Critical remarks made by the anti-torture commission towards Germany's penal institutions
According to a review conducted by the Anti-Torture Watchdog in Germany, several prisons and psychiatric facilities are violating fundamental human rights. The report indicates that the living conditions in these institutions are brutal. Specifically, two inmates were cramped in a nine-square-meter cell, sharing not just space but also a single toilet, in both the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg prisons. The report highlights that the situation in Baden-Württemberg is even worse since the toilet is not segregated. This cramped coexistence, as per the report, results in humiliating living conditions for prisoners.
The committee, working under the United Nations' anti-torture convention, is tasked with ensuring the protection of human rights in all German facilities where individuals are deprived of their freedom or are at risk of losing it, such as at stationary border controls.
The annual report also reveals instances of inhumane treatment in some psychiatric institutions. Patients in a Baden-Württemberg psychiatric hospital were forced to use bedpans and urine bottles for their needs with every use being recorded on surveillance monitors.
The report also tackles the issue of deportations. In one instance, authorities deported a Nigerian man, despite a court order. The report shows that the well-being of children is often overlooked during deportations, for example, when they are separated from their parents during mass deportations.
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The report mentions instances of human rights violations in Saarland as well, noting that inmates in Saarland prisons endure cramped living conditions. The United Nations' committee overseeing the anti-torture convention is focusing on improving human rights protection in all German facilities, including those in Saarland.
