OMBUDSWOMAN Iliana Nicolaou yesterday officially voiced what has long-been suspected when she said that prison wardens were likely engaged in smuggling drugs to inmates at the Nicosia Central Prisons.
“Although we cannot challenge that the vast majority of prison wardens exercise their duties correctly, we cannot rule out the possibility that members of prison staff bring in and deal illegal drugs,” Nicolaou said in a 50-page report handed to Justice Minister Loucas Louca yesterday.
“This is because in essence only prisoners and visitors are subjected to the relevant specialised checks upon entry,” the report stated, adding that these checks towards inmates and visitors did not always conform with human rights norms, while wardens did not undergo the same checks.
“The problem is also exacerbated by the failure and neglect to take measures,” Nicolaou said.
The report also said that a large number of drug addicts should not be in a prison where there was no chance of rehabilitation. Such a centre should be a priority, Nicolaou said. Also she said addicts should preferably be included in treatment programmes within the community, not in prison.
The prison system as it stands had also contributed to creating drug addicts of people locked up for other reasons, Nicolaou said.
According to Nicolaou’s report the claim that prison wardens bring drugs into prison has consistently been voiced by prison inmates themselves, and by their friends and families. She suggested that prison management takes measures to rule out the risk that the claims were valid by subjecting prison staff to the checks provided by law on their entry to the prison compound.
The report also highlighted the lack of information on the number of inmates who use drugs, as well as more specialised information on their drug of choice and method of administration.
An indication of the number was offered by the prison psychiatrist who believes that 60 per cent of his patients are addicted to drugs. This piece of information, however, could not give a general picture of the problem as not all inmates see the psychiatrist, Nicolaou said.
“The collection and recording of information that will give a representative picture in relation to the real dimensions of the problem and the particular characteristics of each case will help in the correct evaluation of needs and contribute to the development and planning of treatment approaches with individualised aims,” the report read.
In her report, Nicolaou appears to disagree with the general policy adopted in Cyprus which is to imprison users, which she claims has lead to a situation where an overpopulated prison is full of users who are not offered rehabilitation alternatives.
“Many users end up in prison, and often under unbearable sentences, while under different circumstances they would have been checked into therapy and rehabilitation centres. The current framework fails to appreciate that these persons are criminal offenders but also patients,” she said.
Nicolaou even argued that the claustrophobic and oppressive prison environment could actually push non-users into drugs. “The possibility that third persons import drugs into prison and the failure of the state to act on a proposal for the creation of a drug rehabilitation centre in the prison, seems to point out that the prison may have become breeding grounds for drug abuse,” the report said. ”The lack of integrated planning and adequate nursing and medical structures in the Central Prison exacerbates the problems of users and addicts”she said.
Nicolaou said there were a number of recommendations in the report, which she called a “useful tool” address the problem.
