B4-0043 and 0065/96

Resolution on poor conditions in prisons in the European Union

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its protocols,

- having regard to the 1987 Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

- having regard to all the minimum rules on the treatment of prisoners adopted by the Council of Europe in 1973,

A. whereas conditions have deteriorated markedly in the prisons of several countries, especially with regard to overpopulation, the distance between prisoners and their families, the poor state of buildings, and the lack of staff,

B. particularly concerned about the unhealthy and dilapidated conditions at Holloway Prison in London, which led the Chief Inspector of Prisons to withdraw his staff in protest in December, Mountjoy Prison in Dublin and Koraalspecht Prison in the Netherlands Antilles,

C. shocked by the reports of a pregnant woman detainee at Holloway Prison, London, being handcuffed in hospital after she had gone into labour and noting that this barbarous practice is to be reviewed to see 'if more satisfactory arrangements can be developed',

D. concerned by the report, published in December 1995, of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on Irish prison conditions, which reported a 'propensity for violence' among certain prison officers and inadequate medical services in the male wing of Dublin's Mountjoy Prison, where, despite a rampant drugs problem, doctors see prisoners only for an average of one minute twenty seconds per visit, no qualified nursing staff are available, no individual records are kept of patients and there is a lack of psychiatric services,

E. pointing out that under the Treaty on European Union even closer cooperation in the struggle against crime is required and whereas this will involve increasing use of extradition, imprisonment on remand and, probably, the serving of sentences by EU citizens in another Member State,

1. Calls on the appropriate authorities in the Member States to do everything in their power as soon as possible to ensure that the 'minimum rules' laid down by the Council of Europe are strictly applied in every prison in the Member States;

2. Believes that the credibility of the initiatives taken by the European Union to ensure respect for human rights throughout the world depends on human rights being fully respected in each of the Member States;

3. Instructs its appropriate committee to draw up a report on the formulation of a social charter for prisoners;

4. Urges that this social charter include all the provisions of the 'minimum rules' laid down by the Council of Europe, while clarifying them, adding to them and bringing them up to date, and that it pay particular attention to groups requiring specific treatment: women, immigrants, homosexuals, and members of ethnic and religious minorities;

5. Calls for specific measures to be taken to tackle the drugs problem in prisons and draws attention to the precarious situation of HIV-positive persons;

6. Recognizes that AIDS is a serious problem in many prisons throughout the EU and calls for education programmes in all prisons about the disease and proper medical care for prisoners with AIDS;

7. Considers that there is no excuse whatsoever for imprisoning asylum-seekers who have not committed an offence and whose cases are being examined;

8. Calls on the relevant authorities in the Member States to do everything within their power to ensure that women in prisons, in particular pregnant women, do not suffer humiliating and degrading treatment, and to devote special attention to the reproductive health of women prisoners;

9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the parliaments of the Member States and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.