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Prisoner in JVA (symbol image)
Photo: Felix Kästle / dpa
Experts from the Council of Europe criticize the poor psychiatric care in German prisons.
Despite many positive aspects in the facilities, the long periods of solitary confinement and lack of psychiatric treatment in some detention centers are worrying, according to a report by the Anti-Torture Committee released on Wednesday.
The committee called for prisoners in solitary confinement to have meaningful outside activities and at least two hours of real human contact each day.
Inmates with severe mental disorders must be transferred to suitable therapeutic facilities as quickly as possible.
The delegation visited a total of 18 institutions in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein.
These included not only prisons, but also correctional facilities.
The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, together with its Court of Justice, is responsible for upholding human rights in the 47 member states, including Russia and Turkey.
It is not an organ of the European Union.
kha/dpa
