Conditions ‘inhuman’ in some EU jails

Date: 14/11/02

By Martin Banks

CONDITIONS in prisons in some member states are 'inhuman', according to a study published this week.

The European Parliament's annual report on fundamental rights in the EU highlights:

• overcrowding;
• ageing infrastructure;
• atrocious sanitary facilities, and;
• poor access to medical treatment.

Most seriously, however, the report cites examples of 'inhuman' treatment in jails, 'possibly leading to torture in a large number of member states'.

Among the worst alleged offenders are the UK and Greece, with asylum seekers and ethnic minorities most at risk, the report claims.

Its findings, discussed on Monday (11 November) by members of the citizens' freedoms and rights committee, also detail concerns by non-governmental organisations on the rights of asylum seekers in reception centres or during deportation.

It stresses that the fight against terrorism does not mean member states should fail in their obligations.

The report's author, Dutch Socialist MEP Joke Swiebel, said the problems are compounded by a 'growing climate' of impunity towards misdemeanours by public officials. In 2001, she said, ten out of 15 EU countries were condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for violations of suspects' rights.

• The case of the British and Dutch plane-spotters - acquitted by a Greek court on 6 November of spying charges - reflects the 'incapability' of the Greek judiciary of dealing fairly with foreigners, according to campaign group Fair Trials Abroad. Its director, Stephen Jakobi, added that foreigners may also get a raw deal from courts in Portugal, Spain, France and Belgium.

Conditions in prisons in some Member States are 'inhuman', according to the European Parliament's annual report on fundamental rights in the EU, published on 11 November 2002.