IHRC calls for comprehensive policy to protect the rights of all people in places of detention
The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) today published its report to the UN Committee Against Torture on the examination of Ireland’s first National Report to the Committee. The IHRC is calling for a comprehensive policy to protect the rights of people in detention and a complete overhaul of penal policy. This wide reaching report cites grave conditions in some Irish prisons, poor education and mental health services, inadequate human rights safeguards in psychiatric facilities, and the pressing need for independent oversight, accountability and complaints procedures for people in detention facilities.
Ireland will be examined in May 2011 by the UN Committee Against Torture for the first time on the extent to which it is meeting its human rights obligations to prevent torture, other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Key Recommendations include:
- Review and reform of penal policy including more non-custodial sanctions
- Independent oversight and complaints procedures in places of detention
- Immediate end to ‘slopping out’ and overcrowding
- Greater human rights protections for children and people with mental health issues
- Better resourced mental health and education services in prisons
- Human Rights Education and Training for those working in the prison service
Dr Maurice Manning, President of the IHRC said:
"everyone is entitled to protection from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including in places of detention. Regrettably, Ireland is failing to meet these obligations. Many of the concerns raised in our report are re-statements of issues that successive governments have failed to act upon. It is clear to us that a comprehensive policy to protect people in places of detention, requiring cross departmental co-operation in its development and execution, is needed. Such a policy should address the current serious gaps in accountability, oversight and complaints and investigation procedures."
Dr Manning continued:
"Ratification by the Government of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture would enable the establishment of a National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) to provide independent oversight. The IHRC, as Ireland’s National Human Rights Institution, could play a pivotal role in carrying out such oversight."
The IHRC is concerned about conditions in places of detention and the adequacy of complaints procedures. Dr Manning said:
"The conditions in some Irish prisons fall well below international standards. The degrading practice of ‘slopping-out’ and chronic overcrowding is jeopardising the health and safety of prisoners and prison staff. The situation of overcrowding is exacerbated by high numbers of people serving short sentences. This situation has been repeatedly raised by the Commission, the Inspector of Prisons and international organisations, among others. While there have been recent positive statements from the Minister for Justice in relation to reform of the prison system and a move towards non-custodial sanctions, the new Government must act immediately to end breaches of human rights."
Dr Manning continued:
"The IHRC is calling for a complete overhaul of the penal system, with the introduction of a comprehensive penal policy that facilitates greater independent oversight, more human rights safeguards, non-custodial sentencing, safe and humane physical conditions, resourced mental health services and education and training pathways that can reduce the likelihood of reoffending."
The IHRC is concerned that there are insufficient legal safeguards to protect mentally ill people in detention. Mr Éamonn Mac Aodha, Chief Executive of the IHRC said:
"the lack of human rights safeguards and mental health services for people in detention needs to be urgently addressed. The IHRC is concerned that there are ‘approved centres’ that are not meeting international standards or fulfilling treaty obligations. Living conditions in some units in the Central Mental Hospital are inadequate and do not provide conditions that are conducive to the treatment and welfare of patients and do not comply with the standards set out in the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness."
Mr Mac Aodha continued:
"We have set out in our report the serious gaps that exist in protections for people in detention in Ireland. Greater legal protections are needed for compliant incapacitated patients, ‘wards of the court’ and children detained in psychiatric institutions. Resources are required as a priority to ensure full compliance of Ireland’s psychiatric facilities with international standards."
The IHRC is also concerned about the human rights safeguards for children. Dr Manning said:
"The ‘best interest’ of the child must be adhered to by the State in all situations relating to children. Instances of deaths of children in the care of the State require the establishment of an independent statutory inquiry into child protection matters to get to the root of the failings in the system and put in place the necessary safeguards."
Dr Manning continued:
"In relation to conditions of detention, children should not be detained in adult facilities, nor be supervised by inadequately vetted staff. Children should have access to adequate educational, mental health and other services tailored to their age. They should know their rights and understand how to have their concerns heard and addressed in a fair and child-friendly manner. In this regard, the mandate of the Ombudsman for Children should be immediately widened to include children detained in St Patrick’s Institution. This issue has been raised consistently by the Ombudsman."
Summary of Recommendations:
Independent Inspection Mechanisms for Places of Detention
- The State must ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture as soon as possible, and designate an independent National Preventative Mechanism as soon as possible.
Complaints & Investigation Mechanisms in Places of Detention
Prisons
- Establish an independent statutory complaints mechanism for prisoners, such as Prison Ombudsman;
Police Service
- Reinforce the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, so that it can instigate a review of practice, policy or procedure in An Garda Síochána for the purpose of preventing complaints or to reduce the incidence of such complaints of its own volition;
Deaths in Detention
- Implement recommendations of GSOC inquiry report into the death of Terence Wheelock by An Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice;
- Publish and implement the recommendations of the report into the death of Gary Douch.
Children & Young People in Detention
- Development of a clear policy by Irish Youth Justice Service on complaints from young people in all child detention schools that is child friendly and offers children and young people in detention the assurance of the school’s capacity to keep the child safe;
- The Ombudsman for Children’s mandate should be expanded to include St Patrick’s Institution.
Residential Centres for People with Disabilities:
- Complaints and investigation mechanisms for residents of centres for people with disabilities should be reviewed to ensure all residents have access to an effective and accessible human rights compliant remedy;
Residential Centres for Older People:
- Complaints and investigation mechanisms for older people in residential centres should be reviewed to ensure all residents have access to an effective and accessible human rights compliant remedy.
Conditions of Detention
Overcrowding
- Urgently address overcrowding in prisons and reduce the prison population over time by developing a penal policy with more focus on non-custodial sanctions;
.Lack of In-Cell Sanitation:
- The practice of "slopping out" should be eliminated as a matter of urgent priority. Where a sanitary facility is not available in a prisoner’s cell, a prisoner should be entitled to be released from his/her cell to use the available facilities at any time of the day and night;
Lack of adequate Mental Health Services
- The Prison Inreach and Court Liaison service at Cloverhill Prison should be replicated in all prisons that accept remand prisoners;
Non-Segregation of Remand Prisoners:
- Remand prisoners should always be detained in separate facilities from convicted prisoners;
Inter-Prisoner Violence
- Urgent action is required to tackle the issues that cause or contribute to inter-prisoner violence, including overcrowding, lack of facilities and education and training opportunities;
Women in Prison
- Urgent action to tackle overcrowding at the Dóchas Centre and Limerick Prison is required;
Education and Training
- Provide adequate education and training activity in all prisons, in particular, for young people detained in St Patrick’s institution;
Proposed New Prison Complex
- In reviewing the Thornton Hall proposal, consideration must be given to best international practice, which recommends smaller prisons;
- Degrading conditions that currently exist in many prisons must be addressed without delay and cannot wait until any new prison building scheme is implemented.
Need for alternative sanctions
- An increased policy focus on the development of alternative, non-custodial sanctions is needed rather than an increase in overall prison population;
- A comprehensive penal policy should be published in the State and there should be active consideration of measures that would result in a reduction in the prison population.
Treatment of people in detention in mental health establishments
Inadequate Legal Framework
- There is a need to improve human rights safeguards of mentally ill patients who are subject to detention, in particular, procedural safeguards for compliant incapacitated patients, "wards of court", and greater protection for children detained in psychiatric institutions;
Conditions of detention
- Resources must be made available as a priority to ensure full compliance of Ireland’s psychiatric facilities with international standards;
Conditions of Detention in the Central Mental Hospital
- Living conditions in some units in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) are inadequate, do not provide conditions that are conducive to the treatment and welfare of patients and do not comply with the standards set out in the UN Principles for the Protection of Persons with Mental Illness. Steps should be taken to improve the conditions without delay and decisions on a site for the new CMH should be made expeditiously and with the involvement of relevant stakeholders.
- Lack of appropriate mental health services for children
- The IHRC is concerned at the admission of children to adult mental health units.
Children in Detention
End Detention of Juveniles in Adult Prisons
- The ongoing detention of 16 and 17 year old male juveniles in an adult prison should be ended as quickly as possible and a specific timeline should be set for the completion of the National Child Detention facility;
Conditions in St Patrick’s Institution
- Appropriate measures should be taken to improve activities, including educational and vocational training, sport, and rehabilitative classes and services offered to young offenders at St Patrick’s, pending the development of the National Child Detention Facility;
- The Ombudsman for Children should have full access to St Patrick’s facility.
Child Detention Schools
- The use of single separation as a routine method of behaviour management in child detention schools should be minimised and should only be used as an exceptional measure of control in situations of immediate risk and should not be used as punishment.
- The deficiencies in the vetting of staff working in children detention schools should be improved as a matter of priority.
Preventing IIl-treatment of Children
- The IHRC recommends that an independent statutory inquiry should be constituted, with all necessary powers, to inquire into child protection matters, including apparent failings in the protection system.
Immigration related Detention
- Where people are detained at the end of the asylum process prior to deportation, they should only be detained in appropriate facilities that meet international human rights standards and for the shortest possible time. Detention pending deportation should only occur where there is a real risk that the person will abscond. Prisons and police stations are not suitable places for such detention.
Prohibition against refoulement and the protection system
Education and Training
- Immigration officers or members of the Garda Síochána must receive the necessary and ongoing training to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge of Ireland’s international protection obligations;
Definition of Subsidiary Protection
- In relation to subsidiary protection for people seeking asylum, the definition in any new legislation should be broadened to include people who are forced to flee their country of origin, or remain outside of that country, as a result of a threat to their life, security or liberty, for reasons of indiscriminate violence arising from situations such as, but not limited to, armed conflict;
Immigration Appeals
- The IHRC considers that the 14 day time limit within which an application for judicial review can be made combined with the proposed restriction of the grounds on which the High Court can extend the 14 day time limit, creates unnecessary difficulties for people seeking to challenge immigration decisions, and may prevent some people from making such applications. This is likely to render the judicial review remedy less effective in practice;
Access to decisions of the Protection Review Tribunal:
- In light of best international practice the decisions of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal should be published as a matter of course and be generally accessible, with the identity of the persons concerned protected.
Extraordinary Rendition
- The Government should put in place a reliable and independently verifiable system of inspection so that no prisoner is ever transported through Ireland except in accordance with proper legal formalities and the highest observance of human rights standards.
- The Government must act expeditiously to implement its commitments in the Programme for Government 2011-2016 to enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace and related facilities for purposes not in line with international law.
Female Genital Mutilation
- The IHRC welcomes that steps are underway to legislate on this issue and urges the Minister to introduce, as soon as possible, specific legislation to reflect the severity and complexity of the practice through both criminalisation and protection. The legislation should be enacted in line with international best practice and in conformity with the Convention Against Torture;
- Provisions for training of relevant professionals as well as appropriate access to support/redress and rehabilitation for victims of FGM should be put in place.
Human Trafficking
- In approaching the recovery and reflection period, the Garda Síochána in conjunction with the Department of Justice Anti-Human Trafficking Unit should ensure that the correct standard of proof is applied in a consistent and correct manner;
- Permission to remain should also be allowed for humanitarian reasons having regard to the personal situation of the victim, in accordance with Article 14 of the Council of Europe Convention on Trafficking. Special consideration should be given to providing leave to remain for child victims of trafficking;
- Consideration to be given to the establishment of a central fund to compensate victims of trafficking. Civil proceedings in this sphere should be supported by a legal aid scheme for victims.
Education, Training and Awareness Raising
- The State must ensure that all Civil and Public Servants are trained in human rights. Human rights training should in particular be in place for all those working in the prison service, with prisoners and former prisoners.
Ends/
For further information please contact: Fidelma Joyce, IHRC: Tel: 01 8589601 Mob: 087 783 4939
Notes to Editor
- UN Committee Against Torture
The Committee Against Torture (CAT) is the body of 10 independent experts that monitors implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment by its State parties.
All States parties are obliged to submit regular reports to the Committee on how the rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year after acceding to the Convention and then every four years. The Committee examines each report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State party in the form of "concluding observations".
In addition to the reporting procedure, the Convention establishes three other mechanisms through which the Committee performs its monitoring functions: the Committee may also, under certain circumstances, consider individual complaints or communications from individuals claiming that their rights under the Convention have been violated, undertake inquiries, and consider inter-state complaints.
The CAT meets in Geneva and normally holds two sessions per year consisting of a four week session in April/May and another four week session in November.
The Committee also publishes its interpretation of the content of the provisions of the Convention, known as general comments on thematic issueS.
(Source: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights)
- Optional Protocol to the Convention
The Optional Protocol to the Convention, which entered into force in June 2006, created the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT). The SPT has a mandate to visit places where persons are deprived of their liberty in the States parties. Under the Optional Protocol, States parties shall establish a independent national preventive mechanisms for the prevention of torture at the domestic level which has also a mandate to inspect places of detention.
- Ireland reporting to the UN Committee
Ireland signed the UN CAT in 1992, and ratified it in 2002. Ireland has submitted its first report to the Committee Against Torture. It will be examined on its record by the Committee at a Hearing in Geneva on 23 and 24 May 2011.
To read the report: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats46.htm