- 60 ii. the "intensive care unit" 182. This facility was in a small annex to the main building and consisted of a dormitory and three cells, equipped with iron beds fixed to the floor; a small courtyard was situated alongside. Staff stated that the facility was used to hold prisoners whose behaviour upset good order in the unit or who wished to be segregated. At the time of the delegation's visit, seven prisoners were being held in the facility. Two were suffering from withdrawal symptoms, another was affected by body-pack syndrome (concealment of drugs within the body by way of ingestion of sachets). Other prisoners had apparently been diagnosed as mentally ill, though there was a paucity of medical information about their cases in the different records consulted.8 183. Conditions in the above-mentioned facility were sordid; it was bare, dank and filthy. There was clearly no form of therapeutic care apart from medication, no attention to personal hygiene, and no on-going supervision of the prisoners (staff stated that someone visited the facility every half an hour, but there was no means of verifying this); even the call bell system was found to be out of order. To designate such a place as an "intensive care unit" is an abuse of the expression. It is in reality a place of exclusion for prisoners whose symptoms disturb the establishment's regime. The conditions under which these prisoners are kept come close to a state of abandonment. iii. isolation cells 184. In the basement there was a set of 10 cells used for isolation purposes. The cells were of the standard size (10.5 m²), but were divided into two parts by a grille. The part of the cell furthest away from the door measured approximately 6 m² and was fitted with a bed fixed to the floor. The artificial lighting was adequate, but the cells received very little natural light. Consultation of the relevant register showed that the cells had been used in recent months for between 10 and 13 prisoners per month, for periods of between one and ten days. 185. The delegation was told by staff that the isolation cells were used exclusively for severely disturbed prisoners and that such prisoners were systematically strapped to their beds. Staff stated that a prisoner might be subject to physical restraint for several days, and this was borne out by the case of a psychotic prisoner located in the isolation area at the time of the visit. The relevant register showed that when he was seen by the delegation, he had already been strapped to the cell bed for 56 hours. The prisoner was heavily medicated (haloperidol), and due to his clinical state it was not possible to engage in a discussion with him. 8 More generally, the delegation was struck by the absence of coherent individualised medical files for prisoners held in the Psychiatric Unit.