A/HRC/33/50/Add.1
60.
During its follow-up visit, the Working Group received information concerning the
monitoring mechanisms, namely the Board of Visitors of the Prisons and the Board of
Visitors for Detained Persons, the qualifications of the board members and their expertise
in relation to detention. The Working Group is convinced that the mandate of the two
Boards must be protected by law and that they should be given the authority to request
changes in detention conditions, when necessary.
61.
The Board of Visitors for Detained Persons was established in 2007. It submits
reports and makes recommendations to the Minister for Home Affairs and National
Security. Staff of the Board visit detention centres every week, monitor detention
conditions, receive complaints from detainees and conduct interviews with the centre’s
authorities. A psychiatrist regularly accompanies Board members during their visits.
Members of the Board also visit detained persons when they are transferred for treatment,
for example to Mount Carmel Hospital for mental health treatment. As provided by Legal
Notice 266 of 2007, amended by Legal Notice 251 of 2012, “the Board and every member
thereof shall have access at any time to every part of the detention centres and to every
detainee and may interview any detainee out of the sight and hearing of all officers”. The
Working Group holds the view that the mandate of this Board could be extended beyond
the closed detention centres to other places, such as the mental hospital, elderly care
facilities and even private houses, whenever reliable information exists that individuals are
being deprived of their liberty.
62.
The Working Group is aware that the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman is limited to
the Public Administration and that this mechanism reports to the Parliament. The Working
Group learned during its follow-up visit that the Ombudsman had proposed the
appointment of a commissioner on detention services to review complaints and investigate
detention-related issues. Although this proposal has not been taken up by the Government,
the Working Group understands that the current Ombudsman has the mandate under the
Ombudsman Act of 1995 to receive and act upon complaints regarding administrative
actions taken by or on behalf of Government and other authorities in relation to detention
and immigration detention. It has also been noted by the Working Group that the Office of
the Ombudsman has in the past investigated complaints lodged by migrants when their
fundamental human rights have allegedly been breached. In addition, the Working Group
has been informed by the Government that there is a presence of the Ombudsman’s office
at the Corradino Correctional Facility to ensure that complaints regarding public
administrative matters from persons deprived of their liberty are properly reviewed. In this
regard, the Working Group encourages the Ombudsman to play a more proactive role in
receiving and reviewing complaints regarding public administrative matters from persons
deprived of liberty.
63.
The Working Group also takes note of the commitment of Malta to establish a
national human rights institution in full compliance with the Paris Principles, and
encourages Malta to speed up the establishment process of such an institution.
IV. Additional findings
64.
In regard to correctional facilities, the Working Group visited the Corradino
Correction Facility, the main prison of the country, which operates under the auspices of
the Department of Correctional Services. It has the capacity to hold 540 inmates, although
in May 2014 640 inmates were residing there. At the time of the visit, there were 543
inmates, including 42 women, of which 345 inmates were citizens of Malta and 198 were
foreigners, including some asylum seekers, while 110 prisoners were in pretrial detention
and 433 had been convicted.
13
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