Staying healthy in prison – inquiries of the Ombudsman in the penitentiary institutions in Tököl

Press release:

Staying healthy in prison – inquiries of the Ombudsman in the penitentiary institutions in Tököl

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights has followed up the implementation of his recommendations made pursuant to his inquiry four years ago in the prison of young delinquents in Tököl. One more psychologist has been added to the staff, but more would be needed. The inmates can now have a shower every day, which is an improvement, but it is an inadmissible practice that convicts of younger age are allowed to smoke in their cells.

As for the recommendations the Ombudsman made one year and a half ago on the conditions in the hospital of Tököl, the addresses have partly agreed to implement the proposed measures.

Instead of the two psychologists in the Penitentiary Institution of Young Delinquents in Tököl of four years ago, there are now three psychologists treating the mental hygiene problems arising from the more and more prevalent occurrences of aggression and drug consumption there. On the other hand, the number of detainees has also increased, and the psychologists also have to look after patients in the Central Hospital of the Penal Institutions in the vicinity of the Penitentiary Institution and after the employees of the prison. The lack of psychologists directly endangers the right to mental health of minor detainees – states the Ombudsman. There are frequent problems of hygiene; minor detainees often have to be reminded of the necessity of washing. Since the inquiry, the daily showers have been made possible for each minor detainee by the institution, which the Ombudsman considers as a step forward from the situation four years ago.

In Tököl smoking and non-smoking prisoners are kept in separate cells. On this subject the Ombudsman has pointed out that in the penitentiary institutions for young delinquents it is not allowed to have cells for smokers. A considerable part of the detainees are younger than 18, and it is prohibited by law to sell or provide tobacco products for them. Máté Szabó has added that in a confined space like the cells the harmful effects of smoking tend to multiply. The Commissioner suggests that the Act on the protection of non-smokers be modified so that smoking in the cells in the penitentiary institutions for young delinquents be prohibited, since the present situation violates the right of children to protection and health.

After his inquiry into the prison hospital in Tököl, the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights proposed that the overcrowding in the cells be diminished and that prisoner transport vehicles be equipped with safety belts. As a result, the Minister of Public Administration and Justice has now informed the Commissioner on the Government's intention to build additions to existing penitentiary facilities and also to open up new buildings for such use. He has added that it is impossible and impractical to include all aspects of the living space of prisoners in rules of law, since when determining the number of detainees the staff have to take into account different criteria depending on the different penitentiary institutions and on the individual circumstances of each detainee. Accepting another recommendation of the Ombudsman, the Ministry of the Interior has made an estimate of the foreseeable costs, and by the end of 2014 prisoner transport vehicles are to be equipped with safety belts. The reason why the Ombudsman insisted on this measure is that in the past there had been accidents where detainees had suffered bodily injuries while being transported, and the consequences of could have been mitigated by having safety belts on.