SPOTLIGHT ON YOUTH DETENTION Furnishings and fittings in rooms According to those laws on the execution of youth detention which have already entered into force and the laws on the execution of youth imprisonment, detainees and prisoners have a right to be placed in single-occupancy cells/rooms. This right should be introduced in youth detention centres in all the Länder. It would be desirable if single-occupancy detention rooms also had a completely separate toilet. Access to daylight should not be obstructed by close lattices or perforated sheets fitted to the windows. Detainees should also be able themselves to switch the lighting in the detention room on and off. Centrally regulated lighting, as was in evidence in some of the detention centres, is unnecessarily paternalistic. Experience gained in several facilities shows that allowing young offenders to adjust the lighting level themselves does not have any negative impact on the course of the youth detention. Decent conditions of detention for people deprived of their liberty also requires that measures be taken to protect their privacy. Peepholes can encroach on privacy since the young offenders do not know when they are being observed through the peephole. The Federal Court of Justice ruled in 1991 in regard to the execution of criminal sentences that ordering that the peephole in the cell door be kept open always requires 26 a prior case-by-case examination. The same must also apply to youth detention centres. The youth detention centres in Düsseldorf and Göttingen, for example, do not use peepholes. Peepholes like those used in Wetter an der Ruhr Youth Detention Centre are inacceptable if the detention rooms do not have a completely separate toilet and the toilet is in full view of anyone looking through the peephole. Happily, some of the facilities visited, such as the youth detention centres in Worms, Hahnöfersand, Göppingen and Moltsfelde, do not apply very conspicuous precautionary measures. The windows in the detention rooms are, if at all, only secured by means of a coarse grille, there is no barbed wire and in some cases the outer wall has been replaced by a fence. heading “Rules and Punishments”, and the room is furthermore referred to as “the bunker”. Admissions procedure In the National Agency’s experience, many youth detention centres search young offenders upon admission without them having to fully undress first. Sometimes the detainees are at least allowed to keep their underwear on. Having to fully undress seriously impinges on a detainee’s privacy, and it must thus be 25 weighed up in each individual case. Even where there is a justifiable concrete danger, it should only be possible to order that the detainee undress where other clearly definable conditions are met. Nevertheless, Düsseldorf Youth Detention Centre always requires juveniles to fully undress upon admission. All the youth detention centres visited carry out an initial medical examination of those being admitted. The examination serves to establish whether the young offender needs any treatment or not. It is thus of key importance that this examination be carried out as soon as possible after admission, even if the period of detention is relatively short. In some detention centres a doctor is in attendance once a week on a specific day, which can mean that those being admitted have to wait several days for their initial medical examination. It should be ensured that the initial medical examination is carried out as soon as possible. Psychological and psychiatric care During numerous visits the Joint Commission was informed that the number of juveniles with mental health issues who require one-to-one meetings with a professional psychologist, for example, was on the increase. Young offenders also need support in acute crises, therapy-motivated sessions and help finding a psychotherapist after release. The youth detention centres in Emden, Gelnhausen, Rastatt, RegisBreitingen and Worms employ their own psychologists who are responsible for those in youth detention. According to staff at Gelnhausen Youth Detention Centre, since the psychologist took up his work use of the specially secured detention room has dropped significantly. According to them, the psychological care provided enables the young detainees to “vent” so that situations do not escalate. The cooperation between Verden an der Aller Youth Detention Centre and a child and youth psychiatric clinic is another good practice example: A psychiatrist from the clinic attends the youth detention centre once a week, and juveniles can also be treated in the clinic. Respectful treatment Staff should treat those in detention with respect. This includes that the juveniles should not be addressed using the informal “du” form in German without being asked beforehand. Private meetings showed that many juveniles feel that the use of the informal “du” form in German is derogatory and lacking in respect. The house rules and all the sets of rules which are handed to the youths should be written in friendly 26 25 Federal Court of Justice, order of 8 May 1991, file no. 5 AR Vollz 39/90, margin no. 6 et seqq. (juris) cf. Federal Constitutional Court, order of 4 February 2009, file no. 2 BvR 455/08, margin no. 35 (juris) 29