Serious prison overcrowding, inmates crammed into cells

The central prisons are largely overcrowded often with four prisoners cramped into one cell, MPs heard on Monday, amid concerns of medical staff shortages.

Although the facility can only cater to around 620 inmates, there are currently 1,000 prisoners held in Nicosia’s central prisons.

The House human rights committee along with other MPs went to the site, to see for themselves the host of issues the prisons are plagued with.

Currently there is only one psychiatrist at the facility – catering to the 1,000 inmates, as well as a severe shortage of psychologists, MPs said.

Deputies were unanimous in decrying the overpopulation at the prisons, describing it as a serious issue, and warned that having four prisoners to a cell only creates more problems.

“When someone is jailed, it doesn’t mean we deprive them of their human rights, their right to exist and their right to dignified living conditions,” committee chairwoman and Akel MP Irene Charalambides said.

“As of now, the needs of the inmates are not being met with the medical staff available through the state health services (Okypy). Neither at the level of psychiatrists or nurses,” she specified.

“The goal is to support people and reintegrate them into society – not exhaust them.”

Over 500 places prepared

Head of the prisons Ioannis Kapnoullas told deputies that works on expanding prison’s capacity are on track and within the apt timeframe – but confirmed medical staff is short.

“The number is something that will be confirmed” but there is a need for at least one doctor and a number of nurses from various specialties, he added.

Regarding projects aimed at decongesting prisons, Kapnoullas said the centre offering employment and integration support to prisoners has already been converted to an open prison.

Projects to transform it into a closed prison are now underway and in the first phase, 240 places will be secured, he specified. As part of the second phase, a new wing which will be constructed will secure another 350 places.

Young human ‘smugglers’

Disy MP Rita Superman and independent MP Alexandra Attalides cautioned that the majority of those imprisoned as human smugglers are under the age of 21 and potentially wrongly deemed smugglers.

“A smuggler is one that organises a trip and has a network in the destination and departure country. Not the driver of the boat,” Superman said.

She specified that the boat drivers are also migrants that take on the responsibility of driving the boat, perhaps by paying less money.

“I don’t know whether they’re actual smugglers, it seems a little strange.”

So far, the prison area hosting people up until the age of 21 is made up of a majority of foreign nationals. Currently there are 39 individuals that were the ones that drove migrant boats to Cyprus, the MP said.

Attalidou said the minute police calls them smugglers or traffickers, the statistics show Cyprus caught them – but this is perhaps not the case, and the real smugglers are out in the open.

Organised crime in prisons

Asked to comment about concerns that prisons are linked to organised crime, Kapnoullas said “on matters of security, we prefer to say less and work more.”

Charalambidou remarked there were court decisions illustrating that “serious crimes were organised with the prisons” and this is a matter that should concern the state, police and the justice ministry so as to put a stop to it.

Phones should not work in prisons, questioning how long it would take to resolve this.

“It is about time the state took up its responsibilities.”