The Council of Europe’s Torture Committee finds it “disappointing” that the Danish authorities expect to continue to use Politigårdens Prison, whose conditions according to the committee are unsuitable for longer stays.
A response from the Ministry of Justice to the Council of Europe Committee on the Prevention of Torture (CPT), published this week, states:
– As it is expected that there will continue to be an increase in occupancy in 2020 and 2021, the Danish Prison and Probation Service’s assessment is that there will also be a need for places after 2020.
The response from the Ministry of Justice annoys Dr. Hans Wolff, who was head of the committee’s delegation during a visit to the prison. He is also chairman of the Association of Swiss Prison Doctors (CMPS).
– It is not in line with what was said during the visit and it is disappointing. We will follow up on this with the Danish authorities, writes Hans Wolff in a reply to Ritzau.
The torture committee visited Politigårdens Prison in April 2019.
The delegation from the CPT found the place criticizable. It is “unsuitable for stays of several weeks or months,” Wolff and his colleagues wrote.
The prison at Copenhagen Police Station has housed violent prisoners for years. Some inmates sit for several months.
According to the CPT report, the inmates in their cells are 23 hours a day. One of the inmates – in April 2019 – had been sitting for five months.
The report points to a number of criticisable conditions. These include the physical setting, long waits to get to the toilet and decisions not to receive visits and letters.
But the torture committee does not go into detail, it is emphasized in the report, when it was just informed in 2019 that the place should close.
– Therefore, the Committee will refrain from commenting in detail on the conditions of this prison – except for the following section. The committee will instead simply welcome this decision, as Politigårdens Fængsel is unsuitable for longer stays of several weeks and months, the report from 2019 states.
The report also mentions a few stories from inmates about violent behavior and verbal harassment. These cannot be verified. It appears from the report. But according to Hans Wolf, they have been examined by an expert panel.
In a critique of conditions at the Ellebæk Immigration Center, which is dealt with in the same report, the Prison Association has criticized the CPT.
In January, chairman Bo Yde Sørensen dismissed the committee’s report as “unreliable”. He was unhappy that it included “undocumented allegations”.
The response from the Ministry of Justice annoys Dr. Hans Wolff, who was head of the committee’s delegation during a visit to the prison. He is also chairman of the Association of Swiss Prison Doctors (CMPS).
– It is not in line with what was said during the visit and it is disappointing. We will follow up on this with the Danish authorities, writes Hans Wolff in a reply to Ritzau.
The torture committee visited Politigårdens Prison in April 2019.
The delegation from the CPT found the place criticizable. It is “unsuitable for stays of several weeks or months,” Wolff and his colleagues wrote.
The prison at Copenhagen Police Station has housed violent prisoners for years. Some inmates sit for several months.
According to the CPT report, the inmates in their cells are 23 hours a day. One of the inmates – in April 2019 – had been sitting for five months.
The report points to a number of criticisable conditions. These include the physical setting, long waits to get to the toilet and decisions not to receive visits and letters.
But the torture committee does not go into detail, it is emphasized in the report, when it was just informed in 2019 that the place should close.
– Therefore, the Committee will refrain from commenting in detail on the conditions of this prison – except for the following section. The committee will instead simply welcome this decision, as Politigårdens Fængsel is unsuitable for longer stays of several weeks and months, the report from 2019 states.
The report also mentions a few stories from inmates about violent behavior and verbal harassment. These cannot be verified. It appears from the report. But according to Hans Wolf, they have been examined by an expert panel.
In a critique of conditions at the Ellebæk Immigration Center, which is dealt with in the same report, the Prison Association has criticized the CPT.
In January, chairman Bo Yde Sørensen dismissed the committee’s report as “unreliable”. He was unhappy that it included “undocumented allegations”.
Source: The Nordic Page