-5At Nigrita Prison, a number of credible allegations were received of physical ill-treatment of foreign
national prisoners by prison officers, supported by external perimeter guards. Staff must be told that
such behaviour is unacceptable. Further, perimeter guards should be trained in the proportionate use
of force and there must be stringent recording of all instances of use of force.
As regards living conditions at the time of the 2019 visit, they were generally adequate in some wings
of Chania, Nigrita and Trikala Prisons. In contrast, in other parts of these prisons and in much of
Korydallos Men’s and Thessaloniki Prisons far too many prisoners (usually those prisoners with no
financial resources or relatives to support them) continue to be held in conditions which represent an
affront to their human dignity. Most wings at Korydallos Men’s Prison were severely overcrowded
with poor material conditions; for instance, up to seven persons in a 9.5m² cell containing filthy
mattresses and blankets, infested with bed bugs and with mould on the walls and ceiling. The
conditions in certain sections such as Special Area C at Korydallos Men’s Prison (where up to five
prisoners were held in cells of only 6m²), and the unsupervised disciplinary unit at Nigrita Prison, can
easily be considered to amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. Steps must be taken to decrease
the occupancy levels to ensure that every prisoner is provided with at least 4m² of living space,
excluding the sanitary annexe, and all prisoners must have their own bed. Urgent steps should be
taken progressively to reduce the overcrowding at Korydallos Men’s and Thessaloniki Prisons, both
of which were operating at over 140% of their official capacity. Further, a rolling programme of
maintenance of the wings should be put in place and prisoners must be provided with appropriate
quantities of hygiene products and have regular access to hot water.
As regards regime, in all prisons visited the management attempted to create as many “jobs” as
possible but for most prisoners such work was largely notional (e.g. cleaning for an hour or two a
day). Further, there was a clear lack of any organised recreational, sports/gym or vocational activities
on offer. The promotion of “Second chance schools” is positive; however, there is a need to expand
their provision as well as that of other educational and offender management courses. It is also
necessary that sentence plans for prisoners be elaborated with a view to their re-integration into
society. In sum, much more needs to be done to provide prisoners with a programme of purposeful
activities.
The widespread deficiencies regarding the state of health care services in prisons persist. Problematic
issues such as access to health care, medical screening upon arrival or medical confidentiality are all
compounded by the severe shortage of health care staff and the continued lack of integrated
management of health care services. Prisoners and custodial staff should not have access to medical
records, be distributing medicines or be present during medical consultations. Also, steps should be
taken to ensure that all prisoners are able to obtain an AMKA social security number as this is a
prerequisite for the provision of appropriate medication and the reimbursement of prison health care
services. Further, the medical assessment of all newly arrived prisoners within 24 hours of admission
must include routine screening for transmissible diseases, as well as screening for, recording and
reporting of injuries. In addition, a comprehensive strategy for the provision of assistance to prisoners
with drug-related problems should be drawn up.
Responsibility for the oversight of Korydallos Prison Health Centre (the former prison hospital) was
transferred to the Ministry of Health in 2018. However, it is disappointing that many of the
fundamental deficiencies identified by the Committee in 2015 persist, such as the lack of medical and
nursing staff, very poor living conditions and the continued warehousing of the old and infirm. In
particular, the CPT recommends that urgent steps be taken to increase significantly the number of
qualified health care personnel, reduce the occupancy levels and repair the toilet and washing
facilities. Further, the system of medicine dispensing and administration should be reviewed. The