NationalNational Agency Agency forfor the the Prevention Prevention of of Torture Torture AnnualAnnual Report Report 2012 2012 of theof the Federal Federal Agency Agency andand of ofthe the Joint Joint Commission Commission ofof thethe StatesStates (Länder(Länder) ) PeriodPeriod under under review review 1 January1 January 2012 2012 – 31 – 31 December December 2012 2012 National Agency for the Prevention of Torture Annual Report 2012 Agency for the Prevention of Torture National National Agency for the Prevention of Torture Annual Report 2012 of the Federal Agency and of the Joint Commission of the States (Länder) Period under review 1 January 2012 – 31 December 2012 © 2013 National Agency for the Prevention of Torture All rights reserved Printed by: Heimsheim Prison, www.jva-heimsheim.de National Agency for the Prevention of Torture Viktoriastraße 35 65189 Wiesbaden Tel.: 0611-160 222 818 Fax: 0611-160 222 829 E-Mail: [email protected] www.nationale-stelle.de An electronic version of this Annual Report can be retrieved from the “Annual Reports” section at www.nationale-stelle.de. Foreword ................................................................................................................. 7 List of specific abbreviations ............................................................................... 11 I General information about the work of the National Agency ............... 12 1 History and legal foundation of the National Agency ................................... 12 2 The foundation created for the work ................................................................ 13 2.1 Institutional framework and legal nature ........................................................ 13 2.2 Tasks and powers ................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Provision with staff and funding ....................................................................... 15 II Topics ........................................................................................................... 16 1 Spotlight on solitary confinement ..................................................................... 16 2 Monitoring of return flights ............................................................................... 17 III Implementation of inspection visits .......................................................... 19 1 Basis ....................................................................................................................... 19 2 Procedure followed in the inspection visits ..................................................... 19 3 Regularly recurring recommendations and examples of best practice ........ 20 3.1 Fixation .................................................................................................................. 20 3.2 Internal differentiation in prisons ...................................................................... 21 3.3 Common showers ................................................................................................ 21 3.4 Name badges ........................................................................................................ 21 3.5 Information on the rights of children and juveniles ....................................... 22 3.6 Communication system for inmates ................................................................. 22 4 Visits by the Federal Agency .............................................................................. 22 4.1 The Federal Police ................................................................................................ 22 4.2 The Federal Armed Forces .................................................................................. 29 5 Visits by the Joint Commission .......................................................................... 31 5.1 Prisons ................................................................................................................... 31 5.2 Police units of the Länder ..................................................................................... 63 5.3 Psychiatric clinics ................................................................................................. 68 5.4 Child and youth welfare facilities ..................................................................... 72 5.5 Court holding cells ............................................................................................... 79 5.6 Subsequent information regarding visits carried out in 2011 ....................... 79 IV Further activities of the National Agency ................................................ 88 1 Specialist associations and public relations work ........................................... 88 2 International cooperation ................................................................................... 89 5 3 Overview of enquiries by individuals .............................................................. 89 V Annex ........................................................................................................... 90 1 Chronological overview of the visits................................................................. 90 2 History and legal basis ........................................................................................ 92 3 Overview of the national and international activities of the Federal Agency in the period under review .................................................................. 93 4 General Assembly Resolution 57/199 on the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 18 December 2002 .............................................. 96 5 Administrative Order of the Federal Ministry of Justice of 20 November 2008 ...................................................................................................................... 113 6 State Treaty on the establishment of a national mechanism of all Länder in accordance with Article 3 of the Optional Protocol of 18 December 2002 to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 25 June 2009 .................................. 115 7 Administrative agreement on the National Agency for the Prevention of Torture in accordance with the Optional Protocol of 18 December 2002 to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ................................................................................. 120 8 Resolution of the 83rd Conference of Ministers of Justice of 13 and 14 June 2012 in Wiesbaden on the nomination of the members of the Joint Commission ........................................................................................................ 125 9 Rules of procedure of the Joint Commission for the Prevention of Torture126 10 Guidelines for the work of the Federal Agency ............................................. 132 6 Foreword In accordance with the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punish- ment of 18 December 2002 (OP-CAT)1, the National Agency for the Prevention of Torture is tasked with implementing regular preventive visits for the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention. The National Agency consists of the Federal Agency, which is responsible for facilities of the Federation, and the Joint Commission, which is responsible for facilities of the Länder. It is to submit the joint Annual Report of the Federal Agency and the Joint Commission to the Federal Government, the German Bundestag, the Länder Governments and the Länder Parliaments. This Report covers the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012. The Report is to be preceded by three core messages: The National Agency was unable to find any signs of torture, but did identify a number of unacceptable shortcomings. It made many recommendations to the supervisory authorities in order to improve the situation of persons being de- tained, important parts of which have been implemented. The National Agency is unable to do justice to its statutory task of implementing regular visits with the resources currently available. It is certainly unable to live up to the standard of taking on a pioneering role in expanding human rights pro- tection as envisioned by the Federal Government with the approval act to the Optional Protocol.2 With only five members working on an honorary basis and funds for only three research associates and one administrative assistant, the ca- pacity available is completely inadequate for regular visits to several thousand detention facilities. In 2012, the National Agency visited a total of 45 facilities where people are deprived of their liberty. Nationally, roughly 13,000 facilities are within the remit of the National Agency. 1,300 inspection visits per year would have to be carried out in order to visit each of these facilities at least once every ten years. The Chairman of the Joint Commission approached the Chair- man of the Conference of Ministers of Justice by letter dated 10 February 2012 requesting a debate on increasing the budget of the National Agency. On 15 November 2012, the Conference of Ministers of Justice requested the chairing Land Hesse to examine, with the involvement of the Federation, whether and if so to what extent an improvement in the resources of the Commission appears to be necessary, as well as how any improvement