Radio România Internațional

Tag: detention conditions

  • Promised solutions for penitentiary staff demands

    Promised solutions for penitentiary staff demands

    The authorities are aware that the Romanian prison system is riddled with complex problems. Both the employees in the system and the inmates are deeply dissatisfied, to such an extent that on August 1st, prison staff went on a work-to-rule strike. Prison guards demand improved working conditions, solutions to the personnel shortage problem, the reorganisation of detention facilities and the building of new prisons.



    After talks on Thursday with the unionists in the penitentiary system, Prime Minister Mihai Tudose announced the Cabinets willingness to take measures to improve the activity of the National Penitentiary Agency. The Government is considering, among other things, an increase in salaries as well as a review of the personnel requirements, in line with the current relevant standards. After the meeting, the head of the National Union of Penitentiary Workers, Stefan Teoroc, said that PM Mihai Tudose had also agreed to a change in the status of penitentiary workers:



    Ştefan Teoroc: “As far as our status is concerned, the Prime Minister was firmly in favour of changing the name into ‘Penitentiary Police, while as far as the number of jobs goes our position is that the same government resolution should increase the number of jobs in the penitentiary system from the current 15,000 to 20,000. We will analyse this together with the Justice Ministry, and even if this increase is to be made gradually, it should begin this year. The first step would be to add a number of jobs and to fill as many vacancies as possible.



    Teoroc also said he had asked the Prime Minister not to proceed with a planned 12,500,000 euro cut in the budget of the penitentiary system, and instead to use this amount for further hiring and for improving working conditions in prisons. He also warns that the unionists will not give up their protests until at least some of the promises made during Thursdays meeting have been met.



    On the other hand, the European Court for Human Rights calls on Romania to improve detention conditions. Prison overcrowding, inadequate sanitation facilities, lack of hygiene, and low food quality are some of the elements pointing to the severe failure of the prison system. In February, the director general of the National Penitentiary Agency, Marius Vulpe, announced that the fines imposed on Romania by the European Court for Human Rights over poor detention conditions totalled 1.6 million euro last year alone.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • Criminal laws, under debate

    Criminal laws, under debate

    One day after nearly 100,000 people, including in the diaspora, protested the Governments plans to pass two controversial emergency orders, one granting collective pardons and another one amending the Criminal Code, the Justice Ministry organised on Monday a public debate on the topic. Chairing the debate, the Social Democrat Justice Minister Florin Iordache, the author of the desired changes, said he would table consistent documents related to the criminal legislation, in compliance with the opinions expressed in the public debate. The pardon is not targeted at specific individuals, but rather is meant to help improve detention conditions, said Minister Iordache, who is accused of pushing legislation that serves his own party, the Social Democratic Party, some high-profile members of which have been facing corruption sentences in recent years. Here is Florin Iordache, talking about the elimination of some provisions from the drafts:



    “We will take into account the comments made here today and those provisions which were unclear or conflicting will certainly be eliminated. I will not tell you what we will take out and what the final drafts will look like. I repeat, further to todays consultations, I have some comments that I would like to have included in the texts of the two bills.



    The amendments proposed by the Justice Ministry were criticised by some of the participants in the public debate. As one of them put it,



    “The manner in which the pardon and the criminal law amendments were designed essentially reconfigures Romanias criminal policy with respect to workplace-related offences, such as abuse of office, negligence, and so on. And it is unacceptable that this should be operated under a government order.



    Also on Monday, President Klaus Iohannis called on the Government to give up the bills on pardons and the amendments to the Criminal Code. The President said the Government cannot overlook the citizens will, and that a sound democracy is one where the majority does not abuse its position only because it is temporarily in power. Joining in the criticism against the proposed changes are civil society representatives, the countrys main judicial bodies, including the Prosecutor Generals Office, the Anti-Corruption Directorate and the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, magistrate associations, opposition parties and the US Embassy in Bucharest. In turn, the Justice Ministry defends its bills, putting forth arguments related to the detention conditions and some Constitutional Court rulings. (Translated by A.M. Popescu)