodily fluids and human excrement in order to conceal such plans. Experience has also shown that prisoners smuggle objects, for example nails, screws and razor blades, into the specially secured room in their body orifices in order to be able to continue harming themselves in there or to attempt suicide. For instance, one prisoner in Burg Prison recently attempted to harm himself whilst he was in the specially secured room by trying to swallow small objects and items of clothing. Another prisoner attempted to drown himself by putting his head down the squat toilet. Against this backdrop, it is absolutely essential that unrestricted monitoring of prisoners using cameras and through windows is possible whilst they are placed in the specially secured room in order to be able to ensure rapid intervention in such dangerous situations. Further, continuous monitoring of the specially secured room also serves to protect staff members when they enter the room to carry out measures associated with the detention. Prisoners placed in a specially secured room are in any case informed that optical surveillance is in operation. The Joint Commission added a written comment, stating that it was aware of the fact that prisoners placed in the specially secured room regularly present a greater danger to themselves and others. In making its general recommendation regarding video surveil32 lance the Commission was indicating a middle road between safeguarding privacy on the one hand and protecting physical integrity on the other. The Joint Commission has observed exemplary implementation in Frankfurt am Main I Prison, where the toilet is pixellated in such a manner that the person is still visible in outline and staff are able to identify and 33 prevent suicidal acts. In view of the technical means available for conducting video surveillance, the Joint Commission cannot share the opinion that continuous monitoring via CCTV cameras and through a window is absolutely essential. This applies all the more in regard to the toilet in the disciplinary detention rooms being in full view of anyone looking through the peephole. People who are being subjected to disciplinary measures are not at any particular risk of self-harm or suicide. People detained in a specially secured room are only given a pair of paper underpants to wear. This is questionable from the point of view of preserving human dignity. Other prisons give prisoners a pair of tearable trousers and a shirt to wear. Raßnitz Juvenile Institution should also examine whether juvenile prisoners placed in the specially secured room can be given more appropriate clothing to wear. This in particular applies to cases where prisoners are subject to physical restraint. Response: Juvenile prisoners placed in the specially secured room are currently given disposable clothing to wear as well as disposable underpants to respect their sense of shame. This practice is being reviewed. The recommendation will be carried out. Staff in the Juvenile Institution undergo no special training in dealing with juvenile and young adult prisoners. However, juvenile and young adult prisoners have specific needs and require a different type of supervision than adult offenders, to whom training in the general prison service in particular is tailored. In order to be able to better meet the needs arising in the juvenile justice system, special training courses should 34 be available to staff in Raßnitz Juvenile Institution. Response: As regards the recommendation that special training courses be offered to staff so that they can better meet the needs of prisoners in the juvenile justice system, this opinion is shared, with the proviso that the requirements made of supervising staff in the juvenile justice system do not differ from those in the adult prison system when it comes to basic security standards. However, they do differ when it comes to the particularities of dealing with and treating the young clientele. For example, the in-house and the centrally organised training courses conducted in the Land initial and further training institute focus on the following issues: dealing with difficult juveniles, dealing with prisoners with mental disorders/mental health issues, dealing with (drug and alcohol) addiction, right-wing extremism, developments in the right-wing scene, deescalation when dealing with violence in the juvenile justice system, suicide prevention and special needs education. Unfortunately, due to staff shortages it has not been possible to run the aforementioned number of training courses over the past two years. In 2013 disciplinary detention was ordered a total of 45 times in the facility. In 11 of these cases the disciplinary detention lasted up to 14 days, fully exhausting what is legally possible. For the sake of comparison: In 2011 disciplinary detention was enforced only 13 times in Berlin Juvenile Penal Institution (which has a capacity of 499). Disciplinary detention is no longer imposed in any young offender institutions in Saxony. The Joint Commission suggests examining why Raßnitz Juvenile Institution orders disciplinary detention comparatively frequently and for compara34 see Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Prison Rules, No. 81.3 and CPT/Inf/E (2002) 1 - Rev. 2010, p. 86, margin no. 33 32 National Agency, Annual Report 2013, p. 27 33 National Agency, Annual Report 2013, p. 65 35