Prisoners in overcrowded cells, on three-storey bunk beds – the Ombudsman on circumstances in two prisons

Press release:

Prisoners in overcrowded cells, on three-storey bunk beds – the Ombudsman on circumstances in two prisons

Máté Szabó has found the circumstances in the Pécs and Szolnok prisons inhumane and humiliating and asked the Chief Commander of the Hungarian Prison Service to take steps. In both places there are plans for improving the situation but neither has the financial means to realise them.

The number of prisoners kept in small cells significantly exceeds the allowed limit in the prisons of both Szolnok and Pécs. As a consequence there are conflicts, since confinement itself tends to cause frustration and stress. The Ombudsman considers it inhumane and humiliating treatment or punishment that in Pécs some prisoners should have to sleep on three-storey bunk beds in small cells. As for the prison of Szolnok, the Commissioner for Fundamental rights has stated again, like at other times after visiting penitentiary institutions, that separating the toilets in cells with curtains only instead of walls violates the right to a healthy environment, as well as the right to human dignity. Although the plans for new construction are ready, the amount necessary for their realisation has been blocked by the national Prison Service.

The institutions also lack a sufficient number of counsellors, so it is not possible to deal with the individual problems of convicted persons, which may indirectly violate the rights of detainees and the requirement of their humane treatment.

As the prison of Szolnok is having an invasion of cockroaches, the county head prosecutor ordered a more frequent application of pesticides. The commander of the institution bought pest traps, and he gave permission to the prisoners to buy their own traps. The Ombudsman has pointed out that according to the relevant rule of law it is the institution's duty to provide for pest control, and the prisoners may not, even partially, be made to bear its costs.

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has sent his findings to the Chief Commander of the Prison Service and asked him to have it examined how the necessary financial means could be unblocked or found for the employment of an increased number of counsellors, for the needed developments and for an appropriate level of pest control.