- 42 114. Women prisoners with children were, in principle, permitted to keep the latter with them in
prison until they reached the age of 2½ years. However, this rule was not rigidly applied, a child
over 2½ being allowed to remain with its mother until an acceptable alternative home was found.
At the time of the delegation's visit, there were eight children (belonging to five mothers) in
the prison. However, there were no special facilities for the children; they slept in their mother's
cell, and during the day appeared to have the free run of the prison.
It should be emphasised that mothers and children represent a particularly vulnerable group
in prison. Efforts should be made to place them in a favourable social and educational environment;
preferably, there should be a suitably-equipped creche facility, and the assistance of nursery nurses
as well as specialised medical care should be guaranteed. The CPT invites the Greek authorities
to review the existing arrangements for mothers with children at the Korydallos Prison for
women, in the light of these remarks.
115. Material conditions in the Prison for young male offenders were somewhat better than those
in the mens and womens prisons. In particular, the establishment was not suffering from serious
overcrowding; the standard-sized cells were occupied by one or two juveniles, and the dormitories
were of an adequate size (55 m²) for the numbers accommodated (up to nine).
However, the activities offered were not adequate, a situation acknowledged by the prison
staff.
116. The delegation was informed that the juvenile offenders were shortly to be transferred to a
rural prison in the area of Volos (the accommodation thereby freed to be used to relieve
overcrowding in the mens prison). Consequently, it would not be appropriate for the CPT to make
any proposals concerning the situation observed in Korydallos. However, the CPT would like to
receive information on the physical conditions of detention and regime for juveniles at the
Volos establishment.
In this connection, it wishes to stress that young persons in custody should be provided
with a full regime of educational, recreational and other purposeful activities. Physical
education should constitute a significant element of that regime. Moreover, the staff assigned
to units accommodating juveniles should be carefully chosen and, more specifically, be
persons capable of guiding and motivating young people.
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