Publication highlights 53. In their response, the Czech authorities affirm that surgical castration is carried out with the free, informed, consent of the patient and they do not consider the reasons given by the CPT in favour of abandoning its use as “sufficient and established”. At the same time, the Czech authorities indicate that new legislation will make the application of surgical castration on sex offenders subject to court approval. Report and response published February 2009, CPT/Inf (2009) 8 and CPT/Inf (2009) 9 Report on the periodic visit to Finland in April 2008 and response of the Finnish authorities (inter-prisoner violence and the treatment of prisoners) 54. The report addresses the phenomenon of inter-prisoner violence and intimidation as well as the situation of prisoners held in high security and closed units. The CPT recommends that a national approach be developed to address the issue of “fearful” prisoners, and that a suitable programme of purposeful activities be provided to prisoners held in conditions of high security or segregated by court order. In their response, the Finnish authorities describe action they are taking in order to implement both of these recommendations. 55. The CPT notes in its report that the practice of “slopping out” (whereby prisoners are obliged to discharge human waste in buckets in their cells, which are subsequently slopped out) remains a feature of prisons, or parts of prisons, in Finland. The Committee calls upon the Finnish authorities to put an end to this practice, both in the Western Wing of Helsinki Prison and throughout the rest of the prison system. In their response, the Finnish authorities inform the Committee of plans to resolve this problem by 2011-2012. Hämeenlinna Prison is the only establishment for which a decision on the timing of the modernisation of the “slopping out” cells remains to be taken. 56. Particular attention was paid during the visit to the treatment of prisoners suspected of concealing unlawful substances in their body (“body packers”), who were held in special cells under constant observation. The CPT has recommended, among other things, that arrangements be made to preserve a minimum amount of privacy when the inmates concerned are using a toilet. In order to implement this recommendation, the Finnish authorities are reviewing the layout of special observation cells. In addition, following the 2008 visit, the practice of obliging the prisoners in question to wear “locked” overalls when they were not using a toilet was stopped at Helsinki Prison, as in other establishments, pending a decision of the Supreme Court on this matter. 57. The CPT’s delegation found that the practice of holding remand prisoners for prolonged periods in police detention facilities remains widespread in Finland. In response to the Committee’s recommendations aimed at eliminating this practice, the Finnish authorities refer to plans to decrease the number of remand prisoners placed in police facilities and to shorten the periods spent by such prisoners in police custody. Report published January 2009, CPT/Inf (2009) 5; response published June 2009, CPT/Inf (2009) 19 29