Amnesty International Report 1994 - Luxembourg

At least two criminal prisoners were held in prolonged isolation. In November the Luxembourg Government published the report of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) a committee of experts set up under the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In the report of its visit to Luxembourg in January the CPT criticized the use of prolonged solitary confinement for disciplinary purposes as "unacceptable". At least two prisoners were kept in prolonged isolation in Schrassig prison. In April Jean-Marie Sauber was ordered to be placed in isolation for eight months for disciplinary reasons. Satko Adrovic was released from solitary confinement in August after completing eight and a half months of a 12-month punishment for attempting to escape. A number of other prisoners spent periods of up to six months in isolation. Prisoners placed in isolation spend 23 hours a day in their cells and are transferred for one hour a day into another cell, open to the outside but covered with a wire mesh, where they exercise alone. Amnesty International is concerned that prolonged isolation may seriously damage the physical and mental health of prisoners and may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The organization expressed its concern about the use of prolonged isolation in Schrassig prison in several exchanges of correspondence with the Luxembourg authorities. In his replies the representative of the Procurator General responsible for prisons described solitary confinement as a necessary disciplinary measure, the use of which was allowed by law.