C APPENDIX Dnr O 7-2018 for how long an inmate who is placed in an association place shall have the right to associate with other inmates on a daily basis. The premise, however, is that inmates should spend a large part of the day together, but the agency does not record or report any statistics on the amount of time inmates spend in association.19 I cannot interpret the situation in any other way than that the right to associate with other inmates can have completely different meanings depending on whether the inmate is placed in an association department or in an association place. According to the representatives of the Prison and Probation Service, it is difficult to set a minimum time for inmates' right to daily association. The reason for this is that the Prison and Probation Service is so far from reaching its objective that an inmate with restrictions should not be isolated, that is to say the Prison and Probation Service does not succeed in providing these inmates at least two hours per day of association which involves human contact.20 I perceive this information as the Prison and Probation Service prioritising its work with isolation-breaking measures for inmates with restrictions at the expense of other inmates’ rights to associate for as much of the day as possible. The Prison and Probation Service must, of course, have an operation that is able to satisfy both inmates' rights of association with other inmates and prevent inmates from being isolated. The Prison and Probation Service does not satisfy inmates' right of association with other inmates On occasion, inmates are completely denied their right to associate with other inmates. At the dialogue meeting, the representatives of the Prison and Probation Service stated that such situations can arise, for example when an inmate cannot be placed in an association department due to lack of places. Another reason why inmates are denied association with other inmates can be that there are no other inmates in the department with whom the inmate can associate with. According to the representatives of the Prison and Probation Service, there should not be any inmates held in such conditions, and the agency is aware that it is in violation of the law in these situations. An inmate denied the chance to associate with other inmates must, based on the Prison and Probation Service's routines, receive an explanation as to why he or she cannot be offered an association place and details regarding how the agency is working to change the inmate's situation.21 The fact that the Prison and Probation Service has problems satisfying inmates' right of association with other inmates is also apparent from the agency's own 19 20 21 See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s meeting report dnr O 7-2018 pp. 4 and 5. See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s meeting report dnr O 7-2018 p. 5. See the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s report dnr O 7-2018 p. 7. – 90 – Page 9 (21)