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Comment to the Report of the Czech Republic on performance of the obligations arising from the Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 1 Submitted by the Counselling Centre for Citizenship/Civil and Human Rights, April 2001

 

Executive Summary

The Counselling Centre for Citizenship/Civil and Human Rights ("CCC/CHR"), a non-governmental human rights organization based in Prague, respectfully submits written comments concerning the Czech Republic for consideration by the Committee Against Torture. This comments compliments the Government Country Report but additionally, provides an independent objective assessment of the implementation progress on 4 development areas namely in respect to the Article 11 of the Convention against Torture:

• material conditions in pretrial detention and prison institutions
• material conditions in department for prisoners serving the life sentence
• police violence
• egulation of institution executing institutional and preventive care

The report also points out the relationship between the government performance on the above mentioned commitments and the real situations in the Czech Republic. Last, but not the least the report attempts to suggest recommendations and remedies for the situation, in the hope that they will be implemented and that torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment will soon cease to exist.

Expertise and Interest of the CCC/CHR

The Counselling Centre for Citizenship/Civil and Human Rights is a non-governmental organization that monitors the observation of human rights in the Czech Republic and draws attention to human rights violations. Since July 1996, the organization implemented programs for the promotion of human rights, including the rights of persons deprived of liberty and the rights within the sphere of criminal justice. The main scope of organization's activities focuses on problems of the racial discrimination in the Czech Republic. CCC/CHR published numerous reports and submissions regarding the citizenship law and its amendment, the criminal code, the criminal procedural code, the law on execution of custody and imprisonment, the residency law and the law on aliens. Additionally, the organization advocates for the promotion and respect of broader application in Czech law of international human rights treaties to which the Czech Republic is bound. The activities of the CCC/CHR are based on projects funded by the Open Society Institute, the Open Society Fund, the UNHCR Prague and the Know How Fund of the British Embassy and the Fund of the Canadian Embassy.

We welcome the opportunity for the Committee to utilize our report in analyzing where the government of the Czech Republic has failed to fulfil its commitments under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

 

 

Discussion

Article 11

The Czech republic has failed to comply with its obligation to keep under systematic review rules on arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. In this regard, we would like to point out deficiencies in following conditions:

 

Material conditions

 

Cell occupancy in pre-trial detention

The Amendment to the Law No. 293/1993 of the Coll., the Law on Execution of Pre-trial Detention (further only "the Pre-trial Detention Law"), from June 2000 2 made a serious restriction as for the formal provisions regarding the material conditions which are to be offered to remand prisoners. Former provisions of the Pre-trial Detention Law granted to detainees a minimum accommodation area of least 3.5 m2 per prisoner. This obligation was drop upon a mentioned amendment and current law does not contain any guidance as for the minimum space for detainees. The reasoning of the Czech government to this measure was a need to react to a number of complaints from detainees who had been complaining against permanent violations of their rights. Their complaints had been acknowledged as legitimate but could not be remedied due to a gross overcrowding of prisons. However, we strongly believe the overcrowding of prisons is a complex problem that cannot be addressed through restricting a minimum accommodation space for individual prisoners.

 

 

Medical issues

The quality of medical service provided to prisoners is unsatisfactory. We recommend prison hospitals and prison medical centers were subordinated to the general medical system under the Ministry of Health and not the General Prisons Service. There is necessary to improve the medical staff in these institutions as there still remain a great number of individuals who are refused to be employed elsewhere (e.g alcoholics, retired persons, individuals with a prior criminal history or otherwise stigmatized individuals).

 

Visits

According to Czech Law on Imprisonment, offenders in the pre-trial detention - for the reason of the danger they will influence the investigation of circumstances important for the criminal procedure- are entitled to visits only under the conditions and approval of criminal procedure authority3. The Centre is aware that this institute is often abused in a form of pressure on offenders as the criminal procedure authorities often offer to make favorable conditions if an offender "cooperates" within the investigation. It is worthwhile to stress that the visits in the pre-trial detention are held under a close observance of the Prison staff and eventually also in a presence of criminal procedure authorities4. We recommend the above mentioned restriction did not cover the visits of closed relatives. The pre-trial detentions are generally very lengthy and thus preventing the pre-trial detainees to safeguard their relations with their family, especially with their spouse or partner and their children. The continuation of such relations can be of critical importance for all concerned.

 

Control mechanisms

Currently, there is no outside control of the prison system and there is no independent and impartial body for the review of the prisoners complaints. The existence of effective mechanisms for examining prisoners' complaints is a basic premise ill-treatment in prisons. However, the Czech prisoners do not have any avenues of complaint other then inside the context of the prison system. There are only a formal provisions both in the Law on Pre-trial Detention5 and in the Imprisonment Law6 that give the possibility to forward their complaints to bodies of the State administration of the Czech Republic. In practice, the review is entirely internal. Prisoners are submitting their complaints in the first instance to the complaint department of the prison against that the complaint is aimed. In the second instance, the complaints are reviewed by the General Directory of Prisons. The system is defective also as for the manner in that the issues in the complaint are reviewed. The officer in charge of a prison's internal complaints department enjoys specific legal authority to act as both investigating officer and adjudicator in respect of prisoners' complaints against his fellow officers, including in cases involving suspicion of criminal behavior by prison officers. The manner in which hearings into prisoners' complaints are conducted could easily dissuade them from pursuing their grievances. In particular, inmates are routinely offered the opportunity to withdraw their complaints, failing which they are required formally to declare that, if their complaints are to be adjudged unfounded, they accept that will themselves be liable to criminal prosecution.

Due to these defects of the system, only a small number of complaints is approved. For example, in 1999 there was 90.1% of all complaints by pre-trial detainees and 90.2% of all complaints of sentence prisoners was considered ill-founded; in 1998 it was 90.8% in pre-trial detention and 93.7% for the prisons; in 1997 it was 86.9% for the pre-trial detention and 92.1% for the prisons and etc.

In order to prosecute and prevent ill-treatment of prisoners, it is necessary the Czech republic established an effective and independent system of control over the prisoners complaints and measure preventing victimization of persons filling complaints.

 

Pre-trial Detention of Juveniles

In regard to the situation of pre-trial detention of juveniles (those aged 15-18 years of age) we would like to point out to the Amendment to the Pre-trial Detention Law from June 2000 dropped in general provisions governing the accommodation of prisoners the obligation to house juveniles separately from adult prisoners. The reason presented by the Government represented by the General Prison Directorate was that this would benefit those juveniles who suffer harassment from other inmates. Thus, the presence of an adult inmate can be indeed positive. However, we would like to stress out the state cannot transform the obligation to maintain the order in prisons to another prisoner. Moreover, there can hardly be expected the adult prisoners will "calm down" juvenile through adequate discussion7. This solution is placing juvenile prisoners to a danger of physical and psychological abuses of other prisoners with a support of the government. Relevant provisions must be immediately amended and juveniles housed solely with inmates of their age category.

 

Pre-trial Detention of Women with Children and Pregnant Women

The Czech legislation on execution of pre-trial detention has not been modify in order to prevent inhuman treatment of women with children or pregnant women. Current situation does not result in a violation of rights of child but often constitutes an inhuman and cruel treatment of women. For instance, on 18 January 2001 a woman (who was taken to pre-trial detention in 8th month of pregnancy) was transferred from prison to a regular hospital only for a time of birth. Immediately after giving the birth, she was escorted back to prison and the child to an orphanage. Only after two weeks, the prison gave the permission to be escorted to orphanage daily for 5 hours and breast-feed the child. We recommend the adoption of special provisions governing detention in case of pregnancy to eliminate harmful effects of current practice on mothers and their children.

 

Material Conditions in Department for Prisoners Serving the Life Sentence

The Law No. 169/1999 of the Coll., the Law on Execution of the Imprisonment Sentence (further only "the Imprisonment Law"), in connection with the provisions of the Law No. 140/1961 of the Coll., the Criminal Code, provides that the purpose of imprisonment is to protect the society from perpetrators of crimes, prevent sentenced prisoners from engaging in further criminal activities and to "educate them for proper life as a citizen"8. In furtherance of that rehabilitative aim, sentenced prisoners are to be offered a work of vocational value, as well as educational and cultural activities. Those activities are to form part of "resocialization programs", adapted to the security status of the prison concerned; such programs are to be subject to regular review. The Imprisonment Law in its further provisions that regulate the execution of the life sentence makes the exceptions from these rules as it provides that the goal of the execution of the life imprisonment is to "isolate the prisoner in a prison institution and guide his behavior in a manner to correspond with good morals"9. The provisions of the Imprisonment Law make exceptions also as for the conditions of prisoners serving the life sentence when stating "(v) visits, outdoor exercise and execution of disciplinary punishment are executed apart from other prisoners" and " life sentenced prisoners are accommodated alone"10.

As a result, inmates serving life sentences - in Mírov prison - are subjected to an extremely impoverished regime. The life sentenced prisoners do not have access to educational activities and most of them are not allowed to work. Apart from daily outdoor exercise, they spent their time mostly alone in their cells with no possibility to dwell outside and eventually have other contacts with other persons than prison-guards. This equals to a solitary confinement. Also the resignation of the Czech republic on education and resocialization of life sentenced prisoners is inhuman and degrading: long-term imprisonment is widely considered to have a number of desocializing effects upon inmates. In addition to becoming "institutionalized", such prisoners may experience a range of psychological problems (including loss of self-esteem and impairment of social skills). They have a tendency to become increasingly detached from the world into which they might eventually be released (vis-a vis the possibility to be released on parole after serving 20 years).

Currently, there is undergoing a construction of a new department for life sentenced prisoners in Valdice prison with the same conditions as in Mírov.

These are particularly serious failings and the situation is a great concern for us. In our view, the regimes which are offered to prisoners serving long sentences should seek to compensate for above mentioned effects in a positive and proactive way and life sentenced prisoners should be among the first to be offered educational and work opportunities. We recommend in the construction there was accepted the recommendations of NGOs active in the field of prisoners rights and to establish a possibility for life sentenced prisoner to be accommodated alone only with his consent with a possibility to be re-housed in a cell with other inmates upon his request.

 

Police violence

We are particularly concerned with increased level of police violence occurring especially at occasions of demonstrations of ecological movements. In this regard we would like to point out to the police conduct against demonstration of Global Street party on 16 May 1998 and during the demonstrations against the meeting of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in September 2000. Both conducts represent a serious abuse of power from the side of the police and violation of many human rights of demonstrators.

For example during the Global Street Party, there was reported that 64 arrested or detained persons (out of whom there was 22 minors and 13 women) were tortured. Witnesses reported beating with police stick, kicking to genitals and kidneys, forcing to run through police corridors, not allowing arrested to use bathroom, placing them into overcrowded cells(although many cells were empty) and systematically humiliated. This ill-practices were conducted in police premises in Prague in Bartolomějská street and in a police hospital in Na Míčankách.

Similar practices had been reported during the demonstration against IMF with little or no action from the state to investigate properly the complaints against the police conduct and remedy the victims of abuse.

 

Execution of Institutional and Protective Care

The Czech government failed in its commitment to review the practices resulting in ill-treatment in the institution of protective care for children. The system provides the education of children that cannot be raised by their legal representatives. In the Czech republic these children dwell there for long periods of time: about 50% of all children remain there for more than 2 years. The execution of protective and institutional care in the Czech republic is not govern by any legislative norm but only by several decrees and instructions issued by the Ministry of Education. Even a current draft proposal of a new law does not bring any significant changes in this area as it only describes the situation and some of its provisions constitute the violations of the rights established in the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

The research conducted in these institution by the governmental Council for Human Rights in 2001 found that the disciplinary punishments in selected institutions could be considered inhuman and cruel. They include prohibition to visit their families, isolation in rooms comparable with solitary confinement, prohibition to receive more food, wear special cloths, to be ostracize by other when obliged to kneel in front of the room, confiscation of personal possession, throwing all personal possession on the floor and physical punishments. The research identify that in selected institutions, for example 10% of all children had a personal correspondence censored; in 100% of review of personal possession the children were not present at the control; 20% cannot choose what to wear; 9% of the children are verbally abused by the institution staff; 18% of children confirmed they very subjected to physical violence from the staff.

We recommend the Czech government took immediate action to remedy mentioned problems through appropriate legislative and implementation measures.

 

Notes:
1 Second Periodic Report of the Czech Republic from 12 November 1999
2 Amendment No. 208/2000
3 Article 14 para 2 of the Law on Pre-trial Detention
4 Article 14 para 3 of the Law on Pre-trial Detention
5 Article 20 of the Law on Pre trial Detention
6 Article 26 of the Law on Imprisonment
7 See the reasoning presented by the General Director of Prison Service in the hearing of Petition Committee of Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament on
8 See the Article 23 of the Criminal Code in accordance with the Article 1 para 2 of the Imprisonment Law
9 Article 71 para 1of the Law on Imprisonment
10 Article 71 para 5 of the Law on Imprisonment