Vienna, 21 November 2003 - European Country of Origin ...

PLACES OF DETENTION IN BULGARIA



Report from the visit of the delegation of human rights NGOs to places of
detention in Bulgaria on 27 and 28 September 2004













Published by: Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
Moscow Helsinki Group
Hungarian Helsinki Group
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in
Poland
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
Serbia
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
the Republic of Macedonia
Greek Helsinki Monitor
International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights
Association for the Prevention of
Torture



Sofia, Vienna, April 2005

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Note: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the
European Community. The views expressed herein are those of the publishers,
and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the
European Commission.




The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) is a non-
governmental organization that seeks to promote compliance with the human
rights provisions of the Helsinki Final Act and its follow-up documents. In
addition to supporting and providing liaison among 44 Helsinki committees
and cooperating organizations, the IHF has direct links with human rights
activists in countries where no Helsinki committees exist. It has
consultative status with the United Nations and the Council of Europe.


The IHF represents member and cooperating committees in Albania, Armenia,
Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada,
Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany,
Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania,
Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania,
Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United
Kingdom, United States and Uzbekistan. Other cooperating organizations
include the European Roma Rights Centre (Budapest), Human Rights without
Frontiers (Brussels) and the Mental Disabilities Advocacy Center
(Budapest).


President: Ulrich Fischer
Vice President: Srdjan Dizdarevi?
Executive Director: Aaron Rhodes
Deputy Executive Director/Legal Counsel: Brigitte Dufour
Chief Editor: Paula Tscherne-Lempiäinen


International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Wickenburggasse 14/7, A-1080 Vienna, Austria
Tel: (+43-1) 408 88 22 Fax: (+43-1) 408 88 22-50
Email: office@ihf-hr.org
Internet: www.ihf-hr.org
Bank account: Bank Austria Creditanstalt, 0221-00283/00 BLZ 11 000







(2005 by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights and IHF
Research Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Executive Summary

On 27 and 28 September 2004 representatives of the International Helsinki
Federation for Human Rights (IHF) conducted a mission on monitoring places
of detention in the Republic of Bulgaria. The mission was the third under
the project "Preventing Torture in the Closed Institutions of Central and
Eastern Europe", financed by the European Commission. The delegation
included representatives from the following organizations (in alphabetical
order): Association for the Prevention of Torture; Bulgarian Helsinki
Committee; Greek Helsinki Monitor; Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in
Serbia; Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in the Republic of Macedonia;
Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights in Poland; Hungarian Helsinki
Committee; International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF); Moscow
Helsinki Group

In Bulgaria the delegation visited four types of institutions:
. Institutions for confinement of persons sentenced for criminal
offences or detained on suspicion for having committed an offence
under the authority of the Ministry of Justice;
. Institutions for involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation for the
purposes of active treatment of mentally ill individuals under the
authority of the Ministry of Health;
. Institutions for involuntary placement of delinquent children for
the purposes of "compulsory education" under the authority of the
Ministry of Education and Science;
. Institutions for involuntary placement of persons with
developmental disabilities for the purposes of social care under
the authority of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

The IHF delegation received some cooperation from the Bulgarian
authorities, which allowed it to conduct a meaningful mission and to
formulate a number of recommendations on all types of facilities visited.
This cooperation, however, was insufficient. The delegation always insists
on conducting private interviews with inmates. Unfortunately, the
delegation members were not able to do this in all of the facilities it
visited. Bulgarian legislation still preserves some outdated principles
that do not allow contacts of remand prisoners with private individuals and
groups, even for the purposes of human rights monitoring. In some
establishments the directors and other staff members tried to control the
team's visit and prevent private conversations with inmates, especially
when members of the delegations took interest in abuses of the authorities.
An additional obstacle to the delegation's mission was the incompetence of
some of the staff members, who failed to answer delegation's questions and
to produce the necessary data.

In the Ministry of Justice facilities, the IHF delegation found that the
Bulgarian government still struggles with the heritage of the previous
outdated system of custody, which is incompatible with international
standards for the treatment of prisoners. This system does not allow for
more diversified forms of custody, including a possibility for placement of
detainees in individual and small-group cells and dormitories. The
delegation found that the conditions of detention were inhuman in several
facilities it visited, but especially at the pre-trial detention facilities
of Plovdiv and Nova Zagora. It recommended complete withdrawal of service
of the Nova Zagora pre-trial detention facility and serious improvement of
the material conditions of the Plovdiv pre-trial detention facility. It
also recommended improvements of the conditions of custody in several
prisons, especially in the wards where life-sentenced prisoners and
prisoners undergoing disciplinary sanctions were held.

The Bulgarian system does not deal adequately with the complaints of ill
treatment and with inter-prisoner violence. Medical care in the prisons is
not integrated with the national health care system and is of a poor
quality. The IHF delegation was particularly appalled by the practice it
observed in some prisons to charge inmates for the medicines they take in
the prison. It observed serious flaws in the ensuring of contacts with the
outside world, including routine censorship of the correspondence in
violation of international standards. In several facilities delegation
members found that prisoners were not offered any activities. The situation
with the prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment was particularly serious
in that regard. In some facilities even the one-hour outdoor exercise,
envisaged as a minimum by both the Bulgarian law and the international
standards for treatment of prisoners, was not ensured. Although the
legislative framework regulating disciplinary proceedings underwent some
positive changes recently, it still allows for arbitrary exercise of
disciplinary powers and lacks sufficient due process guarantees.

In the Ministry of Health facilities, the IHF delegation observed that at
the time of the visit the Bulgarian system of civil commitment for
involuntary psychiatric treatment allowed for arbitrary placement in
psychiatric hospitals in violation of international standards. It also made
possible the treatment of involuntary patients without asking for their
consent. The delegation noted with satisfaction the changes of the law that
took effect since January 1, 2005. During its visit to the Karlukovo
Psychiatric Hospital the delegation observed poor material conditions in
some wards. The food was apparently insufficient, despite some
improvements. The methods of treatment were not sufficiently diversified
and the patients were not offered meaningful activities during the day.
Several patients complained of physical abuse from other patients. long-
term isolation, as well as restraint of patients in front of other patients
appeared to be routine practices in the hospital.

In the Ministry of Education and Science facilities, the IHF delegation
found that the procedure for the placement in the schools for delinquent
children is still arbitrary and requires further reform. In the Special
Educational Boarding School in Gabrovtsi the delegation observed that the
material conditions were inhuman and that the children were not protected
from physical abuse. The educational process was seriously flawed and