3.2. General observations Cases of ill-treatment among prisoners happen on a much more frequent basis than illtreatment by prison staff, although the frequency again differs dramatically from prison to prison. For instance, in Zenica prison all interviewed prisoners acknowledged the existence of inter-prisoner violence, whereas only sporadic cases of inter-prisoner violence were noted in Bijeljina prison. However, in total, almost two thirds of all interviewed prisoners in all institutions acknowledged some level of inter-prisoner violence. How often are prisoners physically maltreated by other prisoners? 40 30 Occurence of inter-prisoner violence, as perceived by prisoners - % 20 10 0 never seldom som etim es often very often Causes of inter-prisoner violence relate mostly to the extortion of money, cigarettes and other items of daily use. Sometimes other inmates are also forced to wash clothes or provide other forms of labour for their fellow prisoners. In several interviews, incidents of sexual violence have been indicated by prisoners; it was, however, impossible to obtain any details due to the delicate nature of the topic and the refusal of prisoners to discuss this subject any further. Inmates that are especially vulnerable are those who have not committed violent crimes but are rather sentenced for negligent behaviour, such as causing traffic accidents. Prisoners referred to those as “normal” or “nice” people, essentially meaning those who are easy targets for aggression. In addition, it was stated that the younger the prisoner is, the more economically and socially weak he is, and consequently the higher the probability of threats and abuse. Example: A 21-year old inmate belonging to an ethnic minority was allegedly forced by other prisoners to hide several mobile phones before an expected search of their cells. After the mobile phones had been detected and confiscated in his cell, the prisoner received death threats coercing him to pay a certain amount of money, that neither he nor his family could arrange. As a consequence, the prisoner was taken into isolation in the intensified supervision department for his own protection. Again, this resulted in drastic cuts to his regime and privileges, which effectively led to a situation where he was treated as if he was under disciplinary measures. Moreover, inter-prisoner violence is often related to drug abuse, especially through drug users, who are willing to engage, at the order of other prisoners, in violence and threats in order to obtain illegal substances. Example: In January 2010, the department for female prisoners experienced a level of considerable inter-prisoner violence, which was mainly caused by a group of prisoners who had an apparent drug-addiction. Until that point, there had been no separation of female prisoners into certain categories. It took an outburst of violence, which required medical attention for some of the attacked prisoners, to establish a system whereby the female prisoners requiring treatment for drug addiction are completely 13