PAVIA. Overcrowding, but also borderline sanitary conditions in some departments and a situation defined as “dramatic” especially among the most fragile inmates. It is the outcome of Antigone’s annual visit to monitor conditions in the Torre del Gallo prison. The observers found, in the observation department on the ground floor of the prison, an inmate suffering from multiple sclerosis “who sleeps in a cell with a bed with side rails, assisted by his partner on a voluntary basis”.
«The structure – add the observers of the association that protects prisoners – is in a situation of overcrowding with 680 presences compared to a regulatory capacity of 515, but an effective one of 453, given the closure of the first department and part of the mental health facility, with a real overcrowding rate of 150%.”
During the visit, the observers focused in particular on the hygienic-sanitary conditions in the institute, «which remained unchanged compared to the previous visit, on 5 October 2023 – explains Valeria Verdolini, present at the visit -. We will send a report of the visit to the guarantor, the Superintendency and Asst Pavia”. Already in the previous visit there was an infestation of bed bugs (not completely eradicated in pavilion C and in the library, closed due to infestation).
«On the first floor the “isolation” department has poor lighting and ventilation – the Antigone observers further explain -. An inmate in the last cell is in a room where the walls of the bathroom have been broken. From the cell, from which there was already a strong smell of urine, during the visit the inmate broke the toilet with a kick. The conditions of the entire department, where 17 people are located, are unacceptable.”
There are also concerns about the pavilion for prisoners with psychiatric problems: «The 12 people present are assisted but not on a daily basis in terms of cell maintenance and personal hygiene. In one of the sections intended for the so-called “protected” we met a detainee who had burns on his arms. In these departments, people with serious psychological fragility are not assisted from the point of view of personal care. We ask for a check from the authorities and if necessary a closure of the isolation ward.”
