“There are cockroaches, ants and mice here. The environment is invaded.” Thus begins the dramatic account of a prison police officer from the women's prison of Secondigliano, a former semi-free section, now an improvised refuge for the inmates of Pozzuoli after the earthquake in May.
“As Secretary General of OSAPP (Autonomous Trade Union Organization of Penitentiary Police), I cannot remain silent in the face of this institutional disgrace,” says Secretary General Leo Beneduci,
And then he explains: "Since July 18, the situation has descended into an abyss of indecency and violation of human rights. Here are the facts, raw and indisputable: the detainees have been crowded into a former archive, a space never intended for human detention.
The entrance to the women's section it is in the center, with art. 21 on the left and semi-free on the right, in clear violation of the separation imposed by art. 14 of law 354 of 1975".
“It is absurd and unacceptable – continues the OSAPP leader – that the Penitentiary Police personnel are forced to use a van, originally intended for the transport of agents, to collect food from the kitchen of Secondigliano and then take it to the improvised women's prison and, among other things, the transport of food is not an institutional task for members of a Police Force and violates all hygiene and safety regulations”
”Not to mention – he continues – the fact that the bathrooms for the officers do not have windows or vents, 'an outrage to the most basic hygiene standards', or that there is no officer box at the walkways for visual checks, putting everyone's safety at risk.
The general surveillance of the prison, if necessary, would take more than an hour to intervene, being located far away and having to manage another 1400 male inmates.
The infirmary is a makeshift room, inadequate for any serious medical care.
The interviews take place by transporting 6-7 inmates at a time on a 9-seater vehicle, without any guarantee of safety – the unionist thunders again – and there is not even a first reception room for the new arrivals, violating the right to a dignified entry into prison.
The inmates are in a state of great agitation, deprived of any treatment activity due to lack of space, zero security. They are condemned to forced idleness, in violation of every principle of re-education.
The most bitter paradox? This barbarity occurs under the eyes of a management and a school board led by women. How can they remain indifferent to the mistreatment of their peers?
OSAPP, speaking on behalf of the women and men of the Penitentiary Police, demands immediate answers and actions: We ask Minister Nordio and Undersecretary Ostellari to personally inspect this indecent condition.
We demand the immediate transfer of the inmates to an adequate structure, such as the green area of the Mediterranean section of Secondigliano, former OPG, equipped with spaces and services for approximately 100 inmates.
We demand an internal investigation into the chain of command that allowed this shameful situation to arise.
Our policewomen do not want to be accomplices in this outrage – concludes Beneduci – because if the measure of a society is judged by how its most vulnerable members are treated in the Secondigliano prison, Italy is failing by exposing itself to yet another condemnation from the European Court”.
EDITORIAL TEAM
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