Protest at extension of “hard” regime
01 August 2002
The hard prison regime governed by article 41 bis of the penitentiary system code, temporary legislation that was renewed on a yearly basis, is to be made permanent, and to become applicable to criminal offences involving terrorism (subversive activity) and human trafficking. It was previously applicable to serious crimes involving participation in organised crime syndicates, notably the Mafia and other such organisations, like the ´Ndrangheta in Calabria, Camorra in Campania and Sacra Corona Unita in Apulia.
It introduces a system whereby: a) prisoners are excluded from benefits such as work outside prison, short-term release for good behaviour, or alternative punishment to detention (the exclusion may be overturned by inmates becoming informants); b) increased precautions for internal and external security are taken; c) there is a reduction in the number of visits and telephone conversations allowed; d) the amounts of money and parcels detainees may receive from outside of prison are limited; e) they may not take on any role as representatives of detainees. Effectively, it means that visits and contacts with the outside world are severely limited, a semi-isolation regime is imposed, hours spent outside of cells are curtailed and the concession of benefits is denied, among other consequences.
The explanatory memorandum attached to the draft law to reform the special prison regime claims that the experience in fighting organised crime has shown the importance of “putting into place measures aiming to guarantee the interruption of contacts with the rest of the organisation”. It adds that this is even more important if one considers the “worrying” resurgence of terrorism. The extension of the 41 bis regime to terrorism will affect Islamic detainees suspected of belonging to al Qaida and similar organisations, and to persons accused of committing crimes with "aims of terrorism”. The latitude with which such legislation may be interpreted is a possible cause of concern, considering the number of recent arrests on suspicion of “terrorism” that have proved unfounded, and the investigation and arrests of members of the Taranto section of the Cobas trade union last June on grounds of “subversive association”.
The Radical Party published a dossier on detainees serving under the 41 bis regime, indicating that on 27 July 2002, there were 645 such prisoners held in special sections in prisons in Cuneo, L'Aquila, Marino del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno), Novara, Parma, Pisa (Therapeutic Diagnosis Centre), Rebibbia (Female section), Rebibbia (Male section), Secondigliano (Naples), Spoleto, Terni, Tolmezzo (Udine) and Viterbo. The three women held under the 41-bis regime are held in Rebibbia prison in Rome. These sections are usually in a separate building and managed by the Gruppo Operativo Mobile (GOM, see new materials). Some have a special “reserved area” for prisoners that are considered particularly important or dangerous, of which there are 17 (including Mafia super-boss Totó Riina). One of the problems highlighted is that of prisoners who are selected for a harder regime than their crime would entail because it is sometimes considered dangerous for top criminals to share a “reserved area”. The dossier also documents the poor medical treatment reserved for detainees serving under the 41 bis regime.
Sergio D’Elia and European MEP Maurizio Turco visited the prisons in which the special regime is in force, interviewing detainees. They claim that the norm “indefinitely suspends some fundamental freedoms of detainees”, and that the Italian Constitutional Court has ruled that this would only be constitutional if it was for a limited period. The dossier describes conditions in the cells, noting that measures such as light deprivation (resulting from multi-layer barring of windows that allow very little light through) cause “unnecessary and unreasonable suffering, inflicted out of mere sadism” in a letter complaining about prison cond