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Resolution 2223 (2018)
Detainees with disabilities in Europe
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is very
concerned about the situation of detainees with disabilities, whether these
disabilities are physical, sensory, intellectual or psychosocial.
Inadequate provision for their specific needs and a lack of accessibility
and reasonable accommodation expose detainees with disabilities
to violations of their fundamental rights and to degrading and discriminatory
conditions of detention, which amount to a double punishment.
2. Depending on the type and seriousness of their disability,
detainees with disabilities are faced with unsuitable cells, resulting
in shameful living conditions, and the lack of access to common
areas in prisons, which prevents them from moving around outside
their cells without assistance. Communication difficulties may also
have serious consequences in terms of access by detainees with disabilities
to information in accessible formats and activities suited to their
disabilities.
3. In the absence of measures to help them understand their rights,
the sentence imposed on them, the operation and rules of the facilities
where they are held and the complaints procedures, there is a risk
of detainees with an intellectual or learning disability not being
able to understand their environment, being seen as disruptive and
being subjected to unjustified sanctions.
4. Unsuitable conditions of detention, the lack or inadequacy
of appropriate care provision and the lack of trained staff mean
that detainees with a psychosocial disability often do not have
access to treatment suited to their specific needs, which worsens
their state of health and does nothing to enable their future reintegration into
the community. This population, particularly fragile and sensitive
to its environment, is susceptible, where care is inappropriate,
to aggravation of its health problems and decompensations in the
form of distress, agitation and even violence. Some people who have
committed acts prohibited under criminal law but who have been declared
not criminally responsible for their actions because of a psychosocial
disability are deprived of their liberty for years with access neither
to appropriate care nor to the necessary safeguards concerning their
placement.
5. The Assembly notes that these issues also exacerbate the vulnerability
and isolation of detainees with disabilities and prevent their social
integration in prison. Moreover, these problems are compounded by
factors that have a negative impact on all detainees but that disproportionately
affect prisoners with disabilities, such as prison overcrowding;
the tendency to imprison offenders rather than impose alternative
sentences; the lack of medical staff willing to work in prison settings,
which sometimes results in excessive use of immobilisation or in
overmedication; repeated transfers and lack of continuity of care;
and insufficient staff with adequate training in assisting detainees
with disabilities. Lastly, the Assembly regrets the fact that the
lack of up-to-date figures on the number of detainees with disabilities
or the types of disability concerned prevents the introduction of
appropriate measures for dealing with the problems encountered.
6. The Assembly underlines that it is States’ responsibility
to take all necessary steps to ensure that the conditions of detention
in their prisons do not violate prisoners’ fundamental rights and
that their dignity is respected. While regretting the absence of
a specific legal framework governing the situation of detainees
with disabilities at European level, it draws the attention of States
to their obligations arising notably under the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5) and the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to the relevant rules in
Recommendation Rec(2006)2 of the Committee of Ministers to member
states on the European Prison Rules and in the United Nations Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela
Rules), and to the recommendations of the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CPT).
7. In the light of the above and with a view to respecting the
human dignity of all prisoners with disabilities, the Assembly calls
on Council of Europe member States:
7.1. regarding the legal framework applicable to detainees
with disabilities and its implementation, to:
7.1.1. sign
and ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities if they have not yet done so, and to implement
its provisions;
7.1.2. adopt in their domestic law specific provisions governing
the situation of detainees with disabilities, so as to ensure that
the fundamental principles of equality of treatment, non-discrimination,
reasonable accommodation and accessibility are respected for these
detainees;
7.2. with a view to identifying the measures and means necessary
for dealing with the problems encountered by detainees with disabilities,
to gather statistical data, including data disaggregated by age,
gender and other relevant criteria, which provide a clear picture
of the number and circumstances of detainees with disabilities in
all their diversity;
7.3. to take account, in all policies concerning the situation
of detainees with disabilities, of the particular needs of detainees
with disabilities at risk of multiple or intersectional discrimination,
in particular those of women; elderly people; lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people; and members of ethnic minorities;
7.4. with a view to ensuring fair access to justice, to put
in place measures to identify all types of disability as soon as
individuals come into contact with the criminal justice system,
and to provide the assistance or care which they need without delay;
7.5. in order to prevent the imprisonment of persons whose
condition is incompatible with detention, to provide for and further
develop the application of adjusted sentences or alternatives to
prison sentences, and systematically to consider non-custodial pretrial
coercive measures or sentences, or compassionate release, for disabled
persons whose circumstances could otherwise justify detention or imprisonment,
depending on the nature and severity of their disability and the
capacity of the custodial system to provide appropriate care, bearing
in mind the principle of reasonable accommodation;
7.6. when a person with disabilities is placed in detention,
to make sure that the choice of facility is based on the ability
of the facility to meet the person’s needs in terms of accessibility
and reasonable accommodation; convicted persons who suffer from
serious mental problems should be provided with health care and
detained in closed facilities specialised as appropriate to their
state of health wherever practicable;
7.7. to reduce to an absolute minimum any delays between the
arrival of persons with disabilities in prison and the provision
of appropriate care for them, by identifying from the moment they
enter prison their needs in terms of accessibility and reasonable
accommodation, and to make sure that these needs are monitored throughout
their detention;
7.8. with a view to ensuring that the accessibility and reasonable
accommodation obligations are complied with for all types of disability,
to:
7.8.1. provide a sufficient number of cells for persons
with reduced mobility and to fit out prisons in line with the CPT’s
specific recommendations on such persons in terms of living space and
cell design;
7.8.2. lay out prison premises in such a way that detainees with
disabilities, in particular detainees with physical disabilities
and visually impaired detainees, have the same access as their fellow
detainees to all areas to which they should be able to go – sanitary
facilities, outside areas, areas used for activities and training
provided for detainees, medical services and areas used for visits,
etc.;
7.8.3. provide, where appropriate, sign language interpretation
services in detention facilities when other types of communication
support are inadequate;
7.8.4. ensure access to information for persons with intellectual
disabilities and, to this end, to prepare or support the preparation
of easy-to-read versions of information concerning prison regimes
and detainees’ rights, drawn up in line with the standards developed
by non-governmental organisations representing persons with intellectual
disabilities;
7.8.5. provide a sufficient range of activities suited to the
needs of detainees with disabilities;
7.9. regarding access to care, to:
7.9.1. ensure prompt
access to suitable care provided by a sufficient number of qualified
staff, including medical staff, covering all necessary specialist
areas; these staff members must also be trained in the specific
features of the prison environment;
7.9.2. ensure the continuity of care, including in the case of
transfers to other facilities or in exceptional circumstances, such
as industrial action by prison staff affecting the normal operation of
prison services;
7.10. to provide disability training for judicial and prison
staff and to include awareness of disability and multiple and intersectional
discrimination in recruitment criteria.