The 1398th meeting of the Committee of Ministers, dedicated to the supervision of the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, took place on 9-11 March 2021, during which a number of decisions concerning Romania were adopted. More specifically, related to the problem of overcrowding in Romanian prisons.
While welcoming the government's proposals to remedy the shortcomings the Committee noted "with concern" that the problems with the situation have worsened in recent months.
"Noting with concern, however, the persistent overcrowding in the prison system and the recent data showing a worsening of the situation over the last six months, stresses the importance of swift and decisive action to remedy this problem, particularly in view of its humanitarian implications; Therefore calls on the authorities to provide details of the additional legislative measures announced in the revised action plan and their expected impact, and urges them to draw on the indications of the European Court in the Rezmiveș et al. pilot judgment and the relevant work of the Council of Europe to ensure that these measures will enable the objectives pursued to be achieved," the Council judgment states.
In this context, The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS), calls on the Ministry of Justice to take urgent legislative measures to solve the problem of overcrowding in prisons and to speed up efforts to improve the existing infrastructure.
We recall that in December 2019 the Minister of Justice at the time, Cătălin Predoiu, narrowly managed to avoid issuing a resolution critical of the Romanian prison system and replace it with a recommendation decision.
In recent years FACIAS has closely monitored the situation related to prison overcrowding and respect for prisoners' rights, in line with its mission to protect citizens from state abuses, as well as through collaboration with Ombudsman in the field of prevention of torture in places of detention by carrying out visits to places of detention to check that all detainees' rights are respected.