11. As stated
above (cf. paragraph 3), the CPT's delegation visited the Budapest Police
Central holding facility, Debrecen and Veszprém Police Headquarters, the 5th and 8th District Police Stations in
Budapest, Budai Street Police Station in Debrecen and Hajdúhadház Police
Station. The delegation's visits to Budapest Airport and Nyírbátor Community
Shelters are dealt with in a separate section of the report.
12. Several forms
of deprivation of liberty by the police are provided for in Hungarian
legislation.
The Act on the Police (N° XXXIV,
1994) foresees in particular:
- identity checks (section 29) and the
summoning of a person presumed with good reason to possess information
necessary for the police (section 32), both of which may last for only the time
required to attain the above-mentioned objectives;
- apprehension, in order to bring a
person before the competent authority (section 33), for a period not exceeding
8 hours (which can be extended once, for 4 hours, by a senior police officer);
- public security custody (section 38),
which can be applied in specific circumstances and can last for 24 hours (eg.
drunkenness,…) or 72 hours (eg. supervision of persons on parole who are
presumed to be hiding from the relevant authority, …).
The Act on Criminal Procedure (N°
I, 1973) stipulates that a criminal suspect may be held in police custody for a
maximum of 72 hours and that the person concerned has to be released at the
expiry of this period if his/her remand in custody has not been decided
(section 91). The decision to remand someone in custody lies in the hands of a
court, acting upon the request of a prosecutor (section 93).
13. According
to the Hungarian Prison Rules, persons remanded in custody may be held in
police establishments until the end of the period of pre-trial investigation.
As in 1994, the delegation found that it was common for persons to be held on
remand in police establishments, in some cases for several months. On 10 March
1998, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a new Law on Criminal Procedure (N°
XIX), which provides that pre-trial detention must be carried out in remand
prisons; however, in exceptional cases, and upon the decision of the court,
remand prisoners may be held in police establishments for a maximum of 30 days.
Further, remand prisoners can be sent back twice to police establishments, each
time for a maximum period of 15 days, in exceptional circumstances justified by
the investigation. Initially foreseen for 1st January 2000, the date of entry
into force of the Law was subsequently fixed at 1st January 2003.
14. The
delegation heard a number of allegations of physical ill-treatment by the
police, in particular as regards police establishments in Budapest, Debrecen
and Hajdúhadház. Most of the allegations related to police interrogations; some
allegations referred to the time of apprehension and/or transport to a police
establishment.
The great
majority of the allegations heard were consistent as regards the form of
ill-treatment inflicted. Persons
alleged that they had been struck with truncheons, punched, kicked or slapped
by police officers. In addition, verbal
abuse of persons detained by the police was apparently common. Foreign nationals, juveniles and Roma seemed
to be particularly at risk of such ill-treatment. In some cases, the delegation gathered medical evidence
consistent with allegations of ill-treatment.
15. By way of
example, mention might be made of a detainee interviewed by the delegation at
Debrecen Police Headquarters. He alleged that he had been beaten by police
officers on 8 December 1999, while his hands were handcuffed behind his
back. The ill-treatment allegedly took
place in the police van which transported him from his house to the police station
and afterwards at Budai Police Station (Debrecen). He also alleged that he had received death threats and been the
subject of verbal abuse of a racial nature.
The report
on the medical examination carried out by a police doctor recorded his allegations
of ill-treatment and the following injuries: "three walnut-sized lesions
on his cranium; on the left side of his face: painful swelling; left shoulder:
excoriations and lesions on the surface of the skin; right leg: haematoma,
traces of blood and kick marks".
On
examination by a medical member of the delegation on 11 December 1999, the
detainee was found to display the following injuries: diffuse redness on the
right shoulder; superficial cutaneous lesions which were healing: external face
of the knee and pre-tibial region of the right leg (upper half); superficial
cutaneous lesions which were healing: pre-tibial region of the left leg (lower
third); pain on applied palpation of the cranium in the right occipital region;
superficial scabs in the right occipital region; pain in the right flank on
deep breathing and coughing; pain on applied palpation of the lower right third
of the rib cage.
16. Prior to its
1999 visit, the CPT received an allegation of severe beating by police officers
of a 17-year old juvenile, on 11 January 1999, at Hajdúhadház Police
Station. In the course of its visit,
the CPT's delegation was able to confirm from custody records that the person
concerned had been held at that establishment during the period in question. It
was informed by the local Chief of Police that the matter was sub judice.
The delegation subsequently met
the doctor from the local polyclinic who had examined the above-mentioned
juvenile, on 13 January 1999, after he had been released from police
custody. The doctor had recorded at the
time that the patient exhibited "classic symptoms consistent with a blow
to the head" and "neurological tests indicated internal cerebral
injury". A subsequent surgical
operation had also revealed cerebral haemorrhage.
17. Reference
should also be made to recent reports made by the Prosecutor General's Office
concerning the treatment of detainees, which clearly indicate that police
violence remains a serious problem in Hungary.
As an example, in 1998, 2295 complaints against law enforcement officers
were lodged: 929 cases of abuse of power, 842 cases of physical injuries during
investigation, 381 cases of interrogation under duress and 143 cases of
unlawful detention.
18. In its 1994
visit report, the CPT concluded that "persons deprived of their liberty by
the police in Budapest run a not inconsiderable risk of
ill-treatment". In the light of
all the information gathered during the 1999 visit, the Committee must
emphasise that it remains concerned about the treatment of persons detained by
the police in Hungary, and not only in Budapest.
19. The CPT wishes to reiterate two
recommendations already made in its report on the 1994 visit, namely that:
- police
officers be reminded that no more force than is reasonably necessary should be
used when effecting an arrest and that once arrested persons have been brought
under control, there can never be any justification for them being struck;
- senior
police officers deliver to their subordinates the clear message that the ill-treatment
of detained persons is not acceptable and will be the subject of severe
sanctions.
20. Further, it
is clear that continued exposure to highly stressful or violent situations can
generate psychological reactions and disproportionate behaviour. The CPT would like to be informed of any
preventive measures taken with a view to providing support for police officers
exposed to such situations.
21. Legal and
other technical safeguards against ill-treatment by the police will be dealt
with in another section of the report. However, as was stressed in the 1994
visit report, the best possible guarantee against ill-treatment is for its use
to be unequivocally rejected by police officers. Consequently, the provision of
suitable education on human rights questions and adequate professional training
is an essential element of any strategy for the prevention of ill-treatment.
The CPT has taken note of the information subsequently provided by the
Hungarian authorities concerning the enhancement of human rights education to
law enforcement officers (pages 40-41, CPT/Inf (96) 15). In this context, the
CPT wishes to underline that human rights concepts should be integrated into
practical professional training for handling high-risk situations, such as the
apprehension and interrogation of criminal suspects; this will prove more
effective than separate ("stand-alone") courses on human rights. The CPT recommends that training programmes
for police officers be reviewed in the light of the above remarks.
22. Health care
services in police detention facilities can also make an important contribution
to the prevention of ill-treatment by the police, through the systematic
recording of injuries observed on detainees and, if appropriate, the provision
of information to the relevant authorities.
In Hungary,
medical care to persons detained by the police is provided by the police
medical service. Each of the 19 Hungarian counties has three or four full time
police doctors, who provide medical care for police officers as well. Police
doctors examine all newly admitted detainees and a detainee can be examined
again, in the course of police custody, on his request.
The police
doctor records any visible injuries together with any allegations that the
person concerned might make; however, at present the doctor does not draw any
conclusion as to whether injuries observed are consistent with the person's
allegations (contrary to the explicit provision of Article 17 (2) of the Decree
of the Ministry of the Interior on Regulation of Police Jails, N° 19/1995 -
XII.13).
In addition, police doctors do not provide a copy of the medical report to the
detainee, but can decide to transmit a copy to the police officer in charge of
the department concerned and to the investigating officer.
In this
context, the CPT must reiterate the recommendation made in its 1994 visit
report that the results of every
examination, as well as any relevant statements by the detainee and the
doctor's conclusions, be recorded in writing by the doctor and made available
to the detainee and his lawyer. Further, the CPT recommends that existing procedures be reviewed in order to
ensure that whenever injuries are recorded by a doctor which are consistent
with allegations of ill-treatment made by a detained person, the record is
systematically brought to the attention of the relevant prosecutor.
23. The CPT also
pointed out in its 1994 visit report that it is essential for all medical
examinations of persons in police establishments to be conducted out of the
hearing and - unless the doctor concerned requests otherwise in a particular
case - out of the sight of police officers. The information gathered during the
1999 visit demonstrated that this requirement was still not being met in all
cases. Several police doctors informed the delegation about their difficulties
to ensure that police officers comply with their request to leave them alone
with a detainee being examined. The CPT
can therefore only reiterate the recommendation made on this subject in
paragraph 48 of the 1994 visit report.
24. More
generally, the CPT retains misgivings about the dual allegiance of police
doctors and the compatibility of their position with professional medical
ethics. Police doctors have the
difficult task of combining aspects of the role of a treating doctor with the
carrying out of certain duties requested by the police. During the visit, it became rapidly clear to
the delegation that police doctors' decisions could be influenced by their hierarchical
supervisors. Furthermore, the CPT noted that the National Public Health Service
(ANTSZ) was the supervising authority for the entire health system, with the
exception of the health services belonging to the armed forces (including
police and prison health services).
25. The medical
members of the CPT's delegation held numerous talks on this subject with police
doctors, representatives of the Budapest Forensic Institute of Medicine, with
the Chief Doctor of the Prison Medical Service and with representatives of the
National Public Health Service (ANTSZ).
The vast majority of them stated that it would be more logical to
perform their duties under the authority of the Ministry of Health. In this
respect, the CPT was also informed that the three Ministries concerned
(Interior, Justice and Health) were envisaging changes in this respect.
The Committee would like to be informed of developments in this area.
26. Naturally,
another effective means of preventing ill-treatment by police officers lies in
the diligent examination of all complaints of such treatment and, when
appropriate, the imposition of a suitable penalty. This will have a very strong
dissuasive effect on police officers minded to ill-treat detained persons, who
might otherwise have the impression that they could do so with legal impunity.
In this respect, the CPT would like to receive the following
information for 1999:
-
the
number of complaints of ill-treatment by the police lodged and the number of
disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings initiated as a result of those
complaints;
- an account of disciplinary/criminal sanctions
imposed on the grounds of ill-treatment by the police.
27. The
delegation was informed by a senior police officer that when detained persons
manifest their wish to register a complaint against the police, they are
formally advised before the complaint is recorded that to defame a police
officer is a criminal offence in Hungary. The CPT is concerned that such a
practice could easily discourage a person who has been ill-treated from lodging
a complaint. The Committee would like to
receive the comments of the Hungarian authorities on this question.
28. Further, the
CPT wishes to stress that the duty of care which is owed by the police
authorities to detainees in their charge includes the responsibility to protect
them from other detainees who might wish to cause them harm. Medical reports
drawn up by the Budapest Forensic Institute of Medicine in 1999, at the request
of the competent judicial authorities, as well as reports of the Prosecutor General's
Office clearly indicate that inter-detainee violence in police establishments
is not uncommon. The CPT would like to
be informed of the measures taken by the Hungarian authorities to combat this
phenomenon.
29. In its 1994
visit report, the CPT made a number of recommendations and comments as regards
safeguards for persons detained by the police (notification of custody, access
to a lawyer, access to a medical doctor, information on rights, etc.). The
information gathered in the course of the 1999 visit indicates that there
remains room for improvement in this area.
30. As far as notification
of custody is concerned, the information gathered revealed that the
decision to delay the notification of the fact of a person's custody to a
relative or third party still lies entirely in the hands of the police. The CPT
can therefore only reiterate the recommendation made in its 1994 visit report that the possibility to delay the exercise by detained persons of the right
to inform a relative or third party of their situation be made subject to
appropriate safeguards (eg. any delay to be recorded in writing together with
the reasons therefor and to require the approval of a public prosecutor) and
strictly limited in time.
31. In respect of
access to a lawyer, in its 1994 visit report (cf. paragraph 45, CPT/Inf
(96) 5), the CPT requested clarification as to the precise moment at which the
right of access to a lawyer becomes effective. In their response, the
authorities indicated that "the person suspected of a criminal offence may
choose counsel from the very beginning of
the procedure" (page 42, CPT/Inf (96) 15). However, the information
gathered during the 1999 visit indicated that very few detainees had de facto access to a lawyer during the
initial 72 hours of police custody. The
CPT recommends that steps be taken to ensure that persons in police custody
benefit from an effective right of access to a lawyer, as from the very outset
of their deprivation of liberty.
32. If the right
of access to a lawyer is to be fully effective in practice, appropriate
provision must be made for those who are not in a position to pay for legal
services. In this respect, the CPT is
concerned that in many cases, lawyers appointed ex officio had no contacts with the detainee until the first court
hearing. It would appear that very low fees for such services had a
discouraging effect in this respect. The
CPT recommends that the system of legal aid to detainees be reviewed, in order
to ensure its effectiveness throughout the procedure, including at the initial
stage of police custody.
33. The CPT
recommended in its 1994 report that a form setting out the rights of persons
detained by the police should be systematically given to such persons as
from the outset of their custody, the form to be made available in an
appropriate range of languages. The Committee also recommended that detained
persons be asked to sign a statement attesting that they had been informed of
their rights (cf. paragraph 49, CPT/Inf (96) 5).
In their response, the Hungarian
authorities indicated that "appropriate information of detainees is
ensured by the Minister of Interior's decree on holding facilities, in line
with the CPT's recommendation. The
decree provides that on reception the detained person shall be informed in
writing (in justified cases orally), in his mother tongue or in a language he
understands of his rights and obligations and ways of exercising them. The decree also states that the detainee
should sign a statement attesting that he has been properly informed and he has
understood it. His statement is to be
filed among his documentation" (pages 47-48, CPT/Inf (96) 15).
However, the delegation which
carried out the 1999 visit did not find any forms of the kind that had been
recommended by the CPT. Further, many detainees claimed that they had not been
informed about their rights (either orally or in writing).
Consequently,
the CPT must recommend once again that
that a form setting out in a straightforward manner the rights of persons
detained by the police should be
systematically given to such persons, at the outset of their custody. This form
should be available in an appropriate range of languages. This measure would
be easy to implement, inexpensive and effective.
34. As regards
the conduct of interrogations, the Hungarian authorities informed the
Committee in 1996, in response to the recommendation on this subject in the
report on the 1994 visit, that "a body of rules concerning criminal
investigation by the police (including police interrogation) is under
preparation and is to be issued in the form of a decree of the Minister of the
Interior" (CPT/Inf (96) 15, p. 48). The
CPT would like to be informed of developments in this area.
35. The Committee
has noted with interest the response of the Hungarian authorities concerning
the legislation in force in respect of the electronic recording of police
interrogations (pages 48-49, CPT/Inf (96) 15). However, the information
gathered during the 1999 visit indicated that this means was very rarely used.
The
electronic recording of police interrogations represents an important safeguard
for detainees, as well as offering advantages for the police. In particular, it
can provide a complete and authentic record of the interview process, thereby
greatly facilitating the investigation of allegations of ill-treatment and the
correct attribution of blame. Consequently,
the CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities explore the possibility of
further developing the use of electronic recording of police interrogations.
36. As in 1994, the delegation which carried out the
1999 visit found that the practice of transferring persons from remand
prisons to police premises for further questioning was common. Although
public prosecutors had to authorise such transfers, such authorisation was
invariably given.
The CPT is
of the opinion that from the standpoint of the prevention of ill-treatment, it
would be far preferable for further questioning of persons committed to prison
to take place within the establishment concerned rather than on police
premises. The return of remand
prisoners to police custody for further questioning should only be sought and
authorised when it is absolutely unavoidable. The CPT recommends that appropriate steps be taken to ensure that this
is the case.
37. The CPT
welcomes the fact that, following its 1994 visit, the General Public Prosecutor
issued a circular (No 2/1995/U.K. 11) obliging all public prosecutors (civil
and military) to make regular (at least once a month) visits to police
institutions. Such visits can make an important contribution to the
prevention of ill-treatment, provided they are carried out in an effective
manner and, in particular, are unannounced.
The CPT
would also like to underline the importance of the routine external control and
supervision activities performed in police detention establishments in Hungary
by representatives of non-governmental organisations.
38. Finally, it
should be emphasised that the different safeguards against ill-treatment by the
police referred to above and in the report on the 1994 visit (eg. notification
of custody, access to a lawyer and doctor, information on rights) should be
guaranteed to all persons deprived of their liberty by the police, irrespective
of the legal basis for the deprivation of liberty.
The CPT would like to receive confirmation that this is indeed the
case
39. The
requirements concerning conditions of detention in police establishments are
set out in detail in the Decree of the Minister of Interior N° 19/1995
(XII.13.), which came into force on 1st January 1996. They meet in general the
requirements set forth in the CPT's 1994 visit report (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5,
paragraphs 27 and 28).
In their
interim report, the Hungarian authorities informed the Committee that the
Ministry of the Interior intended to renovate the police detention facilities
over a period of five years, provided that the necessary resources were
allocated for this purpose (CPT/Inf (96) 15, page 44). They subsequently
informed the CPT that approximately 25 % of the police detention facilities had
been taken out of service and that some 50 % of the remaining facilities were
in need of refurbishment and transformation (Hungarian follow-up report,
Ministry of the Interior, page 4, dated 17 July 1996).
The CPT
visit in 1999 revealed that much still needs to be done to meet the criteria
set out in the Committee's 1994 report and to implement in practice the
requirements of the above mentioned decree of the Minister of Interior.
40. The CPT is
pleased to note the quality of the renovation work at the 8th District Police
Station in Budapest (which had been the subject of an immediate observation
in 1994). The establishment now comprises 11 ordinary and 3 apprehension cells
and has a capacity of 28 places. All the premises, including the sanitary
facilities, were of a good standard, properly heated, and cleaned; however, the ventilation in the cells still left
something to be desired.
On the
other hand, the situation had remained unchanged in the two other police
establishments in Budapest which were revisited in 1999. At the 5th District
Police Station, access to natural light was still limited, artificial
lighting mediocre, and the cells were poorly ventilated, malodorous and very
cold. At the Police Central Holding Facility, the eight small cubicles
located in the reception area in the basement had been taken out of service, as
recommended by the CPT in its 1994 visit report. However, other deficiencies
were still present (poor access to natural light, weak artificial lighting and
ventilation). Further, the toilet facilities on each floor were so damp and
dilapidated that the adjacent cells had been taken out of service.
The CPT trusts that the Hungarian
authorities will take measures without further delay to implement the
recommendation already set out in paragraph 34 of its 1994 visit report,
concerning the improvement of material conditions at the 5th
District Police Station and the Police Central Holding Facility in Budapest.
41. Debrecen
Regional Police Detention Facility comprised 14 cells for three persons (measuring
15 m˛ each) and 9 cells for six persons (measuring 30m˛); such occupancy rates
are acceptable. With an official capacity of 96 places, at the time of the
visit, the detention facility was accommodating 56 detainees (45 in pre-trial
detention and 11 in police custody). All cells were equipped with beds,
mattresses (albeit old and stained), pillows, sheets and blankets. In addition,
they had handbasins and toilets, and had access to natural light and were
adequately lit. However, no chairs or cupboards were provided. Further, the
heating/ventilation was a matter of concern to the delegation; indeed, at the
time of the visit, the in-cell temperature reached 28°C and the windows could
not be opened to ventilate the cells properly. Consequently, most of the
detainees wore only underwear in their cells. Further, detainees complained
about the lack of toiletries.
Better
conditions prevailed at Veszprém Regional Police Detention Facility. It
had 17 double occupancy cells (measuring 12m˛) and one bigger cell (with four
beds). At the time of the visit, 27 detainees were held there. The cells were
well equipped and had good access to natural light, artificial lighting and
ventilation.
Budai Street Police Station
in Debrecen was equipped with two holding cells, measuring respectively 4.4
m˛ and 5.2 m˛. Neither of the cells had access to natural light and artificial
lighting was poor; further, equipment in the cells and ventilation were rather
limited. However, the delegation was informed that the police station would be
entirely renovated in May 2000.
Hajdúhadház Police Station
had only one holding room, measuring 3.2 m˛, which was divided into two smaller
cells by floor-to-ceiling metal bars, with an inset barred security gate. One
of the cells, measuring a mere 1.3 m˛, was devoid of any equipment and very
poorly lit; it was used if a suspected person was considered to be a danger to
him/herself. The second cell, equipped only with a chair, was also dimly lit.
Neither of the cells had access to natural light and their ventilation left
much to be desired. The staff informed the delegation that persons could be
held in the holding room for a maximum of 12 hours (including, if necessary, at
night) and that no food was provided to such persons. The delegation made clear
at the end of the visit that conditions in the two cells were not satisfactory
and requested in particular that the metal bars be removed. The Hungarian
authorities subsequently informed the CPT by fax dated 13 January 2000 that
this had been done.
The CPT recommends that steps be
taken to improve the material conditions of detention at Debrecen and
Hajdúhadház police establishments, in the light of the above mentioned remarks
and the general criteria set out in its 1994 visit report. It would also like
to receive confirmation that the holding cells at Budai Street Police Station
in Debrecen have been renovated.
Finally, the CPT recommends that appropriate steps be taken to ensure that
material conditions of detention in all police establishments in Hungary meet
the criteria set out by the CPT in paragraph 27 of its 1994 visit report, as
well as those set out in the Decree of the Minister of Interior.
42. In most
countries visited by the CPT, persons are held for only a relatively short time
on police premises; therefore, the question of activities for them has little
relevance. However, as recalled above (cf. paragraph 13), in Hungary it is
commonplace for persons to be held in certain police establishments for
extended periods of time on remand. In consequence, the question of the regime
to which they are subject must also be addressed.
43. As in 1994,
none of the police establishments visited offered a suitable regime for persons
on remand. Such prisoners spent almost the entire day locked up and idle in
their cells. There were no jobs available (not even domestic or kitchen work),
no sports activities were offered and little reading material was available.
Even outdoor exercise arrangements remained unsatisfactory, despite the
recommendation on this subject made in paragraph 39 of the report on the 1994
visit. Where outdoor exercise was offered, it never lasted one hour; moreover,
at Budapest 5th District Police Station, outdoor exercise had to be taken very
early in the morning. At Debrecen Regional Police Detention Facility, there was
no outdoor exercise at all, due to the absence of a yard; as a concession to
the need for physical exercise, two empty rooms had been set aside for
detainees to walk for about ten minutes per day. Such a state of affairs is totally unacceptable.
44. The CPT
welcomes the adoption of Law N° XIX (cf. paragraph 13), which stipulates in
section 135 that pre-trial detention must be carried out in remand prisons.
However, it is highly regrettable that the entry into force of that law has
been delayed until January 2003. In the meantime, steps must be taken to
improve the situation of remand prisoners held in police establishments.
The CPT calls upon the Hungarian
authorities:
-
to
implement the recommendation made by the Committee some 5 years ago,
that
immediate steps be taken to ensure that all remand prisoners held in police
establishments are offered at least one hour of outdoor exercise every day;
-
to
make genuine efforts to offer some form of activities to remand prisoners held
in police establishments.
Further, the CPT recommends:
-
that
the Hungarian authorities explore the possibility of accelerating the entry
into force of section 135 of Law N° XIX;
-
that
appropriate measures be taken to ensure that the possibility offered by
paragraph 2 of that section, to have remand prisoners kept on police premises
for a certain period, is only resorted to in exceptional cases.
45. Reference
has already been made to the system of medical care in police detention
facilities (cf. paragraphs 22 to 25
above). In general, the surgeries in police detention facilities were
adequately equipped. However, the CPT was concerned to note that at the 8th District Police Station in
Budapest and at Debrecen and Veszprém Police Headquarters, not only the
distribution but also the preparation of medicines was carried out by
non-medical police officers. In addition, police officers at Veszprém Police
Headquarters and the 5th
District Police Station in Budapest had access to medical files.
Non-medical
staff should never be entrusted with the preparation of medication. In
addition, the principle of medical confidentiality should be observed vis-ŕ-vis
detained persons in the same way as in the community at large. The CPT recommends that steps be taken in
order to ensure that these precepts are fully respected in practice.
a. introduction
46. Community
shelters were introduced by Act LXXXVI of 1993 on the Entry, Stay, and
Immigration of Foreign Nationals in Hungary, which entered into force on 1 May
1994. There are eight community shelters, all located on the premises of Border
Guard Directorates; they serve as "designated places of residence"
for both migrants awaiting deportation and asylum-seekers. The maximum official
capacity of such shelters has been significantly increased in 1998, following
the rise in the number of illegal aliens transiting through Hungary.
47. Residents
in community shelters were at first allowed to leave them during the daytime.
However, since 1st
September 1998, Joint Internal Order No. 46/1998 of the National Chief of
Police and the Head of the Aliens Police Department of the Border Guards
curtails this right if the person concerned does not possess a valid
identification document. In such a case, the resident may only leave the
shelter for medical or consular reasons. Non-governmental organisations
expressed the view that the above-mentioned Joint Order could be contrary to
Hungarian law and international legal instruments. Furthermore, the CPT was
informed that some Hungarian courts have re-affirmed the right of immigration
detainees to leave such shelters, as their placement in community shelters was
not to be considered as a form of detention.
The CPT has also been informed
that since September 1999, the stay in community shelters has been limited to a
maximum of 18 months (no such limit existed in the past). However, at Nyírbátor
Community Shelter, the delegation met a resident who had been successively held
for 25 months in various community shelters throughout Hungary. From various
sources, the delegation heard that the Office of Refugee and Migration Affairs (ORMA) experienced considerable delays in processing asylum requests and that
there was a significant reluctance to assume the responsibility for a release
after the 18-month time limit was reached.
The CPT would like to receive the comments of the Hungarian authorities
on these subjects.
48. The situation in community shelters in Hungary has
been addressed on several occasions in the past by the CPT. In particular, in
its 1994 visit report, the CPT concluded that the living conditions at
Kerepestarcsa Community Hostel were inhuman and degrading. The Hungarian
authorities decided in response to close down the Community Hostel and informed
the CPT that measures had been taken to find other appropriate accommodation
for illegal aliens (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5, page 83).
On 25 February 1999, the
President of CPT addressed a letter to the Hungarian authorities, concerning
critical reports on the conditions of stay of foreign nationals held in Border
Guard Community Shelters. In this letter, he also referred to the Parliamentary
Commissioner for Civil Rights' report of December 1998, which was very critical
concerning the Balassagyarrmat and Nyírbátor Community Shelters. The Hungarian
authorities subsequently informed the CPT that one section of Balassagyarrmat
Community Shelter had been closed down.
In the course of the 1999 visit,
the CPT's delegation carried out visits to community shelters at Nyírbátor and
Budapest Airport.
49. Nyírbátor
Community Shelter is located in former military barracks, some 50km north-east
of Debrecen, close to the Romanian, Ukrainian and Slovak borders. It is the
largest regional community shelter for foreign nationals in Hungary, with an
official capacity of 400 persons. This capacity has been exceeded on several
occasions (eg. on 13 May 1999, the establishment accommodated 413 inmates). On
the day of the CPT's visit, the shelter was accommodating 182 persons (men,
women, and approximately 30 children and babies, of 32 different
nationalities). However, an examination of the register revealed that two days
before the CPT delegation's visit, the persons accommodated numbered 380.
Most of the residents were asylum
seekers awaiting a decision on their applications or illegal aliens awaiting
deportation. Some residents had served a prison sentence and were subject to a
removal order.
50. The shelter consists of three, three-storey
buildings. As a general rule, men were accommodated in buildings 1 and 2 and
families with children in building 3. However, the CPT's delegation observed
that, at the time of the visit, men and women who were not family-related were
accommodated in the same room. Furthermore, some unaccompanied minors were
accommodated together with adults.
The CPT recommends that male and female
residents be, as a rule, accommodated separately, unless the residents
concerned expressed the wish to be placed together with persons with whom they
share an emotional or cultural affinity. In addition, minors should be
separated from adults with whom they are not family-related.
51. Nyírbátor
Community Shelter was staffed by Border Guard officers. Out of the 106 posts,
80 were filled at the time of the visit (cf. also paragraphs 61 and 62).
52. The CPT's
delegation heard two allegations of physical ill-treatment of residents at
Nyírbátor Community Shelter by Border Guard staff. Further, many allegations of
verbal abuse were received and the delegation observed by itself that
staff-resident relations were strained.
The first allegation concerned an
incident which had allegedly taken place on 5 November 1999. Two African
residents claimed that they had been beaten by staff while waiting at the
entrance of the refectory for lunch. One of the residents affirmed that a guard
had hit him on the head with a rubber baton and that, when he had tried to hold
the baton, a second guard had hit him on his right arm with a baton. The second
resident had intervened in the incident. As a result, both residents had
apparently been thrown to the ground, where they were beaten by six guards. The
residents concerned were subsequently taken to hospital for examination; their
medical certificates read as follows: - first
resident: left cheek sensitive to palpation, right upper arm sensitive to
palpation and slightly swollen, left parietal bone slightly swollen and
sensitive; - second resident: complaining
of headache; visible injury on the head; shaken and nervous, unstable
psychological state; slight temperature; slightly reddish skin on his left
lower arm.
The second allegation concerned a
resident of Indian nationality who had jumped from a window on the first floor
of building 2 on 7 November 1999, while trying to escape from the establishment
(with a group of 14 residents). He alleged that he had been beaten by two
guards with batons while lying on the ground. He also indicated that he had
raised his left arm in order to protect himself, and subsequently suffered a
fracture to that part of his body and lost a front left tooth. The guards
allegedly carried him to an office (he could not walk), where he was beaten
again. The resident was then taken to an outside hospital, where he underwent
an operation and remained hospitalised for 12 days. An examination of the
resident by a medical member of the delegation revealed a broken front left tooth
and a surgical scar of some ten centimetres on the latero-dorsal side of the
left elbow.
There are possible alternative
explanations for at least certain of the injuries sustained by the residents
concerned; further, the register of incidents at the Shelter gave different
versions of the above incidents. Nevertheless, the CPT recommends that Border Guard staff at Nyírbátor Community
Shelter be reminded that once a resident who resists authority or attempts to
escape has been brought under control, there can be no justification for his
being struck. They should also
receive the clear message that all forms of ill-treatment, including verbal
abuse, are not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions.
53. It must also
be pointed out that Nyírbátor Community Shelter displayed a number of negative
factors - poor material conditions, in particular in buildings 2 and 3; absence
of activities; lack of regular outdoor exercise; inadequate medical/psychiatric
care; linguistic barriers and lack of information for foreigners regarding
their situation - which for many of the foreigners concerned clearly rendered
their stay in the shelter intolerable. Not surprisingly, cases of
self-mutilation, hunger strikes and suicide attempts, vandalism and violence
were a common occurrence.
(material conditions)
54. As already
indicated, some 200 residents had been transferred away from the establishment
shortly before the delegation's visit. Consequently, the delegation observed
the shelter under particularly favourable conditions. However, it is clear from
the information gathered by the delegation that many of the shelters'
dormitories, in particular in buildings 2 and 3, had recently been severely
overcrowded (for example, 40 persons in a dormitory measuring 56 m˛). Further,
even at the time of the visit, the empty beds which cluttered the rooms
severely limited the available living space for the residents who remained.
Even in the purpose-built building 1, the envisaged dormitory capacities were
too high (e.g. 14 beds in a 32 m˛ room).
The CPT recommends that the official capacity of the shelter be
reduced. The standard of 4 m˛ per resident might usefully be adopted for this
purpose.
55. All rooms
enjoyed good access to natural light, artificial lighting and ventilation.
However, they were austere and drab, with very little furniture apart from
beds. Only a few of the rooms had wardrobes and there were hardly any means for
sitting apart from the beds. The bedclothes were torn and soiled and no
products for cleaning the dormitories were provided to residents.
As regards,
in particular, buildings 2 and 3, they were not sufficiently heated, a
situation which was a matter of particular concern for the delegation, having
in mind the young children accommodated in the shelter. More generally, they
were in an advanced state of dilapidation and very dirty. The fabric of the
buildings had been neglected to an extent that significant renovation work
would be necessary to restore them to an acceptable condition.
56. The state of
the toilet and washing facilities in the shelter is of major concern to the CPT. The general standard of hygiene was appalling. In building 3, the separate
shower room was particularly dirty, with faeces on the floor and an almost
unbearable stench which could not be concealed despite the large quantities of
bleach scattered. As for the showers on the second floor of building 2, they
were out of order. In addition, the inadequate hot water supply limited access
to the shower facilities and the delegation received complaints to the effect
that the provision of soap was irregular.
57. The CPT recommends that the Hungarian
authorities take immediate measures to improve material conditions in Nyírbátor
Community Shelter and, in particular, in buildings 2 and 3. Particular
attention should be accorded to the maintenance of an acceptable level of
collective and individual hygiene, as well as to the repair of the heating
system.
(food)
58. Residents
interviewed by the delegation indicated that the midday meal was acceptable;
however, the other meals of the day were apparently meagre. Complaints were
heard that residents were occasionally given food past its expiry date. In
addition, Muslim residents alleged that their religious and nutritional habits
were not taken into account and that, more particularly, pork was occasionally
on the menu. The CPT would like to
receive the comments of the Hungarian authorities in this respect.
As already indicated (cf.
paragraph 49 above), many young children and babies were accommodated in the
shelter. Despite this, no special baby food was offered, apart from baby milk. The CPT recommends that the Hungarian
authorities take steps in order to remedy this shortcoming.
(regime)
59. No work of
any kind was offered to the residents - except the cleaning of their rooms -
and there was nothing remotely resembling a programme of activities provided
for them. It is of particular concern that minors were not offered sport
activities or activities of educational value. Recreation facilities were
restricted to one television on each floor. Further, the delegation received
numerous complaints about the lack of outdoor exercise at the shelter.
Apparently, the exercise period was frequently withdrawn without any
explanation.
To sum up, residents spent much of their time in
overcrowded dormitories in an enforced state of idleness. This situation is all
the more of concern bearing in mind the possible length of stay in the
establishment - up to 18 months.
60. The CPT recommends that immediate steps be
taken in order to ensure that all residents at Nyírbátor Community Shelter (and
in other community shelters throughout Hungary) are guaranteed at least one
hour of outdoor exercise per day.
Further, the CPT recommends that residents in Nyírbátor Community Shelter (as
well as in other such shelters throughout Hungary) be offered a wider range of
activities. Ensuring access to a wide variety of reading materials, in an
appropriate range of languages, and diversifying the means of recreation are
examples of the steps required. Specific measures should be taken in order to
ensure that minors are offered activities suitable to their age, in particular,
sports and education. The recruitment of educators or social workers should
also be considered. The longer the period for which persons are detained, the
more developed should be the activities which are offered to them.
61. Border Guard
staff assigned to the establishment did not receive any specific training
before taking up their duties in the shelter. However, the CPT was informed
that they had to undergo a psychological test to assess their possible
xenophobic, racist or otherwise intolerant tendencies toward detainees, before
being appointed (see, however, paragraph 52).
Only very few staff members at
Nyírbátor possessed a reliable command of a foreign language, which created
insurmountable communication difficulties. The staff shouted their orders in an
effort to be understood, which only exacerbated the level of tension and mutual
frustration. Ad hoc interpreters from local schools and Debrecen University had
been engaged; however, the total budget available was too limited for the scope
of the problem encountered.
It is also
noteworthy that despite the presence of many women and young children, no
female Border Guard staff were assigned to working with residents within the
units.
62. Staff at
centres for foreign nationals have a particularly onerous task. Firstly, there
will inevitably be communication difficulties caused by language barriers.
Secondly, many detained persons will find the fact that they have been deprived
of their liberty when they are not suspected of any criminal offence difficult
to accept. Thirdly, there is a risk of tension between detainees of different
nationalities or ethnic groups. Consequently, the CPT places a premium upon the
supervisory staff in such centres being carefully selected and receiving
appropriate training. As well as possessing well-developed qualities in the
field of interpersonal communication, the staff concerned should be
familiarised with the different cultures of the detainees and at least some of
them should have relevant language skills. Further, they should be taught to
recognise possible symptoms of stress reaction displayed by detained persons
(whether post-traumatic or induced by socio-cultural changes) and to take
appropriate action.
The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities review the selection
and training of Border Guard staff assigned to Nyírbátor Community Shelter, in
the light of the above remarks. Further, efforts should be made to employ a
certain number of female Border Guard staff members, to work in direct contact
with the residents at the shelter.
63. Upon arrival,
each resident was given a copy of the House Rules and asked to sign that he/she
had received them. Unfortunately, the rules were available only in Hungarian
and Albanian. The CPT recommends that
they be provided in a wider range of frequently spoken languages.
64. The
delegation heard widespread complaints from detained foreigners about the
absence of information on their situation (including their right of access to a
lawyer, the stage of procedure concerning them, the reason for their detention
and its likely length). The immigration detainees often found the legal
proceedings to which they were subject extremely difficult to understand.
The CPT recommends that the
Hungarian authorities take steps in order to ensure that all residents are duly
informed about their rights and obligations, as well as of the nature and state
of the proceedings in their case.
65. As far as
contact with the outside world is concerned, each building had a pay-phone.
Further, residents were allowed to see one visitor at a time for a maximum of
30 minutes, for a total of 90 minutes per month. The CPT recommends that the time allowed for visits be increased to one
hour a week.
The CPT would also point out that many complaints were heard to the
effect that postage stamps were not available in the shelter's shop.
66. Nyírbátor
Community Shelter relied on the services of a military doctor from the adjacent
Border Guard Directorate. The doctor provided care to 1400 military staff and
some 100 civilians working and/or living at the Directorate and, on request,
gave consultations at the shelter. With such a workload, it is clear that the
doctor was not in a position to devote sufficient time to the shelter. An
establishment of the size of Nyírbátor Community Shelter (currently 200 places)
should benefit from the presence of a medical doctor equivalent to at least a
half-time post.
On a more positive note, the
establishment had five fully qualified nurses, who ensured a 24-hour presence
and carried out medical screening on admission. Nurses would inform the doctor
of new arrivals and of any medical problems they might have.
67. Complaints
about health care at the shelter were numerous; they mainly related to the lack
of access to a doctor, the lack of medicines and the unavailability of
appropriate treatment. Consultation of the medical files confirmed that a
significant number of residents suffered from skin and pulmonary diseases
(including two cases of tuberculosis), in addition to diseases affecting
particularly the children. However, at the time of the visit only four
residents benefited from a medical treatment with prescribed medication.
Particular mention should be made
of the case of the Indian resident referred to in paragraph 52 above, who was
not receiving satisfactory health care treatment at the shelter. His condition
required dental care, post-operative dressings carried out in antiseptic
conditions, crutches, physiotherapy, appropriate analgesic treatment, and
psychological assistance, from which he was not benefiting. It was only due to
the delegation's comments that he had one of his bandages changed.
68. The absence
of psychological and psychiatric support at the shelter should also be noted.
The delegation medical members became aware of many residents suffering from
severe psychological problems (anxiety, depression, sleeping problems etc.)
and, in some cases, showing psychiatric symptoms. At the time of the visit, a
psychologist working at the nearby Border Guard Directorate was occasionally
consulted, but the language barriers usually prevented any meaningful
consultation.
The CPT is also concerned that
women and children/babies did not benefit from the regular availability of the
services of a gynaecologist or paediatrician.
69. To sum up,
the provision of medical and psychological/psychiatric services at the shelter
was far from satisfactory. As already indicated (cf. paragraph 8 above), at the
end of its visit, the CPT's delegation made an immediate observation under
Article 8 (5) of the Convention, requesting the immediate strengthening of
medical and psychological services at Nyírbátor Community Shelter. In their
letter of 23 March 2000, the Hungarian authorities commented that following the
reduction of admissions to a maximum of 200 residents, the health care
situation had somewhat improved. However, the need to increase the number of
persons working in the shelter's health care service was recognised and it was
indicated that the attention of the Commander of the Border Guards had been
drawn to this matter.
The CPT would like to be informed of
the steps subsequently taken to enhance the level of health care provided at
the shelter. In this respect, the CPT recommends that:
-
the
shelter be provided with its own medical doctor, working on at least a half-time basis;
-
regular
availability of the services of a gynaecologist, a paediatrician, a
psychiatrist and a psychologist be offered at the shelter.
70. Finally, a
dentist working at the nearby Directorate provided dental care, four hours per
day. He performed extractions and fillings, more specialised treatments taking
place in a local hospital. However, the CPT' was informed that residents were
expected to pay for their dental treatment. The CPT considers that all residents at the shelter should have access
to preservative dental treatment, including those without the means to pay for
such treatment themselves.
71. Budapest
Airport Community Shelter is located at approximately 1km from the airport
terminals. It accommodates foreign nationals refused entry to Hungary who
cannot be removed from the territory within 24 hours of their arrival.
The establishment has an overall
capacity of 18 places and ten persons were detained at the shelter at the time
of the visit.
72. No
allegations of ill-treatment of residents by staff at the shelter were heard.
More generally, the CPT is pleased to note that a relaxed staff/resident relationship
prevailed within the establishment; this was no doubt in part because some
staff had a reasonable command of English, Russian and Romanian.
73. The living
conditions at the shelter were considerably better than at Nyírbátor. The
shelter comprised 3 dormitories: two of them, equipped with four beds each, for
the accommodation of women, and a male dormitory, with five bunk beds. All
rooms were provided with separate locked wardrobes. Men and women could
associate during the day in a common room, which had a radio and TV set.
Blankets, sheets and mattresses
were reasonably clean and the residents were offered the same food as the
airport staff and Border Guards officers. Hygienic kits were regularly provided
and additional clothing was provided by the local Red Cross. The establishment
also had stocks of baby food, disposable nappies and some toys.
74. Residents
were offered at least two hours of outside exercise daily in a courtyard and,
weather permitting, could spend most of the day outside. The establishment also
had a pay phone, which could also take incoming calls, and visits were possible
outside meal times.
75. Medical
care was provided by the doctor of the adjacent Border Guards Directorate, who
examined all newly arrived persons. Further, residents received the weekly
visit of a psychologist. Information about the medical and psychological
services was displayed in seven different languages on a notice board. In
addition, the shelter had been subject of at least one public health inspection,
carried out by the Airport Office of the ANTSZ and the health supervision
Offices of the Ministry of Interior and the Border Guards.
76. The CPT was
informed that a new community shelter was to be opened at the airport shortly
after the visit, to replace the existing one. The Committee would like to receive further details concerning this new
facility (e.g. capacity, material conditions, regime activities, etc.).
*
* *
77. The CPT also
visited two Border Guard detention rooms at Budapest Airport Terminal, which
had been used to accommodate for brief periods - less than 24 hours - persons
required to stay at the airport pending their departure from the country.
Conditions in these rooms were very good.
However,
the delegation was informed that the detention rooms had not been used since
July 1999, and that foreign nationals refused entry and due to be returned
shortly were confined in the transit lounge, if necessary, overnight.
The CPT invites the Hungarian authorities to explore the possibility of
bringing the above-mentioned detention rooms back into service.
78. Immigration
detainees (whether asylum seekers or not) should - in the same way as other
categories of persons deprived of their liberty - be entitled, as from the
outset of their detention, to inform a person of their choice of their
situation and to have access to a lawyer and a medical doctor. Further, they
should be expressly informed, without delay and in a language they understand,
of all their rights and of the procedure applicable to them.
79. The CPT has
already made some recommendations concerning the information to be given to
residents held in community shelters, their contact with the outside world and
their access to medical care (cf. paragraphs 64, 65 and 69).
During its visit to Nyírbátor
Community Shelter, the delegation was informed that the shelter was visited at
least one day per week by a lawyer contracted by the Hungarian Helsinki
Committee (HHC), in order to provide free legal assistance to residents.
However, the lawyer concerned stated that he had had to increase the frequency
of his visits to several times a week, in order to meet the numerous requests
for legal assistance addressed to him by the residents.
Further, another lawyer under
contract with the HHC represented residents at the initial Office for Refugee
and Migration Affairs (ORMA) hearing.
80. The CPT was
informed that the ORMA's decision must be reasoned and notified to the
applicant in writing; in addition, negative decisions can be challenged through
the Hungarian court system, such appeals having a suspensive effect. However,
the delegation was also informed that requests for asylum made at an airport
were subject to an accelerated procedure, under which an appeal against the
initial decision taken by the ORMA does not have a suspensive effect.
In view of the potential gravity
of the interests at stake, the CPT considers that every decision involving the
removal of a person from a State's territory should be appealable before
another body of an independent nature prior to its implementation. The Committee would like to receive the
views of the Hungarian authorities on this subject.
It would also like to receive details of the training of ORMA officials
and of the sources of information used by them when assessing the human rights
situation in other countries.
81. Finally, the delegation received reports during
its visit to Budapest Airport about the means of coercion employed in the
course of expelling immigration detainees and, more particularly, about the
administration of tranquillizers against the will of the persons concerned. A
medical doctor providing medical care at Budapest Airport informed the
delegation that, in exceptional circumstances and at the request of the police,
she could administer neuroleptics to persons resisting expulsion.
The CPT wishes to stress that any
provision of medication to persons subject to an expulsion order must only be
done on the basis of a medical decision and in accordance with medical ethics. It recommends that steps be taken to
ensure that these conditions are met.
More generally, the CPT would like to know if specific
guidelines have been drafted concerning the means of coercion that can be used
in the context of expulsion procedures.
82. The CPT's
second periodic visit to Hungary included follow-up visits to Budapest Remand
Prison and Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents, as well as a first
visit to Veszprém Prison.
83. Budapest Remand Prison is located in
two different buildings. Unit 1 is housed in city centre premises close to the
main courts and Unit 2 is situated some distance away, in a block which adjoins
the Police Central Holding facility. As in 1994, the prison accommodates both
male and female prisoners, the vast majority of whom are on remand.
The prison has an official
capacity of 379 places (compared to 506 places during the first CPT visit);
however, in 1999, it was accommodating 896 prisoners (i.e. some 126 prisoners
more than in 1994).
In 1994,
the assessment of the situation in the establishment highlighted the
overcrowding and the extremely impoverished regime offered to the remand prisoners.
Five years later, the situation was even worse; overcrowding was on the
increase and the regime offered, still highly unsatisfactory.
84. Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for
Adolescents is situated near a small village some 25 km from Budapest. It
is the only prison for young male offenders (14 to 18 years old) in Hungary.
Some sentenced juveniles could remain in the establishment until they reached
the age of 21. A number of adult prisoners were also present to undertake
maintenance duties in the prison; they were accommodated in a separate
building.
The prison
has the same capacity as in 1994 (e.g. 651 places); at the time of the visit,
it accommodated 501 prisoners (313 juveniles and 188 adults), a situation which
represents a small decrease compared to 1994 (570 inmates).
85. Veszprém Prison is the oldest prison in
Hungary (dating from the XVIth century). It is located in the historic part of
the city centre. At the time of the visit, it was seriously overcrowded;
despite an official capacity of 55 places, it accommodated 201 prisoners.
86. The need to
tackle the problem of overcrowding at Budapest Remand Prison (as well as in
other parts of the Hungarian prison system) has already been identified by the
CPT in the report following the November 1994 visit. At that time, the number
of detained persons in the Hungarian prison system exceeded by 20 % its maximum
official capacity.
In their interim report, the
Hungarian authorities indicated that "in Hungary a significant portion of
penal institutions is overcrowded, moving space for detainees is insufficient,
premises suitable for out-of-cell stay and community activities are scarce. The
arrangement and design of premises within a number of institutions lack
functionality. Therefore the Government ordered the Minister of Justice to have
a long-term development plan for penal institutions drawn up by April 1996.
Hopefully problems of this kind will cease to exist with the accomplishment of
this plan" (CPT/Inf (96) 15, page 12). In their follow-up report, the
authorities informed the CPT that, in the context of a long-term plan (8 to 10
years), their prime objective was to improve the conditions in remand prisons.
They announced an increase of the capacity of the remand prisons of
approximately 1,100 places (600 places in Budapest and 500 in regional remand
prisons).
87. During the
1999 visit, the CPT was informed that the number of recorded offences has
doubled in Hungary in the last 5 years and that a more severe sentencing policy
had been applied, particularly in cases involving organised crime activities.
As a consequence, the Hungarian prison system was accommodating 15,202
prisoners at the time of the CPT visit, while it had at its disposal 10,068
places.
88. Prison
overcrowding is an issue of direct relevance to the CPT's mandate. An
overcrowded prison entails cramped and unhygienic accommodation; a constant
lack of privacy (even when performing such basic tasks as using a sanitary
facility); reduced out-of-cell activities, due to excessive workload for the
staff and inadequacy of facilities available; overburdened health-care
services; conditions conducive to the spreading of transmittable diseases;
increased tension and hence more violence between prisoners and between
prisoners and staff. This list is far from exhaustive. It is a fundamental
requirement that those committed to prison by the courts be held in safe and
decent conditions. For so long as overcrowding persists, the risk of prisoners
being held in inhuman and degrading conditions of detention will remain.
89. While noting
the efforts made by the Hungarian authorities in the context of the
above-mentioned long-term plan, the CPT considers it unlikely that providing
additional accommodation will, in itself, provide a lasting solution to the
problem of overcrowding. Indeed, a number of European States have embarked on
extensive programmes of prison building, only to find their prison populations
rising in tandem with the increased capacity acquired by their prison estates.
By contrast, in those countries which enjoy relatively uncrowded prison
systems, the existence of policies to limit and/or modulate the number of
persons being sent to prison has tended to be an important element in
maintaining the prison population at a manageable level.
Reference
should be made in this context to Recommendation N° R (80) 11 of the Committee
of Ministers of the Council of Europe, concerning custody pending trial. The
general principles set out in that recommendation deserve to be quoted:
"1. Being presumed innocent until proved guilty, no person
charged with an offence shall be placed in custody pending trial unless the
circumstances make it strictly necessary. Custody pending trial shall therefore
be regarded as an exceptional measure and it shall never be compulsory nor be
used for punitive reasons."
If the
relevant authorities in Hungary were to be guided by the general and specific
principles set out in Recommendation N° R (80) 11, this would significantly
reduce the current pressure on pre-trial establishments.
Reference
should also be made to Recommendation R (92) 17 of the Committee of Ministers'
concerning consistency in sentencing, and more particularly to recommendation B
5(i), according to which "custodial sentences should be regarded as a
sentence of last resort, and should therefore be imposed in cases where, taking
due account of other relevant circumstances, the seriousness of the crime would
make any other sentence clearly inadequate".
More
recently, the Committee of Ministers in Recommendation N° R (99) 22 has
developed a whole series of principles designed to combat the problems of
prison overcrowding and prison population inflation.
90. The facts
found during the 1999 visit underscore the need to continue to attack the problem
of overcrowding at its roots - and not only as regards pre-trial
establishments, where admittedly it has reached the most severe proportions.
Failing this, attempts to improve conditions of detention will inevitably
founder. The CPT recommends that the
Hungarian authorities pursue vigorously the implementation of the whole range
of measures designed to combat prison overcrowding, taking into account the
considerations set out in paragraph 89 and the recommendations referred to
therein.
91. The CPT's
delegation heard no allegations of torture or other forms of physical
ill-treatment by staff in any of the prison establishments visited or in other
prisons in Hungary; nor was any other evidence of such treatment found during
the visit. A few allegations of verbal abuse by staff were heard at Tököl
Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents; however, on the whole, the relations
between staff and prisoners in all the establishments visited were found to be
positive.
92. Notwithstanding
the above findings, the CPT would like
to receive the following information
for 1999 and 2000:
- the
number of complaints of ill-treatment lodged against prison officers in
Hungary;
- an
account of disciplinary and/or criminal sanctions imposed following such
complaints.
93. It should
also be emphasised in this section that the CPT has serious concerns about
certain aspects of the conditions in which prisoners placed under a special
security regime on account of their perceived dangerousness were being held.
94. In every
country there will be a number of so-called "dangerous" prisoners (a
notion which covers a variety of types of person) in respect of whom special
conditions of custody are required. This group of prisoners will (or at least
should, if the classification system is operating satisfactorily) represent a
very small proportion of the overall prison population. However, it is a group
that is of particular concern to the CPT, in view of the fact that the need to
take exceptional measures concerning such prisoners brings with it a greater
risk of inhuman treatment than is the case with the average prisoner.
95. The dangers
involved in this area are well described in the following extract from the
Explanatory Memorandum to the Recommendation (No. R (82)17) on the custody and
treatment of dangerous prisoners adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the
Council of Europe on 24 September 1982: "43. Human dignity is to be
respected notwithstanding criminality or dangerousness and if human persons
have to be imprisoned in circumstances of greater severity than the
conventional, every effort should be made, subject to the requirements of safe
custody, good order and security and the requirements of community well-being,
to ensure that living environment and conditions offset the deleterious effects
- decreased mental efficiency, depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, neurosis,
negative values, altered biorhythms - of the severer custodial situation. In
the most serious instances prisoners regress to a merely vegetative life.
Generally the impairment may be reversible but if imprisonment, especially in
maximum security, is prolonged, perception of time and space and self can be
permanently and seriously impaired - 'annihilation of personality'."
96. Under the
prisoner grading system operated in Hungary, remand or sentenced prisoners who
are considered as dangerous are placed in Grade 4 (Decree N° 6/1996 (VII.12) of
the Minister of Justice). Allocation is made either by the prosecutor, the
court or the reception committee of the establishment. The CPT was informed
that courts and prosecutors tend to attribute this grade to prisoners accused
or convicted of serious crimes (especially persons involved in organised crime
activities) and the prison reception committees, to persons with a previous
record of ill discipline (including those prone to escape or those who have
attempted suicide) or with a military background.
The status
of Grade 4 prisoners is reviewed every six months. However, it would appear
that the reasons underlying the decision for placement/prolongation of a Grade
4 measure are not disclosed to the prisoner concerned.
97. It is
axiomatic that a prisoner should not be held in a special security regime any
longer than the risk which he presents makes necessary. This calls for regular
reviews of the placement decision. Further, prisoners should as far as possible
be kept fully informed of the reasons for their placement and, if necessary,
its renewal; this will inter alia enable them to make effective use of avenues
for challenging that measure.
98. Consequently,
the CPT recommends that:
- a
prisoner who is placed in a Grade 4 regime by the judicial or prison
authorities or whose placement in such a regime is renewed be informed in
writing of the reasons for that measure (it being understood that the reasons
given could exclude information which security requirements reasonably justify
withholding from the prisoner);
- a
prisoner in respect of whom such a measure is envisaged be given an opportunity
to express his views on the matter;
- the
placement of a prisoner in such a regime should be as short as possible and
reviewed at least every three months.
99. At the time
of the visit, 37 prisoners were placed in a Grade 4 regime at Budapest Remand
Prison; Veszprém Prison and Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents
accommodated for their part respectively 13 and 10 such prisoners.
The CPT observed that the
conditions of Grade 4 prisoners varied from establishment to establishment, and
even within the same establishment. Some prisoners were accommodated alone,
while others shared cells with fellow prisoners (some of the latter not in
Grade 4). Their material conditions and regime were similar to those of other
prisoners in the establishment. However, two characteristics of their regime
are of particular concern to the CPT.
100. Firstly, the
delegation observed at Budapest Remand Prison that means of restraint (such as
handcuffs and/or anklecuffs) were routinely applied to Grade 4 prisoners. Every
such prisoner was handcuffed when he left his cell and, in addition, some of
them were also anklecuffed. These means of restraint were also applied during
the outdoor exercise, despite the fact that it took place in a completely
sealed off exercise yard, surrounded by bars, including roof bars. Further,
this measure was applied during visits, which took place in a separate visiting
facility, where they communicated with their visitors only by telephone.
Similar measures were taken in respect of Grade 4 prisoners in the two other
prisons visited.
The practice of routinely
handcuffing and/or anklecuffing prisoners when outside their cell is highly
questionable, all the more so when it is applied over a prolonged period of
time in a secure environment. The CPT considers that other means can and should
be found to counter the risk of escapes. Further, to be handcuffed/anklecuffed
when receiving a visit could certainly be considered as degrading for both the
prisoner concerned and his visitor.
To sum up, the current practice
concerning the use of means of restraint vis-ŕ-vis Grade 4 prisoners can only
be seen as disproportionate and punitive. The
CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities take immediate steps to review
that practice, in the light of the above remarks.
101. Secondly,
some Grade 4 prisoners were kept for some considerable time in isolation and
had particular difficulties to receive visits and have access to a telephone,
allegedly for security reasons.
The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities review the regime
applied to Grade 4 prisoners, in particular as concerns isolation, visits and
access to telephone. Above all, it must be ensured that such prisoners are
guaranteed appropriate human contact.
102. The material
conditions offered to prisoners at Budapest Remand Prison had worsened since
the 1994 visit, mainly because of the increased overcrowding affecting the
establishment. The Director of the prison fully recognised the extent of the
problem and informed the delegation that it would be solved in the very near
future, through the entry into service (in June 2000) of a new remand prison
with a capacity of 600 places.
The CPT would like to receive confirmation
that this new remand establishment is now operational as well as information on
the number of prisoners accommodated in both Budapest remand establishments.
103. The CPT
welcomes certain improvements which had been introduced in Budapest Remand
Prison since the 1994 visit. A new modern kitchen had been installed in Unit I
and provided food for the whole establishment. Both Units of the establishment
now benefit from new bathrooms and a small fitness room, as well as cable TV.
Board games and pay phones were also at the prisoners' disposal on each floor
of the establishment, even if access to the phones was rather limited (cf.
paragraph 126).
104. As was the
case in 1994, the CPT is not impressed by the regime offered to prisoners at
Budapest Remand Prison. Only a few prisoners (most of them sentenced) were
offered work and no professional training of vocational value was available to
male prisoners; occasionally, a few women prisoners could attend secretarial
courses. Further, no premises were available for sports or educational
activities. In addition, the delegation heard numerous complaints to the effect
that prisoners were not always offered outdoor exercise.
105. The CPT
highlighted in the report on the 1994 visit the crucial importance of a
satisfactory programme of activities for prisoners. The entry into service of
the new remand prison and the consequent reduction in the level of overcrowding
will render it possible to make progress in this area. The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities make vigorous efforts
to develop such a programme of activities for prisoners in both Budapest remand
establishments.
Further, the Committee must reiterate the recommendation made in the 1994 visit report
that all prisoners be offered at least one hour of outdoor exercise every day.
106. Material
conditions of detention for prisoners at Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for
Adolescents remained quite acceptable, even
if the detention units where still somewhat austere (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5,
paragraph 98). Further, the establishment's kitchen - which was in an
unacceptable condition in 1994 - had subsequently been totally renovated.
However, the CPT remains concerned about conditions in two areas of the
establishment, the reception and segregation/disciplinary units.
107. The reception
unit, shared with the adjacent prison hospital, comprised five holding
cells. At the time of the visit, one of the cells accommodated some twenty
convicted prisoners (who came from different prison and police establishments
throughout the country), and a second cell was accommodating one juvenile. The
cells were equipped only with a bench and a washbasin and the adjacent toilets
were in a deplorable state. Prisoners were obliged to spend hours in these
cells, some of them standing.
The delegation was informed that
the construction of a new reception unit was planned. The CPT would like to receive further details on this subject. In
the meantime, the CPT recommends that
efforts be made to ensure a better use of the number of cells available and
regular cleaning of the premises, in particular of the sanitary annexes.
108. In its 1994
visit report, the CPT recommended that the segregation/disciplinary cells
in Tököl be equipped with a call system and that access to natural light and
artificial lighting be improved. In their interim report (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 15,
page 28), the Hungarian authorities indicated that electrical equipment in the
cells had been replaced and a call system installed. However, access to natural
light had not been improved, as it required reconstruction work.
At the time of the visit, the
segregation/disciplinary cells were still gloomy, oppressive and poorly
ventilated; in addition, the toilets were in a very poor state of repair.
The CPT recommends that measures be taken to improve access to natural
light, artificial lighting and ventilation in the segregation/disciplinary
cells at Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents. In addition, the
toilets should be repaired.
109. During its
1994 visit, the CPT gained a positive impression of the multidisciplinary
approach adopted at Tököl. In 1999, some 120 juveniles were attending
elementary school classes, conducted by outside teachers. In addition, 10
juveniles were following a vocational training course (for the trade of
painter) and another group of some 50 juveniles was working in a variety of
workshops (bicycle, car tyre and motorbike repairs, masonry). Some 110
juveniles and 140 adults had a job within the institution.
110. However,
as in 1994, the CPT heard numerous complaints to the effect that prisoners were
not offered one hour of outdoor exercise per day. The CPT must reiterate the recommendation made on this subject in its
1994 visit report (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 101), that steps be taken to
ensure that this basic requirement is met.
c. Veszprém Prison
111. As already
indicated (cf. paragraph 85 above), Veszprém Prison was seriously overcrowded
and in an advanced state of dilapidation.
112. The
establishment comprised a total of 44 cells of varying sizes: standard cells
measuring 8 to 10 m˛ accommodated 4 prisoners and larger cells measuring 32 m˛,
11 prisoners (they had accommodated in the recent past up to 16 prisoners).
Such occupancy rates are unacceptable.
The cells were equipped with bunk
beds (with mattresses, blankets and sheets), a washbasin, a toilet and a little
cupboard. There was no room available for a table or chairs. Access to natural
light and artificial lighting was satisfactory; however, ventilation in the
cells was mediocre, which apparently posed particular problems in the summer.
Prisoners also complained about the poor access to (hot) showers, which was allowed
only once a fortnight.
The CPT recommends that the
Hungarian authorities:
- take
steps to reduce the cell occupancy rates to an acceptable level. A standard of
4 m˛ per prisoner might usefully be adopted for this purpose;
- ensure
that prisoners are offered the opportunity to take at least one hot shower per
week;
- explore means of
improving ventilation in the cells.
113. The delegation
also found two cells measuring 3m˛ each, used for temporary accommodation of
new arrivals and for punishment purposes. They had no windows, were dimly lit,
damp and infested by insects. The CPT
recommends that these two cells be immediately withdrawn from service.
114. Nothing
remotely resembling a regime of activities was offered to prisoners at Veszprém
Prison; only some twenty prisoners had work (kitchen, cleaning duties, laundry,
maintenance and repair) and no educational/recreational activities were
offered. In addition, prisoners were not
allowed to have a radio/TV in their cells, contrary to the situation in the
other prison establishments visited.
The delegation also heard
unanimous complaints about the regular absence of outdoor exercise or the fact
that, when organised, it never lasted one hour.
The CPT recommends that steps be taken in
order to ensure that:
- all
prisoners spend a reasonable part of the day (i.e. 8 hours or more) outside
their cells, engaged in purposeful activities of a varied nature (work,
preferably with vocational value, education, recreation/association);
- all
prisoners are offered at least one hour of outdoor exercise every day.
115. The CPT's
delegation was informed that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights
had recommended that Veszprém Prison be closed down. The Director of the
establishment indicated that a new prison with a capacity of 216 single
occupancy cells would enter into service by 2002. The CPT would like to receive further details on this new
establishment.
116. The health
care services (staffing levels, premises and equipment) at Budapest Remand
Prison and Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents were described as
adequate in 1994 (cf. paragraph 106, CPT/Inf (96) 5).
117. At the time of the 1999 visit, Budapest Remand
Prison had three full time doctors, one doctor working on a half-time basis
and 12 full time nurses; however, the two posts of psychologists were vacant. The CPT recommends that these posts be
filled without further delay.
Dental care at Budapest Remand
Prison was provided by a dentist and a dental assistant, working full time. In
this context, the CPT noted that the Hungarian authorities had improved the
dental treatment provided to prisoners (as proposed by the CPT in 1994), by
creating a special fund for prisoners who could not pay for their dental
prosthesis.
118. At Tököl
Remand Prison and Centre for Adolescents, the health care staff comprised 6
nurses and 3 psychologists. The CPT is particularly concerned to note that the
two doctors' posts had been vacant since May 1999. In their absence, a doctor
from the nearby prison hospital was giving consultations 2 hours a day (during
weekdays), a presence which is clearly insufficient for an establishment
holding 500 prisoners. The CPT
recommends that the Hungarian authorities take immediate steps to ensure that
at least one of the doctors' posts is filled without delay.
A dentist and a dental assistant,
both working full time, were providing dental treatment to the prisoners.
119. Health care at
Veszprém Prison was provided by a police doctor, who visited the prison
three days a week (for two to three hours at a time), and by two nurses
(working from 7a.m.to 7p.m. on weekdays). This level of cover by a doctor is
clearly insufficient, taking into account the conditions prevailing at Veszprém
Prison (cf. paragraphs 111 to 114 above).
In this context, the CPT would
recall that the task of prison health care services should not be limited to
treating sick patients. They should also be entrusted with responsibility for
social and preventive medicine. In particular, it lies with prison health care
services - as appropriate acting in conjunction with other authorities - to
supervise catering arrangements (quantity, quality, preparation and
distribution of food) and conditions of hygiene (cleanliness of clothing and
bedding; access to running water; sanitary installations) as well as the
heating, lighting and ventilation of cells. Work and outdoor exercise
arrangements should also be taken into consideration. Insalubrity, overcrowding
and inactivity - all factors present at Veszprém Prison - may necessitate
either medical assistance for an individual prisoner or general medical action
vis-ŕ-vis the responsible authority.
The CPT recommends that Veszprém Prison be
provided with its own doctor, working on at least a half-time basis.
Further, the CPT would recall
that a person competent to provide first
aid should always be present on prison premises, preferably someone with a
recognised nursing qualification.
120. Other aspects
of health care at Veszprém Prison were generally adequate. All newly arrived
prisoners were seen by the doctor shortly after admission and received a
booklet informing them of the existence and operation of the health care
service. During detention, prisoners could approach the health care service on
a confidential basis, as a nurse made a daily tour within the detention
facilities.
Access to specialised care was
available through the direct support of the nearby public hospital or Tököl
Prison Hospital, and dental treatment was provided by a police dentist at
Veszprém Police Headquarters.
The health care facilities at the
prison consisted of a well-equipped 10 m˛ medical room and an infirmary (3
cells). It is also noteworthy that prisoner's medical files were stored in a
locked cupboard and were well kept.
*
* *
121. The CPT noted
in 1994 that all prisoners in Hungary underwent an obligatory HIV test
(cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 114). In their interim report, the Hungarian
authorities informed the Committee that HIV screening is carried out with the
consent of the detainee (CPT/Inf (96) 15, page 19). However, during the 1999
visit, the delegation was informed that prisoners who did not agree to such
screening would immediately be placed in segregation in their respective
establishments (as well as those found to be HIV positive). Such prisoners
would subsequently be transferred to Tököl Prison, and more particularly to
Unit K, established since April 1999.
Material conditions at Unit K
were of a very high standard. It had 16 single occupancy cells and accommodated
8 prisoners at the time of the visit. All cells were well equipped (including a
shower) and had good access to natural light, artificial lighting and
ventilation. Prisoners had access to an exercise yard measuring some 150 m˛.
However, the CPT is concerned to
note that prisoners held at Unit K were completely isolated from the rest of
the prison population. Furthermore, the staff employed at the unit were very
afraid of the prisoners' medical condition and were paid a special premium
("hazard allowance"). The prevailing climate prevented the prisoners
from having access to the prison shop and the library, and access to telephone
was rendered difficult.
122. The situation
described above reflects an obsessive fear about HIV based on arguments that
are scientifically unfounded. It also contrasts with the information supplied
by the Hungarian authorities that "during all applied procedures, special
care is taken to avoid any discrimination against detainees on grounds of HIV
infection or HIV screening" (CPT/Inf (96) 15, page 19). In this context,
the CPT must stress that there is no medical justification for the segregation
of a prisoner solely on the grounds that he is HIV+. There is a clear need for
health education both at management and staff levels. The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities bring their HIV
policy into line with the relevant international standards, in particular those
established by the World Health Organisation and the Council of Europe.
Further, staff working in prison establishments should be provided with ongoing
training in the preventive measures to be taken and the attitudes to be adopted
regarding HIV-positivity and given appropriate instructions concerning
non-discrimination and confidentiality.
123. In its 1994
report, the CPT recommended that a suicide prevention policy be
implemented at Budapest Remand Prison and that two special cells used for
prisoners considered to represent a suicide risk be taken out of service
(CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 120). In their interim report, the Hungarian
authorities indicated that "the Prison Administration is currently drawing
up a suicide prevention strategy" and that " the experts are
considering the application of special cells to accommodated inmates who pose a
danger to themselves or others…"(CPT/Inf (96) 5, page 22).
Nevertheless, during the 1999
visit, the CPT was informed that the above-mentioned cells were still in use,
though only for very short periods. More importantly, the delegation was
informed that suicide attempts were sanctioned as disciplinary offences and
that inmates had formally to renounce suicide. In the CPT's opinion, a
disciplinary measure is not an appropriate response to psychological distress. The Committee would like to receive the
comments of the Hungarian authorities on this subject.
124. Finally, it is
important that the prison authorities make efforts to provide an environment in
which prisoners without drug problems do not develop them and those who
have such problems are helped to overcome them. In this respect, the
information gathered during the 1999 visit indicated that the use of drugs is
on the increase throughout the Hungarian prison system. In Tököl Prison and
Remand Centre for Adolescents, the authorities envisaged creating separate drug
free units and implementing stringent security measures in respect of visitors.
The CPT is concerned about the
absence of a national policy as regards drug dependent prisoners and, more
particularly, about the absence of directives for prisoners suffering from
withdrawal symptoms on admission to the prison system. The CPT would like to be informed of the measures envisaged by the
authorities to address these issues.
125. In its 1994
visit report, the CPT highlighted the unsatisfactory situation prevailing at Budapest
Remand Prison as concerns visits (visit entitlement and conditions). No
improvement was observed in this respect in 1999: the visit entitlement was
still only one hour per month and the visiting room was very dirty. The CPT must reiterate its earlier
recommendations on these subjects (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 128).
The vast majority of the
prisoners at Veszprém Prison were separated from their visitors by a
glass screen and communicated with them by means of a telephone. The CPT
recognises that it may sometimes be necessary, in the interests of security, to
place restrictions on visits to certain prisoners. However, these restrictions
should be limited to the requirements of the case and should apply for the
shortest possible period. The CPT recommends that the visiting arrangements
at Veszprém Prison be reviewed in order to ensure, as far as possible, that
prisoners are able to receive visits under reasonably open conditions.
126. Access to
telephones was under close surveillance in the three prisons visited. All
calls (with the exception of those to a
lawyer) had to be made by a member of staff, who remained at the prisoner's
side during the call. Consequently, availability of staff to supervise the
calls severely limited the prisoners' access to telephone; in the
establishments visited, prisoners were able to make phone calls during
weekends, for a maximum of three minutes.
In the CPT's opinion, such a
blanket procedure is not only onerous in terms of staff resources but also
inefficient in terms of security, given that prisoners have free access to
their family/friends during visits. The
CPT recommends that steps be taken
to review the procedure applied to making telephone calls, in the light of the
above comments. The objective should be to increase significantly access to the
telephone for prisoners; close surveillance of telephone calls should be the
exception rather than the rule.
127. The
disciplinary procedure applicable to prisoners in Hungary has already been
described (cf. CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 131). Prisoners have the right to be
heard on the subject of the offence of which they are suspected and can appeal
against the disciplinary sanction of solitary confinement to a supervisory
judge, who must issue a decision on the appeal within 5 days. Such an appeal
has a suspensive effect.
During the 1999 visit, the
delegation was informed that prisoners were usually shown the form detailing
the disciplinary charge; however, a copy of that form was not given to them.
Prisoners are entitled to be represented by a lawyer at the disciplinary
hearing, but they do not have the right to cross-examine witnesses.
128. The CPT recommends that prisoners facing
disciplinary charges be formally accorded the following rights:
- to
be informed in writing of the charges against them and to be provided with
sufficient time to prepare their defence;
- to
call witnesses on their behalf and to cross-examine witnesses giving evidence
against them.
129. The CPT is
pleased to note that the Hungarian authorities have implemented its
recommendation that confidential access in writing to the Director be granted
at Budapest Remand Prison (CPT/Inf (96) 5, paragraph 140). For this purpose,
boxes have been installed next to the outdoor exercise area. The CPT would like to know if a similar
practice is followed in other prison establishments in Hungary.
130. During its
second periodic visit to Hungary, the CPT's delegation examined in some depth
the situation at the two psychiatric units of Balassagyarrmat General Hospital,
as well as at the Care Home for psychiatric patients at Ludanyhalaszi. The
first establishment is under the authority of the Ministry of Health, the
second of the Ministry of Social and Family Affairs.
131. Balassagyarrmat General Hospital is
situated in an urban environment some 100km north of Budapest, near the Slovak
border. It is a general hospital, providing care in all disciplines and serving
the population of two districts. The building housing the psychiatric units is
situated on the extensive hospital compound; recently renovated, it does not
give the impression of a place of confinement. The two psychiatric units (1
& 2) are located in adjacent four storey blocks, linked on the ground floor
by a corridor containing offices and consulting rooms. Workshops, a gymnasium
and other offices are located in the basement. Both units comprise distinct
wards for chronic patients and patients with acute conditions (the latter wards
allowing constant nurse supervision). Men and women patients are accommodated
in different rooms within the wards; however, in the acute wards, the rule of
separation by gender is on occasion ignored for observation purposes. The top
floor of each unit houses patients suffering from neurosis.
The
respective official capacities of the two units are 102 and 104 beds; on the
first day of the visit, they accommodated 83 and 84 patients. The annual number
of patients admitted in the psychiatric units varied from some 1600 in Unit 1
to 1900 in Unit 2; the average length of stay was two to three weeks. It is
also noteworthy that the units could admit, if necessary, juvenile patients as
from the age of fourteen.
132. The Care Home for psychiatric patients at
Ludanyhalaszi is situated in a village some 60km northeast of Budapest,
near the Slovak border. It has served as a social care and corrective
rehabilitation home since 1937. The Home comprises several buildings of varying
age (residential units, administration, kitchen, laundry, etc.) distributed on
a large compound. The residents were accommodated in six wards, in accordance
with the nature of their mental illness/handicap and their degree of autonomy.
The official capacity of the Home
is 390 places (based on the legal norm of 6m˛ per resident, according to the
Social Care Act). At the time of the visit, it was accommodating 406 residents,
both men and women from Nograd County, with ages ranging from 18 to 98 years
old; about 60% of them had been transferred from Balassagyarrmat General
Hospital. Nearly all residents spend the rest of their lives at the Home.
133. The delegation
heard no allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment - and gathered
no other evidence of such treatment - of patients by staff at the two
establishments visited (or in other psychiatric institutions in Hungary). The
atmosphere in the two establishments visited was relaxed. The approach of the
medical and nursing staff appeared professional and caring towards their
patients/residents and the staff spoke with sensitivity about their work. In
particular, the leadership, efforts for change and caring ethos of the new
Director at the Social Care Home of Ludanyhalaszi should be highlighted.
134. Patients'
living conditions in the two psychiatric units were good. They were
accommodated in rooms with two to six beds, the space allocated for each
patient being adequate. The rooms were clean, well lit and equipped either with
hospital beds or, as in the case of the patients on the neurosis wards, with
ordinary beds, depending upon their condition. The rooms were rather sparsely
furnished; however, there were some bedside cupboards and the delegation noted
that patients were provided with lockable space (in the form of wardrobes
placed in the corridor to which the staff had master keys) in which to keep
their personal belongings.
135. Patients
accommodated on the top floor - suffering from neurosis - appeared to be
wearing their own clothes as a matter of routine, but the vast majority of the
other patients, particularly those on the chronic wards, wore pyjamas during
the day as well as at night.
The
practice of keeping patients dressed in pyjamas/night-gowns at all times is not
conducive to strengthening personal identity and self-esteem; individualisation
of clothing should form part of the therapeutic process. The CPT therefore recommends that all non bed-ridden patients be
allowed to wear their own clothes during the day or be provided with
appropriate non-uniform garments.
136. Separate
showers and toilets for men and women were at the patients' disposal on each
ward. They were generally in a good state of maintenance and hygiene. However, some of the shower facilities for men
were not well ventilated.
Some of the men's toilet
facilities were being used as a temporary storage place for the ward's rubbish
- in open bins. Such a situation represents a health/hygiene risk to patients. The CPT recommends that appropriate
measures be taken in order to put an end to this practice.
137. Each ward had
a large communal area which was pleasantly decorated and furnished with easy
chairs, coffee tables and bookshelves, creating an attractive informal
environment where patients could gather to watch television, read or sit before
and after meals. They usually opened onto an adjacent dining room, where
ambulatory patients took their meals. The design of the communal areas was
appropriate, combining a measure of simple comfort and individualisation with
provision for observation from the staff reception counter.
In addition, there was a walled
garden with trees and benches; staff indicated that in good weather, this area
was used for exercise and recreation by some patients.
138. The Home's
most modern building was accommodating 188 schizophrenic residents in three
distinct units. This purpose-built building was well designed, with a central
atrium from which corridors radiated. The residents' rooms (4 to 6 beds) were of
a good size (24 m˛) and adequately furnished. Rooms were well lit and decorated
(with examples of the residents' work and photographs on the walls, giving a
personal touch to the surroundings). A very large communal room on the top
floor of the building, furnished with plants, chairs and small tables was used
for social activities and occupational projects.
139. 142 mentally
handicapped residents were accommodated in an older building, housing Units 1
and 2. Material conditions were also generally satisfactory in this facility;
however, certain of the resident's rooms
were somewhat overcrowded. In addition, the number and the size of the communal rooms in the building were
rather limited.
140. The oldest
building housed Unit 6, which accommodated 72 residents with dependence
problems - mostly alcoholics - and severely mentally deficient residents.
Living conditions in this building were of a distinctly lower quality than in
the rest of the Home and conditions in the Unit's closed ward, which accommodated
some of the severely mentally deficient residents, left a great deal to be
desired. The closed ward's rooms were overcrowded and devoid of any furniture
(apart from beds) or decoration giving visual stimulation.
The Director of the establishment
recognised that the living conditions for patients in Unit 6 were not
satisfactory. He informed the delegation that the prolongation of the Home's
operating license by the competent authorities - due to expire at the end of
1999 - was, among other conditions, contingent upon the total reconstruction of
the unit. The CPT fully supports this position; it recommends that the Hungarian authorities give a high priority to
the implementation of plans for the reconstruction of Unit 6. It would like to
receive in due course details of the situation in the refurbished premises
(residents' living conditions, distribution of the residents, programme of
therapeutic activities, staffing levels, etc.).
141. The residents
in the closed ward of Unit 6 remained confined together in close proximity with
one carer on duty, night and day. At the time of the visit, the residents
included two women, one of whom was sharing a bed with a male resident, both of
them naked. Staff explained that these two residents became extremely agitated
if separated.
The CPT considers that it is not
appropriate for male and female residents of this category to be kept together
in communal rooms; some of them might well be unaware in the event their
dignity not being respected by other - more mentally able - residents. At the
end of the visit, the CPT's delegation asked for the men and women patients in
the closed ward to be kept separated during the day, as was already the case
during the night. The Director of the Home immediately agreed to this request. The CPT would like to receive confirmation
that this separation by gender is now effective in the closed ward of Unit 6.
The Committee would add that it
is not contesting in any way the open door and mixed gender policy practised
elsewhere in the establishment vis-ŕ-vis other categories of residents.
142. The grounds of
the Care Home were extensive, with grass areas, trees and paths, where some
residents were seen walking. Most of the ambulatory residents, other than those
placed on the closed ward, could go out for exercise in the fresh air. Coats
were provided for those who were indigent.
Residents of the closed ward in
Unit 6 were allowed to use a closed yard of a reasonable size, adjacent to
their building.
143. The Home's
kitchen was antiquated and in urgent need of renovation and refurbishment.
Maintenance of a high standard of hygiene under the prevailing conditions was a
difficult task. Reconstruction of the kitchen was another condition imposed by
the competent authorities for the prolongation of the Home's operating license.
The CPT again fully supports this position and trusts that reconstruction of the kitchen will be accorded a high
priority.
The kitchen staff was creative in
its attempts to eke out the limited food allowance. The stores of frozen food
and preserved fruit and vegetables at the Home were impressive. However, the
delegation was somewhat surprised to learn that use of produce grown locally at
the Home would result in a reduction in the food allowance paid to the Home.
One might have thought that such a sensible initiative would be the subject of
incentives rather than disincentives.
144. Stocks of
clean linen and blankets were available and these items were washed in an
efficient albeit dilapidated laundry. Resident's personal clothing was also
cleaned there and redistributed. Complete renovation of the laundry was a third
condition for the prolongation of the Home's operating license. Such a
renovation was clearly necessary.
145. The General
Hospital's psychiatric units had a total of more than a hundred health care
staff, supplemented by some 20 administrative staff, all employed full time. In
particular, there were, for each unit, 5 doctors (of whom 2 to 4 psychiatrists)
and 30 to 32 qualified nurses. Other qualified staff included one psychologist,
one physiotherapist, one health education expert with two assistants and two
social workers. Further types of medical care could be provided by other
departments of the General Hospital.
The level
of medical and nursing staff seemed satisfactory, judging by the patients'
files, the knowledge of principles of community psychiatric care,
pharmacotherapy and diagnostic principles, and the general level of satisfaction
expressed by patients' interviewed. The delegation itself observed that medical
and nursing staff were motivated and conscientious.
More
generally, the CPT was favourably impressed by the organisation of mental
health care and, in particular, by the close linkage prevailing between
out-patient and in-patient care, which ensured the continuity of care.
146. The treatment
of psychiatric patients at the Hospital was mainly based on pharmacotherapy,
and modern psychotropic drugs were available. In this context, it should be
noted that very few cases of heavy medication or uncontrolled side effects were
observed. The selection of appropriate medication was based on thorough
individual clinical observation and patients were seen individually by the
psychiatrist once or twice a week, and daily by a doctor of the Unit. Most of
the patients had a reasonable idea of their diagnosis and of the nature of
their treatment.
However, apart from
pharmacotherapy, only a few patients had access to other forms of treatment
such as occupational therapy. Two occupational therapy rooms - serving both
units - were accessible, each room taking a maximum of ten patients per day.
One room was used as a sewing workshop, and the second to make pottery, dried
flower/leaf arrangements, etc. Patients had also access to a well-equipped
gymnasium and there was separate provision for remedial exercise and
physiotherapy.
The CPT recommends that efforts be
made to increase the number of psychiatric patients taking part in therapeutic
and rehabilitative activities and to offer a wider range of such activities.
147. Electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT) was still practised regularly at the Hospital (mostly in
psychiatric Unit 2), although the extent of its use had decreased in recent
years. It was always administered in modified form (i.e. with anaesthetic and
muscle relaxants). The psychiatrist in charge informed the CPT's delegation
that he always tried to consult the patients' family or his/her guardian
concerning the use of this treatment and that a special consent form had to be
filled in. However, the delegation was informed that no written policy existed
in the establishment concerning the use of ECT.
ECT was performed in a designated
room situated on the 2nd floor
of Unit 2 and a psychiatrist and an anaesthesiologist were always present when
the treatment was administered. However, no resuscitation equipment was
available in the room, and only a limited amount of information was recorded in
the ECT room's register.
148. Electroconvulsive
therapy is a recognised form of treatment for psychiatric patients suffering
from some particular disorders. However, care should be taken that ECT fits
into the patient's treatment plan and its administration must be accompanied by
appropriate safeguards. ECT must be administered out of the view of other
patients (preferably in a room which has been set aside and equipped for this
purpose), by staff who have been specifically trained to provide this
treatment. Further, recourse to ECT should be recorded in detail in a specific
register. It is only in this way that any undesirable practices can be clearly
identified by hospital management and discussed with staff.
These requirements were on the
whole being met at the Hospital. However,
the CPT recommends that steps be taken to update and complete the equipment in
the ECT room or, alternatively, to have ECT administered in the hospital's
intensive care unit. Further, recourse to ECT should be recorded in detail.
149. Psychiatric
treatment was provided by two visiting psychiatrists (1/2 a day a week each)
and somatic treatment by a general practitioner (visiting the establishment on
a daily basis, 2 hours a day, 5 days a week). This medical team was supported
by 87 nursing staff (32 specialised nurses with qualifications in neurology or
psychiatry and 55 nurses) and 14 occupational workers.
Such a level of presence of
psychiatrists in an establishment of this capacity accommodating mostly
long-term chronic psychiatric patients is not satisfactory. The same can be
said for the presence of the general practitioner, who could in practice only
deal with urgent matters. Moreover, the number of qualified nurses specialised
in neurology or psychiatry is too limited.
Further, there was no visiting
psychologist or physiotherapist, something that was a matter of particular
concern for the Home's staff.
The CPT recommends that the presence of psychiatrists and general
practitioners at the Care Home be substantially increased. That presence should
be at least the equivalent of one full time position of psychiatrist and one
full time position of a general practitioner. The number of nurses with
relevant specialist qualifications should also be increased.
The CPT also recommends that the Hungarian authorities take steps to
attach psychologist and physiotherapist services to the Care Home.
150. The Care Home
received, on a weekly basis, visits from a gynaecologist and a dentist. As
concerns the latter, the delegation was informed that the costs of dental
prostheses were not reimbursed and that, as a consequence, indigent residents
were frequently deprived of such an aid (it was already the case for 50 of
them).
The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities take steps to provide
appropriate dental care to all residents; this treatment should be free of
charge for those residents not in a position to pay for it.
151. A small number
of residents (about 10%) at the Care Home had work. They were mainly engaged in
filling boxes of staples and paperclips or in putting filled boxes into large
cardboard packets. Other jobs consisted in making bobbins for a brush factory
or packaging goods for a paper factory. The work was supervised by occupational
workers and the residents received a modest wage.
Some residents of limited
capability were also working in the laundry. They were engaged in small tasks,
such as folding clothes. There appeared to be a tolerance by staff of residents
being present during the work, even when they were able to make only a nominal
contribution. Staff expressed an awareness of the importance of giving
residents a sense of being part of the work and of involving the less able as
well as those who were competent to perform a job.
The more active and competent
residents had opportunities to engage in a variety of hobbies and occupations,
for which space was provided in the communal rooms.
The CPT invites the Hungarian authorities
further to develop rehabilitative and therapeutic activities at the Care Home,
including better access to occupational therapy, group therapy, individual
psychotherapy, art, drama, music and sports.
152. A half way
house, situated in the village some five minutes walk from the Care Home,
offered accommodation for eight men and women, in three rooms. The residents
could work at the Home during the day and were assisted by a nurse while at the
half way house. The CPT's delegation was informed that the main obstacle to
placement in such halfway houses was not the lack of room, but the absence of
outside assistance in the form of medical services and food benefits. The
Director explained that the existing half way house was important to staff and
residents as a symbol of hope and a source of motivation.
The CPT invites the Hungarian authorities to explore ways of
facilitating the placement of the Care Home's residents in half way houses.
153. At Balassagyarrmat General Hospital,
patients brought to the hospital in an agitated and/or violent state could be
medicated by injection if necessary. Staff reported that in such cases the
patient might be restrained by temporarily holding the arms and head.
Staff on the acute wards reported
that leather straps were used as a means of restraint for patients "in danger
of falling out of bed or of hurting themselves." If necessary, patients
were attached to the bed "for a few hours". The incidence of this
measure was reported to be about once every two weeks. This measure required a
doctor's order (or subsequent approval) and was recorded in the patient's file.
However, there was no special register for the use of means of restraint.
The Director informed the
delegation that the Hungarian medical profession was divided on the issue of
whether or not there should be legislation concerning the use of means of
restraint and that there existed no written policy on the subject at the
Hospital.
154. At Ludanyhalaszi Care Home, instruments of
physical restraint were very rarely used (see, however, paragraph 156). In case
of emergency, staff applied manual control and an injection of a neuroleptic
was given. As at Balassagyarrmat, no written policy or special register existed
on this subject. The delegation also noted the presence of a seclusion room in
unit 6, used for medical reasons.
155. In any
psychiatric establishment, the restraint of agitated and/or violent patients
may on occasion be necessary. However, this is an area of particular concern to
the CPT, given the potential for abuse and ill-treatment.
It is essential that the
restraint of patients be the subject of a clearly-defined policy. That policy
should make clear that initial attempts to restrain agitated or violent
patients should, as far as possible, be non-physical (e.g. verbal instruction)
and that where physical restraint is necessary, it should in principle be
limited to manual control. Staff in psychiatric establishments should receive
training in both non-physical and manual control techniques vis-ŕ-vis agitated
or violent patients. The possession of such skills will enable staff to choose
the most appropriate response when confronted by difficult situations, thereby
significantly reducing the risk of injuries to patients and staff.
Resort to
instruments of physical restraint (straps, strait-jackets, etc.) shall only
very rarely be justified and must always be either expressly ordered by a
doctor or immediately brought to the attention of a doctor with a view to
seeking his approval. If, exceptionally, recourse is had to instruments of
physical restraint, they should be removed at the earliest opportunity; they
should never be applied, or their application prolonged, as a punishment.
Further, every instance of the
physical restraint of a patient (manual control, use of instruments of physical
restraint, seclusion) should be recorded in a specific register established for
this purpose (as well as in the patient's file). The entry should include the
times at which the measure began and ended, the circumstances of the case, the
reasons for resorting to the measure, the name of the doctor who ordered or
approved it, and an account of any injuries sustained by patients or staff.
This will greatly facilitate both the management of such incidents and the
oversight of the extent of their occurrence.
The CPT recommends that the Hungarian authorities establish a clear
written policy at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital and Ludanyhalaszi Care Home
(and, as appropriate, at other psychiatric establishments in Hungary) as
regards the use of means of restraint, taking into account the above remarks.
156. Particular
mention should be made of the situation of a resident at Ludanyhalaszi Care
Home who was living in a net-bed ("halos agy"), save when he was
taken to the toilet. The bed measured 2.08 m x 0.93 m, and was covered with a
strong net, fixed on a tubular metal structure 1.26 m in height, an articulated
opening with a padlock having been made on the left-side. Staff at Unit 6
indicated that the resident concerned became agitated when he saw the light,
and tried to break the window in order to harm himself if allowed out of the
net-bed. They added that the option of a room equipped with plexy-glass windows
had been considered, but that the funding was not available; however, the new
building might incorporate such a facility. The Director informed the
delegation that on taking up his post he had taken out of use some 20 net-beds
in Unit 6, and that he was committed to finding an adequate solution in the
case of the above-mentioned resident in the immediate future.
The CPT would like to be informed of the solution subsequently found.
157. More
generally, the CPT wishes to stress that placement in facilities such as
net-beds cannot be considered, in modern psychiatric practice, as a valid
method of intensive care for residents in a state of agitation. Further, such
an approach could lead to abuses. At the end of the visit, the delegation
invoked Article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention and requested the Hungarian
authorities to ensure the immediate withdrawal from service of all such
net-beds throughout the country. It asked to receive a report on the action
taken in response to this request within three months.
By letter dated 30 March 2000,
the Hungarian authorities informed the CPT that a methodological note ("Guiding
principles for nursing and caring activities in homes for patients with
obsessive or psychiatric disorders"), drafted by the Hungarian Psychiatric
Society, had already prohibited the use of such net-beds in care homes for
psychiatric patients. However, a recent survey on restrictive measures, methods
and instruments conducted by the competent authorities showed that net-beds
were still in use in 30 % of such care homes. As a consequence, the local
authorities and the directors of the institutions concerned had once again been
instructed immediately to discontinue the use of net-beds. In addition, a
special rapporteur had been designated to supervise their effective removal.
The CPT welcomes these measures and would
like to receive in due course the findings of the special rapporteur.
158. On account of
their vulnerability, the mentally ill and mentally handicapped warrant
particular attention in order to prevent any form of conduct - or avoid any
omission - contrary to their well-being. It follows that involuntary placement
in a psychiatric establishment should always be surrounded by appropriate
safeguards.
159. In this
context, the CPT attaches much importance to involuntary patients receiving
appropriate information about their situation and being in a position to
maintain contact with the outside world. Further, effective complaint and
inspection procedures are fundamental safeguards which should be in place.
160. Staff
indicated in the two establishments visited that no written information
was provided to patients/residents and/or family members, whether on admission
or later. Information was said to be provided orally by staff, either
individually or in collective sessions. The
CPT recommends that a booklet setting out the establishments' routine and
patient's rights and duties be issued to every patient on admission, as well as
to their families. This booklet should also identify a clearly-designated body
to which patients can address complaints in a confidential manner (cf. also
paragraph 162 below).
161. As concerns contact
with the outside world, the situation in both establishments was generally
satisfactory. Patients at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital could receive visits
(80 % of them were regularly visited). At Ludanyhalaszi Care Home, there was an
open day each week, but visitors could come on other days, if they wished. In
addition, a room for prolonged family visits was at the disposal of residents
who were married or had an established partner. Moreover, the local village
community seemed to be closely involved with the situation of the residents.
Further,
patients/residents in both establishments had access to the telephone and could
send and receive correspondence.
162. As regards complaints,
the delegation was informed at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital that a weekly
meeting was organised between staff and patients within the units. Furthermore, a special procedure was followed when
a patient was discharged from the Hospital. The patient could fill in a
confidential questionnaire, touching upon a range of issues, that was sent
directly to a special Board, made up of a lawyer and lay members of the
community. The psychiatric units were subsequently informed orally by the Board
of any shortcomings recorded.
Another approach was followed at
Ludanyhalaszi Care Home. Every week, all staff - including administrative and
support staff - and residents had group meetings in the Units. The proceedings
were recorded and the problems raised were discussed in a follow-up meeting.
Further, a Board consisting of a representative of the local authority, a
member of the County Social Committee, the Director, the Chief Nurse of the
home and two residents met to review residents' complaints. The Board had met
three times in the past two years to consider minor disputes.
The CPT recommends that the above-mentioned
procedures be supplemented by a formal complaints procedure; specific
arrangements should exist enabling patients to lodge formal complaints with a
clearly-designated body and to communicate on a confidential basis with an
appropriate authority outside the establishment.
163. In the same
context, and having regard to information gathered at Balassagyarrmat General
Hospital, the CPT recommends that steps be taken to ensure
that all written communications addressed to the European Court of Human Rights
and the CPT are transmitted to those bodies in confidence and without delay.
164. As regards external
supervision, the local court (a magistrate and a lawyer) held a session
every Friday at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital, in order to interview
recently admitted involuntary patients or to take a decision on the
prolongation of the placement of other patients; however, its role was far from
amounting to the inspection of patients' care. At Ludanyhalaszi Care Home for
psychiatric patients, a review had recently been conducted in order to assess
the conditions before delivering an extension of the operating licence. The
on-site inspection - which is made every three years - took approximately two
weeks and a report was produced after six weeks. No other form of independent
monitoring was noted.
The CPT recommends that steps be taken to ensure that all psychiatric
establishments in Hungary - including care homes for psychiatric patients - are
visited, on a regular basis, by an independent outside body responsible for the
inspection of patients' care. This body should be authorised, in particular, to
talk privately with patients/residents, receive directly any complaints which
they might have and make any necessary recommendations.
165. At Balassagyarrmat
General Hospital, involuntary admissions are regulated by the new Health
Act (July 1998), which provides for two distinct procedures:
- a normal
procedure, whereby a patient can be hospitalised against his/her will, for
reason of dangerousness, after a court decision has been taken on the
initiative of a psychiatrist;
- an emergency procedure, whereby a patient can be hospitalised at a
doctors' request, for reason of severe dangerousness, with a court having to
examine whether the doctor's decision was justified within 72 hours of
admission.
In the course of such procedures,
the relevant court holds hearings with the patient, as well as with an
independent forensic medical expert and the doctor who initiated the placement.
Further, the patient has a right to free legal representation. Such involuntary
placement in psychiatric hospitals is reviewed by the court every 30 days.
166. The safeguards
applicable to involuntary placement in a psychiatric hospital in Hungary seem
therefore to be satisfactory, at least in theory. However, during its visit to
Balassagyarrmat General Hospital, the CPT discovered a practice which gives
grounds for concern. The Director of Unit 1 - and Chief Doctor at County level
- informed the delegation that it was difficult for him to say which of his 83
patients were there on a voluntarily basis and which were not. He described a
process by which patients usually came to the psychiatric units of their own
volition, normally with a referral from their family doctor. Those who came
against their will (mainly in an emergency) were the subject of notification
from the psychiatric unit concerned to the local court; however, "usually,
within a few days, they agreed to be voluntary patients".
Further discussion with other
medical staff members revealed that the placement of patients in the
psychiatric units might involve "different degrees of voluntariness"
and that there appeared, in practice, to be no involuntary patients in the
Units. At one end of the spectrum were the "fully voluntary" patients
suffering from neurosis; at the other end, even legally incompetent patients
were apparently considered to be voluntary patients. Perusal of the Unit 1
admissions' register revealed that since 1st
January 1999, only four cases had been initially logged as non voluntary
patients (out of a total of 2139 admissions) and that of these, only one was
recorded as refusing placement at the expiration of the 72 hours period
following admission.
Nevertheless, patients
surrendered their identity cards on admission and a private security guard
placed at the entrance to the psychiatric units controlled, on the doctor's
instructions, the exit of patients from the building.
167. In order to
assess the precise legal situation of the patients of Units 1 & 2, the
delegation decided to meet the magistrate and the patients' lawyer concerned at
the local courthouse. The delegation requested to consult the orders for
compulsory placement issued by the court in 1999 under the Health Act (cf.
paragraph 7). The magistrate initially refused to accede to the delegations'
request and subsequently proved unable to produce any example of an involuntary
placement order, even when the details of the case referred to in paragraph 166
(second sub-paragraph) were communicated by the delegation. A request to see an
uncompleted pro-forma of an involuntary placement order also proved
unsuccessful.
It emerged that, in practice, the
main function of the regular hearings conducted by the court at the hospital
was to gain patients' agreement to placement when this agreement was not forthcoming
on admission. The magistrate described the role of the court as "to
explain the benefit of treatment. We promise them that we will review it each
week." The magistrate however acknowledged that review was not automatic
for patients who agreed to placement and that in such a case, the patient had
to request a review by the court.
168. After careful
examination, including discussions with medical staff at Balassagyarrmat
General Hospital and with the magistrate and the patients' lawyer at the local
court, it became clear to the delegation that, by a process of "concerted
persuasion" on the part of the medical staff at the hospital, the
magistrate in charge of such cases, and the lawyer entrusted with the defence
of such patients, virtually all patients admitted to the psychiatric units
were, during the requisite period of 72 hours from admission, brought to
acceptance of placement as a voluntary patient. Once this agreement was
achieved, the voluntary status of the patient obviated the requirement for
regular legal oversight, unless a patient specifically requested a review.
The practice observed could well
be considered as de facto
circumventing safeguards for involuntary psychiatric patients. The CPT would like to receive the comments
of the Hungarian authorities on this subject.
169. The placement
of patients at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home is regulated by the Social Care
Act of 1993. The usual process of placement at the Care Home (80 % of the residents) involved a
recommendation for total/partial guardianship from the Chief Psychiatrist at
Balassagyarrmat General Hospital (most of the residents had been placed at the
Care Home following long periods at the hospital's psychiatric units) and a
placement letter from Nograd County Authority; for the remaining 20 %
residents, placement followed a specific request addressed to the county
authorities by the patients' relatives.
The court hearing to decide
whether the person concerned was competent or incompetent and whether
guardianship should be limited or total was held in the presence of the
patient; it also included an independent psychiatric opinion. As the judicial
decision-making process about guardianship took some time (six months at
least), a system of temporary guardianship was often used; it could last for up
to one year, while the court decision was pending.
The delegation was informed that
the Social Care Act had been amended in 1999 and that a special committee had
been set up in September 1999 to set out more detailed recommendations about
the legal protection of residents placed in social care homes. The CPT would like to receive, in due
course, a copy of the above-mentioned recommendations.
170. Residents
were occasionally granted probationary adaptation leave, if their relatives agreed.
Such a case was in progress at the time of the visit: if the probationary
period went well, the person would be granted permanent leave and adopted.
However, as already indicated, discharge from the Care Home was a very rare
occurrence (cf. paragraph 132), mainly because of the lack of adequate
care/accommodation in the outside community. For persons to remain deprived of
their liberty as a result of the absence of appropriate external facilities is
a highly questionable state of affairs. The
CPT would like to receive the views of the Hungarian authorities on this
subject.
171. Since 1993,
Budapest Military Prison is the only military prison in Hungary, following its
fusion with Budapest Military Prison and the former Disciplinary Department of
the Hungarian Army. The establishment is used for the incarceration of all
military personnel (including police, border guards, civil defence and prison
personnel) remanded in custody or sentenced to prison sentences of two months
to one year. Sentences longer than one year are served in civilian prisons.
The rules
governing the prison were elaborated jointly by the Ministry of Defence and the
Ministry of Justice. Guards are not armed and overall security relies heavily
on 14 surveillance cameras.
The
establishment has a capacity of 250 and was accommodating 26 prisoners at the
time of the visit.
172. No allegations
of torture or other forms of ill-treatment were heard - and the delegation
gathered no other evidence of such treatment - of prisoners by staff in the
establishment. Further, the atmosphere in the establishment was relaxed.
173. The overall material
conditions at Budapest Military Prison were much better than those observed
in civilian prisons. Prisoners were accommodated in spacious dormitories, each
equipped with seven beds, located on the second floor of the building. The
dormitories had cupboards, chairs and a table. All doors were unlocked
throughout the day (with the notable exception of dormitories accommodating
remand prisoners).
As regards
the activities offered to prisoners, they attended 3 hours of military
theory daily and worked 3 hours per day (including work in the kitchen,
domestic duties, etc.). According to the prisoners interviewed, the regime was
comparable to any other military establishment throughout the country. The
prison had a library (14.000 titles), music and video rooms, a recreation and
fitness rooms and, a theatre group (10 to 12 detainees).
As far as visits
are concerned, they were possible every fortnight and a prisoner could be
visited by three persons at a time. Telephone calls were possible daily,
for a maximum duration of 10 minutes.
174. Medical
care was provided by a general practitioner, four days a week, and a nurse was
present 24 hours per day. All newly arrived prisoners were subject to a medical
check-up on admission. If need be, surgical interventions were carried out at
Tököl Military Hospital.
The system
of inspection was similar to the one for civilian prisons: a military
prosecutor visited the establishment at least once per month and reported to
the Military Prosecutor General.
175. The CPT's
delegation heard a number of allegations of physical ill-treatment by
the police, in particular as regards police establishments in Budapest,
Debrecen and Hajdúhadház. Most of the allegations related to police
interrogations; some allegations referred to the time of apprehension and/or
transport to a police establishment.
The great
majority of the allegations heard were consistent as regards the form of
ill-treatment inflicted. Persons alleged that they had been struck with
truncheons, punched, kicked, or slapped by police officers. In addition, verbal
abuse of persons detained by the police was apparently common. Foreign
nationals, juveniles and Roma seemed to be particularly at risk of such
ill-treatment. In some cases, the delegation gathered medical evidence
consistent with allegations of ill-treatment.
In the light of all the
information gathered during the 1999 visit, the CPT has emphasised that it
remains concerned about the treatment of persons detained by the police in
Hungary.
176. The CPT has
reiterated several recommendations already made in its 1994 visit report
concerning, in particular, the use of force by police officers and the medical
examination of persons in police custody. Moreover, the CPT has recommended
that training programmes for police officers be reviewed in order to integrate
human rights concepts into practical professional training for handling
high-risk situations, such as the apprehension and interrogation of criminal
suspects.
The CPT has
indicated that it retains misgivings about the dual allegiance of police
doctors and the compatibility of their position with professional medical
ethics. Further, it has expressed concern about the practice followed by police
officers of formally advising detained persons who have manifested their wish
to register a complaint that to defame a police officer is a criminal offence;
such a practice could easily discourage a person who has been ill-treated by
the police from lodging a complaint.
177. The
information gathered in the course of the 1999 visit also indicates that there
remains room for improvement concerning formal safeguards against
ill-treatment of persons detained by the police. The CPT has in particular
recommended that steps be taken to ensure that persons in police custody enjoy
an effective right of access to a lawyer, as from the very outset of their
deprivation of liberty (including persons who are not in a position to pay for
legal services).
178. As regards conditions of detention in
police establishments, the CPT's visit in 1999 revealed that much still needs
to be done to meet the criteria set out by the Committee in its 1994 visit
report and to implement in practice the requirements laid down in the 1995
Decree of the Minister of Interior on this subject. The CPT has recommended
that appropriate steps be taken to ensure that material conditions of detention
in all police establishments in Hungary meet the above-mentioned criteria.
179. The CPT has
welcomed the adoption of the new Law on Criminal Procedure, which stipulates in
section 135 that pre-trial detention must be carried out in remand prisons.
However, it is highly regrettable that the entry into force of that Law has
been delayed until January 2003. In the meantime, steps must be taken to
improve the situation of remand prisoners held in police establishments.
The CPT has called upon the Hungarian authorities to
ensure that all remand prisoners held in police establishments are offered at
least one hour of outdoor exercise every day, and to make genuine efforts to
offer some sort of activities to such prisoners. Further, the Committee has
recommended that the possibility be explored of accelerating the entry into
force of section 135 of the new Law.
180. The CPT's
delegation heard two allegations of physical ill-treatment of residents
by Border Guard staff at the Nyírbátor Community Shelter. Further, many
allegations of verbal abuse were received and the delegation observed itself
that staff-resident relations were strained. The Committee has recommended that
the Border Guard staff assigned to Nyírbátor receive the clear message that all
forms of ill-treatment, including verbal abuse, are not acceptable and will be
the subject of severe sanctions.
The
situation was much more favourable at the Budapest Airport Community Shelter.
No allegations of ill-treatment were received and staff-resident relations were
clearly relaxed.
181. As regards living
conditions, the Nyírbátor Community Shelter displayed a number of negative
factors - poor material conditions, in particular in buildings 2 and 3; absence
of activities; lack of regular outdoor exercise; inadequate medical/psychiatric
care; linguistic barriers and lack of information for foreigners regarding
their situation - which for many of the foreigners concerned clearly rendered
their stay in the shelter intolerable. Not surprisingly, cases of
self-mutilation, hunger strikes and suicide attempts, vandalism and violence
were a common occurrence. The CPT has made a number of recommendations designed
to remedy these deficiencies.
The CPT has recommended that
immediate measures be taken to improve material conditions in the shelter and,
in particular, in buildings 2 and 3. Particular attention should be accorded to
the maintenance of an acceptable level of collective and individual hygiene, as
well as to the repair of the heating system.
As for the regime in the shelter,
the CPT has recommended that immediate steps be taken in order to ensure that
all residents are guaranteed at least one hour of outdoor exercise per day. Further,
residents should be offered a wider range of activities and specific measures
are required in order to ensure that minors are offered activities suitable to
their age. The longer the period for which persons are detained, the more
developed should be the activities offered to them.
The CPT's delegation made an
immediate observation under Article 8 (5) of the Convention, requesting the
immediate increase of medical and psychological services at Nyírbátor Community
Shelter. The need for such an increase was recognised by the Hungarian
authorities. In this context, the CPT has recommended that the shelter be
provided with its own medical doctor, working on at least a half-time basis,
and that residents at the shelter be offered on a regular basis the services of
a gynaecologist, a paediatrician, a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
182. Living
conditions at Budapest Airport Community Shelter were in all respects
considerably better than at Nyírbátor, and call for no particular comment from
the CPT.
183. The staff at centres for foreign nationals
have a particularly onerous task and, consequently, should be carefully
selected and receive appropriate training. In this connection, the CPT has
recommended that the selection and training of Border Guard staff assigned to
Nyírbátor Community Shelter be reviewed, in the light of various criteria
identified by the Committee. Further, bearing in mind the presence of many
women and young children at the shelter, efforts should be made to employ a
certain number of female staff members, to work in direct contact with
residents.
184. The CPT's
delegation heard no allegations of torture or other forms of physical ill-treatment
by staff in any of the prison establishments visited or in other prisons in
Hungary; nor was any other evidence of such treatment found during the visit. A
few allegations of verbal abuse by staff were heard at Tököl Prison and Remand
Centre for Adolescents; however, on the whole, the relations between staff and
prisoners in all the establishments visited were found to be positive.
185. The facts
found during the 1999 visit revealed that the Hungarian prison system continued
to be blighted by the phenomenon of overcrowding. Whilst acknowledging
the efforts made to address this problem, the CPT has stressed that providing
additional accommodation is unlikely on its own to offer a lasting solution.
The Committee has recommended that the Hungarian authorities pursue vigorously
the implementation of a whole range of measures designed to combat prison
overcrowding, taking into account principles already set out in Recommendations
of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
186. The CPT has
serious misgivings about certain aspects of the conditions in which Grade 4
prisoners (i.e. prisoners considered as dangerous) were being held. Means
of restraint (such as handcuffs and/or anklecuffs) were routinely applied to
such prisoners when outside their cells; further, some of them were kept for
some considerable time in isolation and had particular difficulties to receive
visits and have access to a telephone. The Committee has recommended that
immediate steps be taken to review current practice concerning the use of means
of restraint vis-ŕ-vis Grade 4 prisoners and, more generally, to review the
regime applied to such prisoners, with a view to ensuring that they are
guaranteed appropriate human contact. The Committee has also set out specific
procedural safeguards that should be offered to Grade 4 prisoners.
187. The conditions
of detention of prisoners at Budapest Remand Prison had worsened since
the 1994 visit, mainly because of the overcrowding. However, the CPT has been
informed that this problem would be solved in the very near future, with the
entry into service of a new remand prison in Budapest in June 2000. In this
context, the CPT has recommended that vigorous efforts be made to develop a
satisfactory programme of activities for prisoners in both Budapest remand
establishments. The Committee has also reiterated the recommendation made in
the 1994 visit report, that all prisoners be offered at least one hour of
outdoor exercise every day.
188. Conditions
of detention at Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents remained
quite acceptable. However, the CPT is still concerned about conditions in the
reception and segregation/disciplinary units. The Committee has recommended
that measures be taken to improve access to natural light, artificial lighting
and ventilation in the segregation/disciplinary cells, and requested
information about plans to construct a new reception unit. As regards the
regime, the CPT once again gained a positive impression of the
multidisciplinary approach adopted at Tököl Prison and Remand Centre for
Adolescents. However, it has reiterated the recommendation made after the 1994
visit that steps be taken to ensure that all prisoners are offered one hour of
outdoor exercise every day.
189. Veszprém
Prison was seriously overcrowded and in an advanced state of dilapidation;
further, nothing remotely resembling a regime of activities was offered to
prisoners. The CPT has, in particular,
recommended that steps be taken to reduce the cell occupancy rates to an
acceptable level (a standard of 4 m˛ per prisoner might usefully be adopted for
this purpose), and that means of improving ventilation in the cells be
explored. In addition, all prisoners should be able to spend a reasonable part
of the day outside their cells, engaged in purposeful activities of a varied
nature.
190. The CPT also
addresses a number of health care issues concerning prisons. In
particular, the Committee has recommended that certain vacant medical posts be
filled without delay at the Budapest and Tököl Prisons, and that Veszprém
Prison be provided with its own doctor, working on at least a half-time basis.
The CPT has also recommended that
the Hungarian authorities bring their HIV policy into line with the relevant
international standards, in particular those established by the World Health
Organisation and the Council of Europe, and that staff working in prison
establishments be provided with ongoing training in the preventive measures to
be taken and the attitudes to be adopted regarding HIV-positivity and given
appropriate instructions concerning non-discrimination and confidentiality. In
this connection, the Committee has stressed that there is no medical
justification for the segregation of a prisoner solely on the grounds that he
is HIV positive.
191. The delegation
heard no allegations - and gathered no other evidence - of the ill-treatment
of patients by staff at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital and Ludanyhalaszi Care
Home for psychiatric patients. The atmosphere in the two establishments was
relaxed and the approach of the medical and nursing staff appeared professional
and caring towards their patients/residents.
192. Patients'
living conditions in the two psychiatric units of Balassagyarrmat General
Hospital were good, and the level of medical and nursing staff at the
Hospital seemed satisfactory. However, the CPT has
recommended that all non bed-ridden patients be allowed to wear their own
clothes during the day or be provided with appropriate non-uniform garments.
As regards treatment, the
Committee has recommended that efforts be made to increase the number of
psychiatric patients taking part in therapeutic and rehabilitative activities
and to offer a wider range of such activities. Further, steps should be taken
to update and complete the equipment in the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
room or, alternatively, to have ECT administered in the hospital's intensive
care unit. In addition, recourse to ECT should be recorded in detail.
193. Patients'
living conditions at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home varied from good in the
most recent building to unsatisfactory in Unit 6. The CPT has recommended that
a high priority be given to existing plans for the reconstruction of the latter
Unit. The Committee has also welcomed planned improvements to the Home's
kitchen and laundry.
On staff matters, the Committee
has recommended that the presence of psychiatrists and general practitioners at
the Care Home be substantially increased, to reach at least the equivalent of
one full time position of psychiatrist and one full time position of a general
practitioner. The number of nurses with relevant specialist qualifications
should also be increased, and psychologist and physiotherapist services should
be attached to the Home.
The CPT has also invited the
Hungarian authorities further to develop rehabilitative and therapeutic
activities at the Care Home, including better access to occupational therapy,
group therapy, individual psychotherapy, art, drama, music and sports.
194. As regards means
of restraint, the CPT has in particular highlighted the situation of a
resident at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home who was living in a net-bed ("halos
agy"). The placement of patients in such facilities cannot be considered,
in modern psychiatric practice, as a valid method of intensive care for
patients in a stage of agitation. Consequently, at the end of the visit, the
Committee's delegation requested that all net-beds be immediately withdrawn
from service throughout the country. The CPT has welcomed the measures taken by
the Hungarian authorities to comply with that request.
More
generally, the CPT has recommended that a clear written policy on the use of
means of restraint be established at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital and
Ludanyhalaszi Care Home (and, as appropriate, at other psychiatric
establishments in Hungary), taking into account criteria identified by the
Committee.
195. The CPT has
made a number of recommendation concerning safeguards in the context of
involuntary placement (information to be provided to patients, complaints
procedures, external supervision). Further, the Committee has expressed concern
as regards the practice observed at Balassagyarrmat of persuading patients to
accept placement in the General Hospital on a voluntary basis; that practice
could well be considered as de facto circumventing safeguards for involuntary
psychiatric patients.
196. No allegations
were heard - and no other evidence gathered - of ill-treatment of prisoners at
the Budapest Military Prison. Further, both the material conditions of detention
and the activities offered to prisoners were satisfactory, as were the
arrangements for medical care.
197. The various
recommendations, comments and requests for information formulated by the CPT
are listed in Appendix I.
198. As regards
more particularly the CPT's recommendations, having regard to Article 10
of the Convention, the Committee requests the Hungarian authorities to provide
within six months a report providing a full account of action taken to
implement the recommendations.
The CPT trusts that it will also
be possible for the Hungarian authorities to provide in the above-mentioned
report reactions to the comments formulated in this report which are
listed in Appendix I as well as replies to the requests for information
made.
A. Establishments under the
authority of the Ministry of Interior
1. Torture and other
forms of ill-treatment
recommendations
- police officers to be
reminded that no more force than is reasonably necessary should be used when
effecting an arrest and that once arrested persons have been brought under
control, there can never be any justification for them being struck (paragraph
19);
- senior police officers
to deliver to their subordinates the clear message that the ill-treatment of
detained persons is not acceptable and will be the subject of severe sanctions
(paragraph 19);
- training programmes
for police officers to be reviewed in the light of the remarks made in
paragraph 21 (paragraph 21);
- the results of every
medical examination, as well as any relevant statements by the detainee and
the doctor's conclusions, to be recorded in writing by the doctor and made
available to the detainee and his lawyer (paragraph 22);
- existing procedures to be reviewed in order to ensure that
whenever injuries are recorded by a doctor which are consistent with
allegations of ill-treatment made by a detained person, the record is
systematically brought to the attention of the relevant prosecutor
(paragraph 22);
- all medical
examinations to be conducted out of the hearing and - unless the doctor concerned requests otherwise in a particular
case - out of the sight of police officers (paragraph 23).
requests
for information
- any preventive
measures taken with a view to providing support for police officers exposed to
highly stressful or violent situations (paragraph 20);
- developments
concerning the hierarchical allegiance of police doctors (paragraph 25);
- for
1999:
· the
number of complaints of ill-treatment by the police lodged and the number of
disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings initiated as a result of those
complaints;
· an
account of disciplinary/criminal sanctions imposed on the grounds of
ill-treatment by the police (paragraph 26);
- the comments of the Hungarian
authorities on the practice of formally advising detained persons manifesting
their wish to register a complaint against the police, that to defame a police
officer is a criminal offence in Hungary (paragraph 27);
- the measures taken by
the Hungarian authorities to combat the phenomenon of inter-detainee violence
in police establishments (paragraph 28).
2. Safeguards against
ill-treatment of persons detained by the police
recommendations
- the possibility to delay the exercise
by detained persons of the right to inform a relative or third party of their
situation to be made subject to appropriate safeguards (eg. any delay to be
recorded in writing together with the reasons therefor and to require the
approval of a public prosecutor) and strictly limited in time (paragraph 30);
- steps to be taken to ensure that
persons in police custody benefit from an effective right of access to a
lawyer, as from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty (paragraph 31);
- the system of legal
aid to detainees to be reviewed, in order to ensure its effectiveness
throughout the procedure, including at the initial stage of police custody
(paragraph 32);
- a form setting out in
a straightforward manner the rights of persons detained by the police to be
systematically given to such persons, at the outset of their custody. This form
should be available in an appropriate range of languages (paragraph 33);
- the possibility of
further developing the use of electronic recording of police interrogations to
be explored (paragraph 35);
-
appropriate steps to
be taken to ensure that the return of remand prisoners to police custody for further
questioning is only sought and authorised when it is absolutely unavoidable
(paragraph 36).
requests
for information
- developments
concerning the preparation of a body of rules concerning criminal investigation
by the police (including police interrogation) (paragraph 34);
- confirmation that
the different safeguards against ill-treatment by the police (e.g. notification
of custody, access to a lawyer and doctor, information on rights) are
guaranteed to all persons deprived of their liberty by the police, irrespective
of the legal basis for the deprivation of liberty (paragraph 38).
3. Conditions of
detention
recommendations
- measures to be taken without further delay to
implement the recommendation already set out in paragraph 34 of its 1994 visit
report, concerning the improvement of material conditions at the 5th District Police Station and the Police
Central Holding Facility in Budapest (paragraph 40);
- steps to be taken to improve the
material conditions of detention at Debrecen and Hajdúhadház police
establishments, in the light of the remarks in paragraph 41 and the general
criteria set out in paragraph 27 of the 1994 visit report (paragraph 41);
- appropriate steps to be taken to
ensure that material conditions of detention in all police establishments in
Hungary meet the general criteria set out by the CPT in paragraph 27 of its
1994 visit report, as well as those set out in the 1995 Decree of the Minister
of Interior (paragraph 41);
- the recommendation
made by the Committee some 5 years ago, that immediate steps be taken to ensure
that all remand prisoners held in police establishments are offered at least
one hour of outdoor exercise every day, to be implemented (paragraph 44);
- genuine efforts to be made to offer
some form of activities to remand prisoners held in police establishments
(paragraph 44);
- the possibility of accelerating the
entry into force of section 135 of Law N° XIX to be explored (paragraph
44);
- appropriate measures
to be taken to ensure that the possibility offered by paragraph 2 of section
135 of Law N° XIX, to have remand prisoners kept on police premises for a
certain period, is only resorted to in exceptional cases (paragraph 44);
- steps to be taken in
order to ensure that the precepts referred to in paragraph 45 concerning the
preparation of medication and medical confidentiality are fully respected in
practice (paragraph 45).
comments
- the ventilation in the cells at the 8th District Police Station in Budapest
left something to be desired (paragraph 40).
requests for
information
- confirmation that
the holding cells at Budai Street Police Station in Debrecen have been
renovated (paragraph 41).
4. Border Guard
Community Shelters
a. introduction
requests for information
- the comments of the
Hungarian authorities on the subjects raised in paragraph 47
(paragraph 47).
b. Nyírbátor Community Shelter
recommendations
- male and female residents to be, as a
rule, accommodated separately, unless the residents concerned expressed the wish
to be placed together with persons with whom they share an emotional or
cultural affinity. In addition, minors should be separated from adults with
whom they are not family-related (paragraph 50);
- Border Guard staff at the shelter to
be reminded that once a resident who resists authority or attempts to escape
has been brought under control, there can be no justification for him being
struck. They should also receive the clear message that all forms of
ill-treatment, including verbal abuse, are not acceptable and will be the
subject of severe sanctions (paragraph 52);
- the official capacity of the shelter
to be reduced. The standard of 4 m˛ per resident might usefully be adopted for
this purpose (paragraph 54);
- immediate measures to be taken to
improve material conditions in the shelter and, in particular, in buildings 2
and 3. Particular attention should be accorded to the maintenance of an
acceptable level of collective and individual hygiene, as well as to the repair
of the heating system (paragraph 57);
- steps to be taken in order to remedy
the shortcoming observed concerning food for young children and babies
(paragraph 58);
- immediate steps to be taken in order
to ensure that all residents at the shelter (and in other community shelters
throughout Hungary) are guaranteed at least one hour of outdoor exercise per
day (paragraph 60);
- residents in the
shelter (as well as in other such shelters throughout Hungary) to be offered a
wider range of activities. Ensuring access to a wide variety of reading
materials, in an appropriate range of languages, and diversifying the means of
recreation are examples of the steps required. Specific measures should be
taken in order to ensure that minors are offered activities suitable to their
age, in particular, sports and education. The recruitment of educators or
social workers should also be considered. The longer the period for which
persons are detained, the more developed should be the activities which are
offered to them (paragraph 60);
- the selection and
training of Border Guard staff assigned to the shelter to be reviewed, in the
light of the remarks made in paragraph 62. Further, efforts should be made to
employ a certain number of female Border Guard staff members, to work in direct
contact with the residents at the shelter (paragraph 62) ;
- the House Rules to be
provided in a wider range of frequently spoken languages (paragraph 63);
- steps to be taken in order to ensure
that all residents are duly informed about their rights and obligations, as
well as of the nature and state of the proceedings in their case (paragraph
64);
- the time allowed for visits to be
increased to one hour a week (paragraph 65);
- the shelter to be
provided with its own medical doctor, working on at least a half-time basis
(paragraph 69);
- regular availability of the services
of a gynaecologist, a paediatrician, a psychiatrist and a psychologist to be
offered at the shelter (paragraph 69).
comments
- many
complaints were heard to the effect that postage stamps were not available in
the shelter's shop (paragraph 65);
- all residents at the shelter should
have access to preservative dental treatment, including those without the means
to pay for such treatment themselves (paragraph 70).
requests
for information
- the comments of the
Hungarian authorities on the issues concerning food raised in paragraph 58
(paragraph 58);
- the steps taken to
enhance the level of health care provided at the shelter (paragraph 69).
c. Budapest
Airport
comments
- the Hungarian authorities are invited
to explore the possibility of bringing back into service the two Border Guard
detention rooms at Budapest Airport Terminal (paragraph 77).
requests
for information
- further details concerning the new
community shelter to be opened at the airport (e.g. capacity, material conditions, regime activities, etc.)
(paragraph 76).
d.
other issues
recommendations
- steps to be taken to ensure that any
provision of medication to persons subject to an expulsion order is only done
on the basis of a medical decision and in accordance with medical ethics
(paragraph 81).
requests
for information
- the views of the Hungarian authorities
on the consideration that every decision involving the removal of a person from
a State's territory should be appealable before another body of an independent
nature prior to its implementation (paragraph 80);
- details of the training of ORMA
officials and of the sources of information used by them when assessing the
human rights situation in other countries (paragraph 80);
- whether specific guidelines have been
drafted concerning the means of coercion that can be used in the context of
expulsion procedures (paragraph 81).
B. Establishments under the
authority of the Ministry of Justice
1. Preliminary remarks
recommendations
- the implementation of the whole range
of measures designed to combat prison overcrowding to be vigorously pursued,
taking into account the considerations set out in paragraph 89 and the
recommendations referred to therein (paragraph 90).
2. Torture and other
forms of physical ill-treatment
requests
for information
- for 1999 and 2000:
·the number of complaints of
ill-treatment lodged against prison officers in Hungary;
·an account of disciplinary and/or
criminal sanctions imposed following such complaints (paragraph 92).
3. Grade 4 prisoners
recommendations
- a prisoner who is placed in a Grade 4
regime by the judicial or prison authorities or whose placement in such a
regime is renewed to be informed in writing of the reasons for that measure (it
being understood that the reasons given could exclude information which
security requirements reasonably justify withholding from the prisoner)
(paragraph 98);
- a prisoner in respect of whom such a
measure is envisaged to be given an opportunity to express his views on the
matter (paragraph 98);
- the placement of a
prisoner in such a regime to be as short as possible and reviewed at least
every three months (paragraph 98);
- immediate steps to be taken to
review the practice concerning the use of means of restraint vis-ŕ-vis Grade 4
prisoners, in the light of the remarks made in paragraph 100
(paragraph 100);
- the regime applied to Grade 4
prisoners, in particular as concerns isolation, visits and access to the
telephone, to be reviewed. Above all, it must be ensured that such prisoners
are guaranteed appropriate human contact (paragraph 101).
4. Conditions of
detention
a. Budapest Remand Prison
recommendations
- vigorous efforts to be made to
develop a satisfactory programme of activities for prisoners in both Budapest
Remand establishments (paragraph 105);
- all
prisoners to be offered at least one hour of outdoor exercise every day (paragraph 105).
requests
for information
- confirmation that the new remand
establishment in Budapest is now operational and information on the number of
prisoners accommodated in both Budapest Remand establishments (paragraph 102).
b. Tököl
Prison and Remand Centre for Adolescents
recommendations
- efforts to be made to ensure a better
use of the number of cells available in the reception unit and regular cleaning
of the premises, in particular of the sanitary annexes (paragraph 107);
- measures to be taken
to improve access to natural light, artificial lighting and ventilation in the
segregation/disciplinary cells. In addition, the toilets should be repaired
(paragraph 108);
- steps to be taken to ensure that
prisoners are offered one hour of outdoor exercise per day (paragraph 110).
comments
- the
detention units were still somewhat austere (paragraph 106).
requests for information
- further details on the new reception
unit (paragraph 107).
c. Veszprém Prison
recommendations
- steps to be taken to reduce the cell
occupancy rates to an acceptable level. A standard of 4 m˛ per prisoner might
usefully be adopted for this purpose (paragraph 112);
- prisoners to be offered the
opportunity to take at least one hot shower per week (paragraph 112);
- means to be
explored of improving ventilation in the cells (paragraph 112);
- the two cells measuring 3m˛ each,
used for temporary accommodation of new arrivals and for punishment purposes,
to be immediately withdrawn from service (paragraph 113);
- steps to be taken in
order to ensure that:
·
all prisoners spend a reasonable part of
the day (i.e. 8 hours or more) outside their cells, engaged in purposeful
activities of a varied nature (work, preferably with vocational value,
education, recreation/association);
·
all prisoners are offered at least one
hour of outdoor exercise every day (paragraph 114).
comments
- prisoners were not
allowed to have a radio/TV in their cells (paragraph 114).
requests
for information
- detailed information
on the new prison scheduled to enter into service in 2002 (paragraph 115).
5. Health care services
recommendations
- the two vacant posts of psychologists
at Budapest Remand Prison to be filled without further delay (paragraph 117);
- immediate steps to be
taken to ensure that at least one of the doctors' posts at Tököl Remand Prison
and Centre for Adolescents is filled without delay (paragraph 118);
- Veszprém Prison to be
provided with its own doctor, working on at least a half-time basis (paragraph
119);
- the Hungarian HIV policy to be
brought into line with the relevant international standards, in particular
those of the World Health Organisation and the Council of Europe
(paragraph 122);
- staff working in prison establishments
to be provided with ongoing training in the preventive measures to be taken and
the attitudes to be adopted regarding HIV-positivity and given appropriate
instructions concerning non-discrimination and confidentiality (paragraph
122).
comments
- a person competent to
provide first aid to be always present on prison premises, preferably someone
with a recognised nursing qualification (paragraph 119).
requests
for information
- the comments of the Hungarian
authorities on the questions raised concerning suicide prevention (paragraph
123);
- the measures envisaged by the
Hungarian authorities to address issues related to drug dependent prisoners
(paragraph 124).
6. Other issues related to the CPT's mandate
recommendations
- the visit entitlement of prisoners at
Budapest Remand Prison to be substantially increased and the possibility of
improving the conditions under which visits take place to be explored
(paragraph 125);
- visiting arrangements
at Veszprém Prison to be reviewed in order to ensure, as far as possible, that
prisoners are able to receive visits under reasonably open conditions
(paragraph 125);
- steps to be taken to
review the procedure applied to making telephone calls, in the light of the
comments made in paragraph 126. The objective should be to increase
significantly access to the telephone for prisoners; close surveillance of
telephone calls should be the exception rather than the rule (paragraph 126);
- prisoners
facing disciplinary charges to be formally accorded the following rights:
·
to be informed in writing of the charges
against them and to be provided with sufficient time to prepare their defence;
·
to call witnesses on their behalf and to
cross-examine witnesses giving evidence against them (paragraph 128).
requests
for information
- whether the practice of granting
confidential access in writing to the prison Director is followed in other
prison establishments in Hungary (paragraph 129).
C. Psychiatric establishments
1. Patients' living
conditions
recommendations
- all non bed-ridden patients at
Balassagyarrmat General Hospital to be allowed to wear their own clothes during
the day or to be provided with appropriate non-uniform garments (paragraph
135);
- the practice of using men's toilet
facilities at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital as a temporary storage place for
rubbish to cease (paragraph 136);
- a high priority be given to the
implementation of plans for the reconstruction of Unit 6 at Ludanyhalaszi Care
Home (paragraph 140).
comments
- some of the shower facilities
for men at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital were not well ventilated (paragraph
136);
- certain of the
residents rooms in Units 1 and 2 at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home were somewhat
overcrowded (paragraph 139);
- the number and the
size of the communal rooms in Units 1 and 2 at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home were
rather limited (paragraph 139);
- the CPT trusts that reconstruction of
the kitchen at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home will be accorded a high priority
(paragraph 143).
requests
for information
- details of the situation in the
refurbished premises of Unit 6 (residents' living conditions, distribution of
the residents, programme of therapeutic activities, staffing levels, etc.) at
Ludanyhalaszi Care Home (paragraph 140);
- confirmation that
separation by gender is now effective in the closed ward in Unit 6 at
Ludanyhalaszi Care Home (paragraph 141).
2. Staff and treatment
recommendations
- efforts to be made to increase the
number of psychiatric patients at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital taking part
in therapeutic and rehabilitative activities, and to offer a wider range of
such activities (paragraph 146);
- steps to be taken to update and
complete the equipment in the ECT room at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital or,
alternatively, to have ECT administered in the hospital's intensive care unit.
Further, recourse to ECT should be recorded in detail (paragraph 148);
- the presence of psychiatrists and
general practitioners at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home to be substantially increased.
That presence should be at least the equivalent of one full time position of
psychiatrist and one full time position of a general practitioner. The number
of nurses with relevant specialist qualifications should also be increased
(paragraph 149);
- steps to be taken to attach
psychologist and physiotherapist services to Ludanyhalaszi Care Home (paragraph
149);
- steps to be taken to
provide appropriate dental care to all residents at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home;
this treatment should be free of charge for those residents not in a position
to pay for it (paragraph 150).
comments
- the Hungarian authorities are invited
further to develop rehabilitative and therapeutic activities at Ludanyhalaszi
Care Home, including better access to occupational therapy, group therapy,
individual psychotherapy, art, drama, music and sports (paragraph 151);
- the Hungarian authorities are invited
to explore ways of facilitating the placement of the Care Home's residents in
half way houses (paragraph 152).
3. Means of restraint
recommendations
- a clear written policy to be
established at Balassagyarrmat General Hospital and Ludanyhalaszi Care Home
(and, as appropriate, at other psychiatric establishments in Hungary) as
regards the use of means of restraint, taking into account the remarks made in
paragraph 155 (paragraph 155).
requests
for information
- the solution subsequently found as
regards the case of the patient observed in a net-bed ("halos agy")
at Ludanyhalaszi Care Home (paragraph 156);
- the findings of the special rapporteur
designated to supervise the effective removal of net-beds in care homes for
psychiatric patients (paragraph 157).
4. Safeguards in the
context of involuntary placement
recommendations
- a booklet setting out the
establishments' routine and patient's rights and duties to be issued to every
patient on admission, as well as to their families, in the two establishments
visited. This booklet should also identify a clearly-designated body to which
patients can address complaints in a confidential manner (paragraph 160);
- the procedures concerning complaints
to be supplemented by a formal complaints procedure; specific arrangements
should exist enabling patients to lodge formal complaints with a
clearly-designated body and to communicate on a confidential basis with an
appropriate authority outside the establishment (paragraph 162);
- steps to be taken at Balassagyarrmat
General Hospital to ensure that all written communications addressed to the
European Court of Human Rights and the CPT are transmitted to those bodies in
confidence and without delay (paragraph 163);
- steps to be taken to ensure that all
psychiatric establishments in Hungary - including care homes for psychiatric
patients - are visited, on a regular basis, by an independent outside body responsible
for the inspection of patients' care. This body should be authorised, in
particular, to talk privately with patients/residents, to receive directly any
complaints which they might have and to make any necessary recommendations
(paragraph 164).
requests
for information
- the comments of the Hungarian
authorities on the practice observed at Balassagyarrmat of persuading patients
to accept placement in the General Hospital on a voluntary basis (paragraph
168);
- copy of the recommendations about the
legal protection of residents placed in social care homes drawn up by the
special committee established in September 1999 (paragraph 169);
- the views of the Hungarian authorities
on the lack of adequate care/accommodation in the outside community for
residents of social care homes (paragraph 170).
National
authorities
Ministry of Defence
Mr János SZABÓ Minister of Defence
Mr Alfred KOUHALMY
Head
of Private Office
Mr Markus ANDREAS
Ministry of Health
Mr Árpád GÓGL
Minister
of Health
Ministry of the Interior
Mr László FELKAI
Administrative Secretary of State
Mr Zsolt NEMETH Head of International Department
Ministry of Justice
Mr István SOMOGYVÁRI Administrative Secretary of State
Mr Istvan BÖKÖNYI
Head of the Prison Service
Mr Mihály TÓTH
Mr Sándor CSORDÁS
Mrs Katalin HEYMANN
Ministry of Social and Family Affairs
Mr Gyula PULAY Administrative Secretary of State
Office of the Prosecutor General
Mr János FÁBIÁN Deputy Prosecutor General
Mr György VÓKÓ
Government's liaison officer to the CPT,
Ms Eva HORVÁTH
Deputy liaison officer
Mr Miklós JORDAN
Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights
Ms Katalin GÖNCZÖL
Parliamentary
Ombudsman
Ms Erika CSORE
Deputy Ombudsman
Mr Laszlo KIS
Ms Katalin HARASZTI
Mr Miklos KARAN
Non-Governmental
Organisations
European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
Centre for Defence of Human Rights (MEJOK)
Constitutional and Legal Policy Institute (COLPI)
Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLV)
Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC)
