Annual Report 2010 by the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture
I.1. Prisons run by the Office of the Secretary General for
Prisoners (SGIP)
Upon arrival, new inmates
are identified, their
personal file is opened and
they are informed of their
rights and responsibilities
In the first 24 hours they
undergo a medical check
up. They are allocated an
accommodation block
Remand inmates are not
classified in prison.
Following final sentencing,
they are grouped into one
of the three prison degrees.
In December 2010, 1.76% of
inmates were first degree,
72.20% second degree,
15.53% third degree, with
the remainder pending
classification. An ex-officio
review is made of each
inmate every 6 months
315. When new inmates enter a prison, they are identified and a personal file is
opened, and they are also informed of the rights and responsibilities they have
pursuant to the provisions o f articles 3 and 4 of the LOGP. Inmates may at any time
request information on the status of their legal proceedings and imprisonment, as
well as access the data recorded in their electronic file. Transsexuals may, upon arrival,
inform the staff of their condition in order to receive information of the options and
rights to which they are entitled, as regards their accommodation at the centre.
316. Over the course of the first 24 hours, inmates undergo a medical check-up
in order to verify their state of health, and then they are interviewed by various
specialist members of staff (social worker, educator, jurist, psychologist and
teacher), with a view to understanding their social and family circumstances and
allocating them their block (inmates’ accommodation unit) where they are to live,
and other concurrent circumstances of their imprisonment and the security
measures that are to be adopted as appropriate.
317. Remand inmates are not classified in prison, applying the orders given by
the courts holding them in prison. Once sentence has actually been passed, all
inmates are grouped into one of the three legally determined prison degrees,
depending on their character, their individual prison record, their family, social
and criminal record, the length of the sentence imposed, as well as other factors
specified in prison legislation. All this informs a regime of security and control
measures, which are gradually eased until attaining what is referred to as the third
degree, which is the moment when the inmates are transferred either to an open
section or to a halfway house (CIS), where the general idea is that they are required
solely to spend the night from Monday to Thursday.
In December 2010, of the 63,403 inmates in prisons run by the SGIP, 50,737 of
them had been sentenced, of whom 1.76% were grouped into the first degree,
72.20% into the second degree, and 15.53% into the third degree; the remaining
10.50% were pending classification, in a living regime that in practice was akin to
the second degree, which is also the most common initial grouping for those
given custodial sentences. The prison classification is regularly reviewed based on
a proposal by the Processing Board (Junta de Tratamiento) at the prison holding
the inmate, with the final decision being made by the SGIP. An inmate may appeal
against this decision before the parole court (JVP), as well as request a review of
their prison degree. Every six months, the prison authorities are required to
proceed to an ex-officio review of each inmate’s degree.
Insofar as human resources are concerned, at the end of 2009, and according to
official sources, the SGIP employed 24,432 public sector workers, including 482
in the non-departmental public body dealing with prison facilities and labour Trabajo y Prestaciones Penitenciarias.
136
THE OMBUDSMAN OF SPAIN
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