Following a report warning of ‘serious concerns’ published by the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of torture, Justice Minster Costas Fitiris on Wednesday said he will pay a visit to the central prison on Thursday.
Fitiris said that his visit was aimed at obtaining “general information on all issues concerning the prison” to improve the system.
In its report, the committee spoke of a “failure of prison staff to ensure the safety of those in custody”, which had been brought to light partly due to a “chronic shortage of frontline officers”.
The committee voiced “grave concerns” over the conditions in the facility, highlighting “high levels of inter-prisoner violence”, connected to the persistent staff shortage which had allowed prisoner groups “to dominate and impose informal punishments, undermining safety and order”.
According to the report, “severe overcrowding” and insufficient access to sanitary facilities have resulted in inmates at the central prison facing “very poor” living condition.
It said that currently, up to four prisoners were sharing cells of less than six square metres, and that due to a lack of staff available to let prisoners out of their cell, some were forced to “urinate in bottles and, at times, defecate in bags.”
The prison guards branch of the Pasydy union on Wednesday said that the situation in the central prison had “exceeded all limits of endurance and tolerance.”
“The state no longer has the luxury of remaining silent,” the union said.
Pasydy warned of an “explosive security crisis”, which was threatening human lives, including those of inmates and prison guards.
“The constant clashes, murders, and criminal cases planned inside prisons are a disgrace to a European state governed by the rule of law,” Pasydy said.
It said that the facilities had suffered “decades of decay”, highlighting that prison staff was forced to carry out their duties “in an environment that does not meet even basic safety standards.”
The union warned against assigning prison staff a policing role, stressing that this would inevitably make them targets and hinder the trust required to promote reintegration progams.
It added that it could no longer tolerate the current conditions, expressing fear that if the latter remained unchanged, prison staff could fall victim to the ongoing violence while on duty.
“The only realistic solution is the construction of a new prison institution, away from residential areas and outside the dead zone, an institution that will meet European standards of security, living and working,” Pasydy concluded.
On Sunday, a 35-year-old man had been murdered in the central prison, with police later arresting an inmate suspected of premeditated murder.
In the context of ongoing investigations into the murder of Limassol businessman Stavros Demosthenous in October, a 30-year-old convict held in the central prison is suspected of complicity.
In September, a prisoner claimed he was repeatedly raped by fellow inmates, accusing prison authorities of delaying action, covering up criminal acts and failing to protect him despite early warnings.
