Former chairman of the Prison Board Mario Felice resigned three months ago. In his first interview since, he tells Mark Micallef that as a society, the Maltese are complacent when it comes to torture and physical ill-treatment.

Four guards were arraigned in court for allegedly beating an inmate. Are you surprised and what do you make of it?

I'm shocked, but I am not surprised because these sorts of allegations of ill-treatment and torture used to reach me in the past. I don't want to say that it's normal in a prison context, because that would almost suggest that it's justified. Unfortunately, if you hear about 10 cases, you can only prove one because the prison is a closed community and to get right to the facts is very difficult.

Did you reach this conclusion specifically from your experience at Corradino?

Yes, it comes from my experience both locally and in Europe. In this case, we're talking about a prisoner who allegedly escaped and was recaptured. It's a classic scenario in which a prisoner is most vulnerable to ill-treatment because the esprit de corps of the prison guards has been tainted and this happens in any prison context.

Are you saying that this sort of thing is common?

No, I'm saying that it's a classic scenario. But I also think we as a society are most complacent when it comes to torture and physical ill-treatment. We think that these things only happen beyond our shores.

But there haven't been many cases, at least not ones which have been mentioned publicly.

Only very recently we had people in authority... take for instance the claims made with regard to the officers who allegedly beat up those handcuffed immigrants in Paceville.

Yes, but we're talking about the prison.

The allegation here is that the abuse is said to have taken place in the corridors of a prison, openly. The point I'm trying to make is that this sort of abuse happens openly only if there is a culture of abuse. People do not resort to abuse unless there is a culture of impunity. In this particular case there were immediate measures of accountability but generally officers would resort to ill-treatment only if there is the perception that they can get away with it.

So you believe there is this culture of impunity at the local prisons?

I cannot specifically say that there is a culture of ill-treatment.

The question referred to a culture of impunity... the idea that you can get away with roughing up a prisoner without justification.

Unfortunately, yes, I do have that impression, gathered from my experience at the prison.

Why?

Because, as I said, it is very difficult to prove a case of abuse... In my own experience, a couple of years ago there was a similar allegation but CCTV recordings were not retained. The allegations pointed towards ill-treatment but it couldn't be proved.

What was the case about?

Two inmates were alleging similar physical beatings.

Where did this happen?

It was said to have happened in the corridor leading to a cell.

I've spoken to prisoners who mentioned two such cases which allegedly took place in the past few years involving a Libyan and a British prisoner.

I cannot recall the Libyan case right now but I was referring to the case of two British individuals. The point is that it's very dangerous to gauge the level of abuse by reference to frequency. Even ill-treatment with one per cent of the prison population is bad. We cannot say that there is no ill-treatment even if just one per cent of the prisoners are being ill-treated. Prohibition of torture, inhumane or degrading behaviour is absolute. Both at a national and international level the law allows for no exceptions.

So why wasn't the case of this British person made public?

I cannot answer that question. When I was chairman of the prison board, my job was to investigate these allegations of ill-treatment and to report my conclusions and observations to the minister. Period.

Yes, but I'm asking you to pass judgment based on your experience as chairman of the prison board. Do you feel that secrecy is good practice?

I work extensively on precautionary safeguards against ill-treatment and one of these safeguards is access to the media, but there are other safeguards such as access to a doctor, a lawyer, to the family, to the phone, and so on.

Are these safeguards in place?

There are a lot of safeguards. The problem is whether they prevent ill-treatment. In the case of this person, for instance, it seems that he was placed in maximum security... There's a similarity between this incident and the incident which led to my resignation a few months ago because both inmates were taken to Division Six. I am on record saying that I have very, very grave reservations about the way it is run and the regime associated with it.

What's wrong with Division Six?

For a start the safeguards I'm talking about are very weak there. If the prison administration wants to weaken the safeguards for prisoners, that is the place to take them... Inmates are confined to that place to the extent that they have no access to services.

The area is cut off then...

The archbishop recently visited the prison twice, during which he was reportedly taken on a tour of the entire prison complex and had the opportunity to meet all the prisoners. I can tell you that this was not the case because he was not taken to Division Six. Prisoners cannot go to Church, so the chaplain visits the place on a weekly basis. They cannot go to educational classes and only a teacher or two visits the area, so this restricts the circle of people who know what is going on there. Certainly, up to a few months ago at least, not even the prison psychologist had access to Division Six. Why on earth is this? I put the question because I have no answer.

Are you suggesting this division is used when authorities want to keep things quiet?

I cannot say it is being used for that specifically, but the regime associated with Division Six leads to such weak safeguards that the risk of abuse rises when a prisoner is placed there. When I resigned, this was one of the cardinal issues. Returning to this case, in any other division, the inmate would have had direct access to the medical infirmary, but not in Division Six. Why? For security purposes.

As the former Minister of Justice had said during a Budget debate, when law enforcement personnel cannot justify something, they justify it on the basis of security, because security is not really challenged is it?

Does it mean that if an inmate is placed in Division Six it's unlikely that an allegation of the sort is brought to the administration's attention promptly?

In this case, the prisoner was reportedly recaptured. There are very specific regulations which say that when guards use force in any way - and one presumes that force is most often used when guards are trying to recapture a prisoner - they're duty-bound to report that fact to the prison director. The first thing a guard is meant to do after resorting to force, when things have settled down, is to write up a detailed report.

You're saying the director should have been informed about this situation immediately?

He should have been informed. The prison would be weak if there was no structure in place to guarantee that information gets to the prison director in line with existing prison regulation.

And does the system work?

Unfortunately, when I asked for copies of similar reports following the use of force in the past, the written report was very scanty. But what's more, if as has been reported the director only got to know on the following Monday, he should be looking into his managerial structure. Surely he should have been informed of an escape on the very same Saturday.

I would dismiss subordinates who fail to inform me about something like this. It's logical. What prison director would accept a situation where he is informed of an escape two days after it has happened?

The director said he was aware of the escape but not of the allegations.

Right, but if he was aware of the escape, was he aware of the re-capture? Did he expect that this individual walked to the Paola square, realised that the greenery was lacking and walked back to the prison? Therefore, he should have enquired into the escape and the way the prisoner was said to have been recaptured. I stress this, because conceptually any recaptured escaped prisoner would be most vulnerable to physical ill-treatment.

It's a basic tenet of prison management skills. The re-capture should have triggered precautions against ill-treatment. So, yes, I am worried and concerned. The easiest thing to say is 'I did not know'.

You describe quite a dismal situation.

I'm not saying that the system is very loose. I would not have been able to reconcile my principles with the system for so many years if that were the case. There are very honest officers working in prison. A test for the state of a prison facility is the suicide rate... when I go to prisons on the continent I always ask about the rate of suicides and I get a feeler.

Some have very high rates. Fortunately, that is not the case for Malta. The last death in prison which had a suicide connotation took place more than 10 years ago. I attribute this to the fact that most prison guards are reasonable people, who cherish family values and who speak and establish a relationship with the prisoners.

The point here is not about the individual guards but the system.

I always insisted that there can be a professional prison system but the biggest flaw we have in our present one is that we delegate prison functions to police officers or to former police officers. Any civilised country distinguishes between prison's custodial function and the police's investigative function.

Our Constitution states that a person is brought before a court within 48 hours of arrest because when the investigating authority detains him, he is at risk of ill-treatment and his appearance before a judge constitutes a safeguard against that risk. That is why the courts can remand an arrested person in custody.

But the prison should then be distinct from the investigative arm. Our system instead is managed by a number of former police officers. We can say that they have resigned from the police service but have they been exposed to training for prison custodial management as opposed to police service?

Beyond the element of competence, there are many allegations of unhealthy practices. The Dutch inmate at the centre of the latest case, Perry Toornstra, says he got prison leave through another inmate. Is this something strange or have you come across this sort of scenario?

I don't believe that Toornstra's prison leave would have been sorted out completely by another prisoner. He would have had to fill in some form of request with a clerk. At least from my knowledge of how prison-leave works, there is some paperwork, generated through a written request. Whether he had met in person with the authority or clerk I wouldn't know. But, that said, you mention that there was an intermediary and this sounds very close to the present prison management style.

I've got my own views as to whether it is healthy for a prison administration to rely on intermediaries but this approach has been sustained over the past number of years.

Whereby certain prisoners act as go-betweens?

Yes, and this is something which the prison authorities have to justify whether it is a healthy approach. In the short term it can solve problems, but in the medium and long term it generates complications and lacks transparency.

And raises suspicions?

Of course. There is certainly an underlying problem if management has to rely on other prison inmates acting as intermediaries.

Mr Toornstra mentions Leli Camilleri, known as il-Bully, specifically, saying that he is in a very special position, able to get his way most of the time. Is this consistent with your experience in prison?

Certainly Mr Camilleri has a very prominent role in the prison. He enjoys a lot of things which others do not, including access to the prison director.

Such as?

I don't want to elaborate further, but when I was active in the prison until very recently many prisoners were denied certain possibilities, only to gain them through the intervention of this individual. I don't think I need to comment further on whether that is healthy.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.