The case of Andrei Braguta, the young man who died in penitentiary, showed that even if reforms are done in different sectors, not all the norms have been reviewed, including the internal regulations, and the working regimes at institutions and subdivisions remained thus the old ones. The medical system contains no common electronic register of persons with mental disorders, by the model of the register of persons with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, which would enable to supervise the patients and monitor the treatment. Such conclusions are contained in the report of the people’s ombudsman on the results of the investigation into the death of Andrei Braguta while in state custody, which was presented on December 5, IPN reports.
In a news conference, people’s ombudsman Mihail Cotorobai said he turned his attention to this loud case on August 30. His goal wasn’t to substitute the duties of the public authorities and law enforcement agencies or to collect evidence to hold accountable those to blame. The objective was to determine the reasons that led to Andrei Braguta’s death and to identify the system problems that enabled to commit abuses and violate the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.
To conduct the investigation, there was set up a working group that included employees of the Office of the People’s Ombudsman. In September – October 2017, the group made 23 fact-finding visits, including rerun ones, to 16 public institutions relevant to the examined case. Independent experts were asked to help elucidate some aspects.
The report shows the police employees are not trained to communicate with people with a hostile behavior. It was established that the conflicts that appeared between detains were managed badly and clear regulations are thus needed to explain how the police officers should act to prevent and combat violence between detainees so that the fundamental freedoms and rights of the sides are guaranteed.
“It was established that there were no practical recommendations. The National Patrolling Inspectorate does not know how to intervene and manage conflicts with persons with deviant behavior or under the influence of drugs,” said Alexandru Zubco, head of the Torture Prevention Division of the Office of the People’s Ombudsman. “The police officers do not know what steps they should take, how to initiate discussions and to document a case involving a person with particular disorders, including mental ones.”
The report also showed that the medical system’s units didn’t report that Andrei Braguta had bodily injuries. There was adopted a bureaucratic approach to the identification of the person in the process of admission to the penitentiary. Head of the Office’s Applications Management Division Ada Simon said there is now no clinical protocol concerning medical assistance in psychiatric emergencies that would include the plan of action and medical management in emergencies, including the formulation of recommendations.
There is also no mechanism of cooperation between the primary medical assistance service and the specialized ambulatory assistance service and no adjusted areas in detention institutions for persons with mental disorders.
The report will be transmitted to the national authorities, courts of law as amicus curiae (friend of court) and to international organizations.
