In Piazza Italia in Reggio Calabria this morning the Oratory Marathon onprison emergency, demonstration aimed at put the current and heartbreaking state of degradation under the social spotlight which cannot and must not be ignored.
The comparison between the legal profession, institutions and citizenship, in a public debate, is part of a series of meetings promoted by the Board of the Union of Italian Criminal Chambers in order to raise awareness among civil society on this delicate issue.
The The Criminal Chamber of Reggio Calabria has welcomed the national initiative with firm conviction, trusting that the discussion with the representatives of the institutions and the recognized sensitivity of the people of Reggio can represent a formidable driving force for an effective resolution of the sadly known problems.
The lawyer Pasquale Foti, president of the Criminal Chamber of Reggio Calabria, firmly believes in the initiative and in the need to discuss it with all citizens. «It is not possible that anyone could even remotely think that the problem of suicides in prison – sadly up to 46 since the beginning of the year – can be relegated to a matter that concerns insidersrather than the relatives of people deprived of their personal freedom. This is a short-sighted view of the problem! It would be like wanting to argue that deaths on construction sites are a problem for poor construction workers and that the dramatic shipwrecks of recent days only concern migrants seeking fortune! Every attack on the health or dignity of any human being is an incurable wound inflicted on each of us and on civil society as a whole.”
The event therefore aims to be a firm denunciation of everything that doesn’t work in the prison universe and which, starting from the thorniest topic of suicides, wants to shed light on the health and hygiene problems that afflict the inmate population, on the overcrowding of almost all penitentiary institutions, on the understaffing of the prison police officers called to respond to the ongoing emergency in absolutely unacceptable conditions.
«It is absolutely necessary that we all – citizens, judiciary, local and national politics, cultural and non-cultural associations, lawyers – yes let’s face a common front to get out of this widespread immobility. We must be confident, but trust must be continuously nourished by the watchful and attentive eye of each of us and, you can be sure, that the entire legal profession and that of Reggio in particular will always be vigilant about everyone’s rights and, today, even more on the rights of the Last».
The president also intervenes on the topic Reggio Calabria City Council, Vincenzo Marra.
«We can no longer let the the issue of the “re-education” of the condemned can be delegated only to national politics and penitentiary institutions. I believe that a widespread re-education policy is needed, which involves the territories and makes citizens feel like protagonists.
Certainly we can and must strive to improve prison conditions. However, this requires a long time which is difficult to reconcile with the need for speed which an emergency such as suicide requires. At that time, while waiting for national institutions to address the issue head on, at a local level we cannot remain still, as we are already doing in Reggio Calabria. It is necessary to increase and improve these paths. If a widespread and delocalized policy of reception, opportunities, alternatives, begins to spread, the ability to listen and assist prisoners will also improve. Sometimes it takes very little to save a life and give a second chance. I am available and ready to provide my concrete contribution, as I am convinced that, with actions such as those mentioned above, the number of suicides in prison could begin to decrease in the short term.”
