– The film of what happened goes over and over in my head. I can’t get rid of it, says Marie Noel Hjalmby. She is serving a sentence in Bredtveit prison, where one of the inmates recently took his own life. Marie was one of those who saw the suicide. What she saw and heard is still in her body. – Was locked up for 7-8 hours news has repeatedly this week asked to enter the prison to talk to the inmates. The prison management has so far said no to that. Over the phone, Marie says that the prisoners were locked in their cells after the suicide. – We were locked in for 7-8 hours, she says. According to Marie, they were given neither food nor a breather. – If we had been aired, we would have been allowed to be together. Then we could talk. We didn’t get that, now we were locked in alone. Nor did they receive any information about what had happened, she says. – It was absolutely terrible, she says. They weren’t allowed out until the evening. Only then were they allowed to talk about what had happened with a psychologist and someone from the crisis team. – Then we were locked in again. Marie’s mother Wenche told news on Wednesday that she is shocked by how her daughter was treated. Need an overview of the situation The prison confirms that the inmates were locked in their cells after the suicide, but says it was only for four hours. They believe this was necessary to get an overview of the situation, and say the police asked them to do it. – All inmates on the ward were offered to be accompanied to other wards to stay together there. Some chose it, but most chose to stay in their cell, the Correctional Service writes in an e-mail to news. They also write that some inmates were allowed to be together in the cells, so they did not have to be alone. According to the Correctional Service, the municipality’s crisis team came to the prison at 3.30pm to talk to inmates and staff who wanted to. Hope the survivors sue – It’s absolutely catastrophic, says human rights lawyer Maria Hessen Jacobsen. For years, she has worked to improve the prison conditions for Norwegian prisoners. For this, she has also won the “Rettssikkerheitsprizen”. She says she hardly has words to describe what has happened. – Locking up eyewitnesses to a suicide cannot, and should not, happen, she says. Human rights lawyer Maria Hessen Jacobsen reacts to the fact that the prisoners were locked up after the suicide. Photo: Privat She believes it is downright harmful to be locked up alone, after experiencing something so traumatic. If this had happened in the open street, witnesses would have been looked after in a completely different way, she says. She believes that the state should be held responsible for the fact that the prison is unable to handle all situations involving self-harm. And she believes the problem is repeated at Bredtveit. – Howling, screaming, despair and self-harm that happens close to you, day in and day out, where you live and where you live, will amount to a relatively gross violation of human rights over time, she says. – I hope the survivors sue from here on into eternity. This is the Correctional Service’s response to the criticism Human rights advocate says it is unacceptable to lock up eyewitnesses to a suicide, and that it should not happen. What do you think about that assessment? It is regrettable that the prison had to lock up inmates for a period of time, but as previously shown, it was absolutely necessary to gain control of the situation and for the police to carry out the necessary crime scene investigations. The employees had dialogue with inmates along the way and the municipalities’ crisis team arrived as soon as possible. The inmates were offered to be transferred to another department with community, they received continuous information and inmates have been offered health follow-up afterwards. The lawyer believes that Bredtvet inmates are excessively exposed to the suffering of others (in the form of self-harm, suicide attempts). She believes this is a violation of human rights. What is your comment on that? There has been a large increase in self-harm and suicide attempts among women in prison, and the situation particularly at Bredtveit prison and detention center has been and is challenging. The prison has for a long time dealt with an increasing number of mentally ill inmates with a demanding behavioral pattern. This is demanding for the other inmates who have received a reduced offer because much of the time must be spent on the most resource-demanding inmates. In addition, Bredtveit is an old prison building that is not suitable for modern correctional care. It also has a lot of noise pollution which affects other inmates negatively. The prison tries as best it can to shield other inmates from other people’s suffering, but the sound in particular is difficult to mute. This is unfortunate. The prison has received funding for a resource team to follow up inmates with demanding behavior patterns, mental disorders, inmates who self-injure, are close to suicide or the like. The resource team has the capacity to follow up up to four inmates. The resource team works closely with the rest of the prison, as well as a specialist psychologist employed by the prison psychiatric outpatient clinic (FPP). The team has contributed to reducing the need for transfers to the security cell department and the number of self-harms, as well as following up on weekly plans for the four inmates for whom they have special responsibility. The resource team has been a big boost for the offer to the most vulnerable, but is not sufficient to follow up everyone in need. A lot of self-harm in prisons There are few women in prison in Norway. Still, the statistics are grim. 265 times someone self-harmed in Norwegian prisons last year. 212 of these were women. That is more than double from the previous year. Many were also put in seat belts, to protect themselves. 42 out of 43 times it was a woman. This is shown by figures from the Norwegian Correctional Service to which news has gained access. Much of this happens at Bredtveit. A lot of time in the cell news was in the prison on Women’s Day, a few days before the suicide happened. Then inmate Shefkije showed the six square meter cell. She wants us to use only her first name. From the bed in the cell, she reaches over to the toilet. Here she is locked up for hours every day. – Every time I enter my cell I feel it getting smaller and smaller. I can’t breathe, she says. Shefkije lives on six square meters. Just outside the picture edge in the left corner is the toilet. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen Shefkije lives on six square metres. Just outside the picture edge in the left corner is the toilet. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen Shefkije says they only have two hours of fellowship each day. She has not been at Breidtvet for so long, but has already started to feel symptoms of anxiety. – I am afraid of the future. I see that many people become mentally ill from serving time here, she says. Concerned about the conditions at Bredtveit The same week that the suicide occurred, civil ombudsman Hanne Harlem was on a planned visit to the prison. The visit had nothing to do with the suicide. – We have been concerned about the conditions at Bredtveit. After what we have seen so far, we perceive that the situation is very serious, says Harlem. The civil ombudsman has particularly criticized the use of coercive measures and isolation. In addition, they believe that not enough is being done to prevent suicide in Norwegian prisons. – One thing is a completely urgent situation. But inmates generally get too little time to be with people, she says. Hanne Harlem at the Civil Ombudsman is concerned about the women in Bredtveit. Photo: Civil ombudet – More confinement and less air Marie is still struggling to cope with what she recently witnessed in prison. She tries to think about other things, but finds it difficult. – I wish there was a key that could just remove those pictures, she says despairingly. She served her first sentence at Bredtveit when she was 17 years old. The walls still smell of mold and rot. – The only thing that has changed is that we have more locking, and less air. Luftegården at Bredtveit. Some days the view from the window is the closest the inmates will get to going outside. Photo: Anders Fehn / news
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– Unacceptable – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
