state, according to her medical file. Her transfer to a mental health hospital was requested
on 7 June 2021. The fourth woman was found to be urinating and defecating in her cell,
smearing faeces on the walls and furniture and sweeping urine under the door into the
corridor. She was referred to PICU on 2 June 2021 and, at the time of the visit, was
waiting for a second assessment. In a meeting with the authorities at the end of the visit,
the NPM raised the situation of these four women and requested to receive confirmation,
within one month, that they had been transferred from Prison M to a suitable health-care
environment.
By e-mail of 7 July 2021, the authorities informed the NPM that the transfer of these
inmates was still pending. According to an update submitted on 17 August 2021, the
first and third women listed above had been transferred to a hospital, while the second
woman no longer required hospital transfer and was receiving treatment in prison. The
referral process was in place for the fourth women. It follows that the time between the
referral request and the transfer to hospital in the case of the third woman took more
than a month and in the case of the first woman more than two months. The transfer of
the fourth woman was still pending more than two months after the referral had been
requested. During all that time, these women were locked up in their cells in the in-patient
with no other regime activities than up to 30 minutes of daily outdoor exercise being
provided. Such situation is totally unacceptable.
On a more positive note, the NPM acknowledges that staff in the in-patient unit were wellaware of the complex needs of the individual women patients, demonstrating a caring
attitude towards them and reacting adequately to challenging behaviour.
Exercise
On the basis of the report section above, draft one or more recommendations that address the issues
raised and identify the key stakeholders you may wish to work with in following up on the situation.
NPM Toolkit for Asia Pacific NPM-NHRIs
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