CAT/OP/PRT/1/add.1
28.
The Subcommittee further recommends to urgently review the situation in the
Porto prison to ensure adequate staffing, material conditions, medical care and to
prevent further ill-treatment.
29.
Although the national prison population is decreasing and the prison system has
currently an occupancy rate of 99.4%, it is conspicuously that the Porto prison is overcrowded
and lacks extra staff.
30.
However, it should be clarified that the overcrowded cells mentioned concern two
separate dormitories, which have specific programs for the detoxification of prisoners
(PARET program) and risk management (included in the Integrated Plan for the Prevention
of Suicide – PIPS in the Portuguese acronym). Those dormitories are designated
«Observation Dormitory» and «Observation and Monitoring Dormitory». Their respective
working dynamics differ from those of cells or dormitories of the pavilions and all the
inmates who integrate them are aware of, and accept, the rules that govern them by signing
an information consent or adhesion contract. Lastly, it should be mentioned that the
observation program has a maximum duration of 3 months and the Observation and
Monitoring program has an average duration of 5 months.
31.
With regard to the reported cases of assault to prisoners by prison guards, including
the death of a prisoner without medical assistance following one of these assaults, it should
be noted that the occurrences related to the death of prisoners in the Porto prison, as in other
prisons, are communicated to the entities referred to in Article 63 (3) of the General
Regulation, which include the SAI and the Public Prosecutor's Office. Lastly, all deaths of
prisoners that occurred in the Porto prison in 2017 and 2018 had natural causes, and the cases
were closed by the SAI and by the Public Prosecution Service, without any criminal
proceeding.
32.
In relation to the case of aggression described, which involved a prisoner in a
wheelchair, contrary to what is mentioned, an internal investigation was initiated and, once
completed, was sent to the SAI, which proposed to close the case, proposal that was endorsed
by the DGRSP management. Moreover, following the opening of an investigation by the
Public Prosecutor's Office initiated after a complaint was filed by the prisoner in question,
this case was also dismissed by the court.
C.
Psychiatric Care
33.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party takes measures to ensure
that physical restraint is used as last resort and its prescription in each individual case
is re-evaluated on periodic basis. The SPT wishes to be kept informed about changes in
the legal system coming into force and refers to the Revised CPT-Standards on means
of restrains CPT/Inf/2017).
34.
Although this recommendation does not concern directly a hospital under the remit of
the DGRSP, it is worth mention that the placement of a prisoner in a security room can only
take place in a situation of serious alteration of his/her psycho-emotional state, if he/she
represents a serious danger of violent acts against personal property, for oneself or for a third
party, or patrimonial property, and where less severe special measures prove to be ineffective
or inadequate. The length of outdoor stay can also be reduced, with the limit safeguard laid
down in Article 51 (2) of the CEPMPL.
35.
In the Psychiatry and Mental Health Clinic of the Santa Cruz do Bispo male prison,
an internment in a safety room may occur under similar circumstances, by a medical decision,
confirmed immediately by the director, which follows an appropriate procedure.
36.
In order to better understand the problems and the rights of internees, a training action
was held at the mentioned Clinic on the 3rd of July 2018 addressed to prison guards, which
included the following subject matters: psychopathology and mental health, communication
with the mentally ill, mentally ill/not criminally responsible persons in prisons, non
responsibility and integration in psychiatric institutions. The training team, consisting of
psychiatrists, nurses and senior technicians of rehabilitation of the Clinic, also included two
psychiatrists specialized in forensic psychiatry and a technique from another prison with
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