Inpec and Uspec violated the right to mental health of two inmates: Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court said on Tuesday that the prisons of Jamundí (Valle del Cauca) and Cómbita, (Boyacá) violated the prisoners' right to mental health. The court's position is given after two guardianships were studied alleging the violation of the fundamental rights of one inmate with recurrent depression and anxiety disorder and another with paranoid schizophrenia with auditory hallucinations.

The decision was made by the Seventh Chamber of Review of Guardianship, with a presentation by the judge and president of the Court, Cristina Pardo Schlesinger. It was reported that the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute (INPEC) and the Prison and Prison Services Unit (Uspec) violated the prisoners' right to health.

In the first case of the prisoner with recurrent depression and anxiety disorder, the court says there is evidence that his mental health may be “seriously compromised”. According to the judgment, the entities ignored what was ordered by the treating doctors and the prisoner was not evaluated by the psychiatric specialist in due course.

“For the Chamber this fact is quite reproachable, considering that there was a previous concept in which it was warned that the prisoner suffered from such a serious depression,” the Court explained. For the specialist, there was a high risk of suicide and his state of health was incompatible with formal intramural imprisonment.”

On the other hand, the prisoner's right to family unity was also violated because he had ordered his transfer from Pasto prison to Jamundí prison. This decision was made “without taking into account their family conditions and ignoring the psycho-emotional effects that this may have on their mental health conditions,” the court added.

In the second case, in the Cómbita prison there was an order for the prisoner's referral to a psychiatric care center for a deterioration in his health, which was not complied with. The Court considered that the fact that the IPS in charge of patient care did not have the necessary safety conditions “could not be a basis for withdrawing the order for referral,” it pointed out in the judgment.

The decision of the Constitutional Court

The high court issued a ruling giving Uspec five days for the person held in Jamundí prison to be evaluated by a doctor specializing in psychiatry. For its part, INPEC will have two days to determine whether he should be transferred for health reasons and must assess his family conditions and the alternatives that can be offered to keep him close to his family roots.

“In the event that his condition is incompatible with life in prison, the judge in charge must consider whether he should be referred to a hospital or to a detention facility for non-imputable persons,” the Court stated in the judgment.

With regard to the person held in Cómbita prison, the ruling gave Inpec and Uspec 48 hours to request the National Institute of Legal Medicine for psychiatric evaluation of the prisoner. This will determine whether or not your mental disorder prevents you from staying in a penitentiary and prison facility. “Once the ruling has been issued, the judge in the case will have to determine whether he orders his transfer to an establishment for non-accused persons so that he can receive the appropriate treatment,” concluded the sentence.

The Fundamental Rights of Prisoners

The Constitutional Court recalled that, “when a person deprived of liberty, as a convicted person, suffers from a mental illness that is not compatible with deprivation of liberty in a formal detention facility, article 24 of Law 65 of 1993 must be applied”.

This article provides for the protection of the rights to health and dignity of prisoners. It also stipulates that, following the opinion of the Institute of Legal Medicine, the prisoner may be granted parole or hospital detention to undergo psychiatric treatment in a safe establishment.

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