The case in summary: 28 remand prisoners zone in prisons that are not prepared for it, which the Legal Aid Center believes is a serious problem. Remand prisoner Thomas has served two years in Halden prison and believes that the sentence has not given him the opportunity to be rehabilitated. Several remand prisoners are serving time in Halden prison, despite the fact that the prison is not a detention facility. Thomas’s defender, Lars Mathias Undheim, believes that his client’s situation is a clear and serious breach of the Penal Code and the custody regulations. The legal aid center in the Kirkens Bymisjon has been contacted by several remand prisoners who want to be moved to a detention unit in order to receive treatment that will enable them to apply for release. The government has appointed a public committee to carry out an evaluation of the detention system. – I have a strong desire to get better, and I will make sure to do my part in that, says Thomas. Last year he was sentenced to six years in prison. Being sentenced to detention presupposes that a serious crime has been committed. Thomas has been convicted of abusing three of his former partners. He was also convicted of deprivation of liberty, violence, threats and coercion. The 27-year-old was remanded in custody before the trial. He has now served two years in Halden prison. The sentence here has not given him the opportunity to be rehabilitated, because the prison is not designed for remand prisoners. – With my position today, without treatment, I cannot be released, says Thomas. news is familiar with Thomas’ full identity. But out of consideration for the victims and their families, he is referred to by a fictitious name. Halden prison is a high-security prison with room for 227 inmates. Behind the walls, several remand prisoners serve time, but the prison is not a detention facility. Photo: Amalie Fagerhaug Evjen / news Sentence without content Custody is an indefinite sentence. Therefore, remand prisoners must receive a more individually tailored sentence than other convicts. The sentence must include mapping, work in the prison, behavior training, program activities and teaching services. But in Halden prison, Thomas has not received what he is entitled to. Thomas has been convicted of having committed serious offences. In order to be released one day, he must have help to change, he says. Photo: Amalie Fagerhaug Evjen / news In addition to the custodial sentence, Thomas has also been convicted four times previously. He has requested a psychologist, help from DPS and substance abuse treatment several times, without success. – I have sent countless letters and asked for measures and treatment. I have been in the cell for most of my time. The only positive thing is that I have been a gang boy. Then I can cook for the others and clean the ward, says Thomas. In Norway, there are five detention wards: Ila prison, Trondheim prison, Bredtveit women’s prison, Kroksrud prison and Berg prison. The wards have a total of 121 detention places. Today, there are 149 inmates who have been sentenced to custodial sentence. This means that 28 sentenced to custodial sentence are serving time in prisons that are not prepared for it. Several of them are serving time in Halden prison. Since 2015, the number of remand inmates increased by 62 per cent. Threatens the rule of law That a rule of law like Norway has a system that does not work is serious, Hege Levin believes. She is head of department in the Legal Aid Center in the Church’s City Mission. – The fact that a lack of space means that many people do not receive the treatment they are entitled to in order to be released is very serious and a major legal security problem that is in conflict with our human rights obligations, says Levin. Hege Levin, head of department in the Legal Aid Center in the Church’s City Mission, believes that remand prisoners often do not get their rights in the form of rehabilitation. Photo: private In order for remand prisoners to be released, they must appear again before a judge who will assess whether the risk of reoffending has been reduced. – Without programs and measures that support the rehabilitation of the convict, he cannot be shown that the risk of recidivism has been reduced. If he cannot prove this, the convict has no end in sight, says Lars Mathias Undheim. Undheim is Thomas’ lawyer. “Ultimately, this opens the door for all human lives to rot away in prison.” This is what prisoners sentenced to custody have a right to: The goal is for the inmate to change their behavior in order to be released safely back into society. Remand prisoners must therefore be placed in a prison or a ward that is specially designed for this. As a general rule, the person concerned must not be placed together with convicts who have not been sentenced to detention and must have measures that include the following: Behavior training Work training Offense-related and other program activities Teaching and leisure activities The convict must achieve a gradual adaptation to society through more responsible forms of implementation and greater freedom. Map the individual’s assumptions and prepare systematic implementation plans. In order to be released from a custodial sentence, it is required that you can document that a change has taken place. That one is rehabilitated. If you do not receive the treatment you are entitled to, you cannot document such a change. Remand prisoners may risk not being released because they have not been rehabilitated. In reality, they can stay put for life. Source: The Correctional Service and the Legal Aid Centre, the Church’s City Mission. Undheim has sent several complaints to Halden prison. But have received a negative response back. – The fact that my client has served the first two years of his custodial sentence in a prison that is not particularly adapted to his needs as a custodial prisoner is a clear and serious breach of the Penal Code and the custodial regulations, says Undheim. In the visiting room in Halden prison, Thomas has had several conversations with his defenders about what the sentencing conditions are like in Halden prison. Here Thomas sits with his defender Eivind Abrahamsen. Photo: Amalie Fagerhaug Evjen / news He believes his client is a frightening example of how the correctional service handles remand prisoners. Halden prison: – Demanding Thomas has exempted Halden prison from the duty of confidentiality. But the prison does not want to comment on individual cases. – We recognize that it is demanding to have remand prisoners in a high-security prison, as the financial framework is demanding due to the fact that we are not a detention facility, and cannot finance the place, says prison manager Helge Valseth. Prison manager Helge Valseth in Halden prison says that today there are too few detention places, and developments mean that the disproportion between the number of remand prisoners and the number of places has unfortunately become greater. Photo: Christian Nicolai Bjørke / news Thomas has several times asked to pay for a psychologist himself, with the help and support of his family. But he believes that Halden prison has not been cooperative. The prison disclaims responsibility and blames the health services. – The Correctional Service, for its part, makes arrangements so that these services can practically be carried out in our prisons, and will always pass on the inmate’s wishes and needs for health. Being contacted by several remand prisoners The Legal Aid Center in Kirkens Bymisjon has been contacted by several remand prisoners who want to be moved to a remand unit. The aim is to get treatment that enables them to apply for release. But lack of space means that it is not possible to be moved. The reason is a sharp increase in the number of remand prisoners. The Directorate of Correctional Services (KDI) has repeatedly pointed out the challenge and the need to establish more places of detention. Espen Hambre is department director in the Directorate of Correctional Services. He believes there is a need for specially adapted places. Photo: Kriminalomsorgen’s Flickr page More mental illness and complex challenges and needs are the challenges, according to Paal Espen Hambre. He is department director at KDI. – The situation is demanding, and we are doing what we can, including by increasing the number of places within the existing budget and with the help of additional funds. It is still not enough, says Hambre. The government: Has appointed a committee Norwegian penal enforcement is based on the goal of rehabilitation. There is no life sentence in Norway, and all convicts must in principle be released from correctional facilities and live a life of freedom. Thomas served time in a similar prison cell in Halden prison. Photo: Håkon Hov Martinsen / news – The government takes a very serious view of the increased proportion of inmates in prison with complex challenges in the form of mental disorders or drug problems, says State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Services John-Erik Vika (Sp). Last year, the government appointed a public committee to carry out an evaluation of the detention system. – The committee must also investigate how inmates’ health, particularly with an emphasis on serious mental disorders or developmental disabilities, can best be safeguarded during custody, execution of the sentence and when returning to society. Applied several times to move Thomas has applied to other prisons over 40 times. At the beginning of January, he was told that he was to move to a detention place in Trondheim prison. It happened shortly after news contacted Halden prison. – I think it is special that when news makes contact with the prison, the Correctional Service suddenly decides to transfer a remand inmate to a remand in exchange for another remand inmate, says defender Undheim. A few days after news met Thomas in Halden prison, he was moved to a detention center in Trondheim prison. Photo: Amalie Fagerhaug Evjen / news – It all bears the stamp of an attempt to cover up the criticism that my client has directed at the prison, he adds. Thomas has now served three weeks in Trondheim prison. He hopes that he will soon be accepted into the detention program. – It is still a big problem that I have not received the treatment I am entitled to. If I don’t get it now, I don’t know what I’ll do. I know there are more than me in the same situation. Now I hope to become a better man. I will do what I can to change myself, says Thomas. Hi! Do you have opinions on the matter, or know of something else I should write about? Feel free to send me an email!
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Lack of treatment for remand prisoners in Norwegian prisons – news Østfold – Local news, TV and radio
