AUSTRIA | Hungarian Ombudsman visits the Correctional Institution Eisenstadt

In Hungary, just like in Austria, the parliament entrusts the Ombudsman with the tasks of the National Preventive Mechanism, monitoring institutions in which there is or can be a deprivation or restriction of personal liberty.  The challenges of the monitoring activities on the basis of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) can only be met with an effective international exchange of experiences. After having invited the Austrian Ombudsman Board to visit a Hungarian correctional institution last year, the Hungarian Ombudsman László Székely came to visit the correctional institution Eisenstadt together with a delegation of the Austrian Ombudsman Board from the area of competence of Ombudswoman Gertrude Brinek, on December 12th.

Oberst Günter Wolf, director of the Correctional Institution and deputy director Klaus Faymann elaborated on the – often similar – challenges of the correctional service. The Hungarian Ombudsman especially referred to the problems of overcrowding, deprecated buildings and an increase in the number of mentally ill inmates. In the course of the inspection of the prison, the Hungarian delegation visited the workshops, the infirmary as well the women’s and men’s ward.

Source: Austrian Ombudsman Board