“Of course, it took some time for the 237 inmates to get used to the new infrastructure,” she added. Monti recently met with the management of the penitentiary for an initial assessment. She will be talking to the inmates in the coming weeks.
The situation is more problematic for the female prisoners in Schrassig. Until now, due to overcrowding, female prisoners and remand prisoners could not be separated from each other, and fewer job opportunities were available for women. But according to Monti, this is about to change. One block is currently undergoing renovations, which “will take some time. " As for jobs, Monti confirmed that more spots have become available and facilities have also been improved, for instance through the addition of separate toilets and changing rooms for women.
The Ombudsman was more critical of Unisec, the Juvenile Security Unit in Dreiborn, which she says is “not adapted to the needs of young people.” Cooperation with the police needs to be improved and more resources are necessary to “take into account the very different profiles of minors.”
There are many minors with severe psychological problems at Unisec and the unit is not equipped to deal with this, “which is one of the main reasons why conflicts occur,” according to Monti. If that situation is to change, the people on the ground need to be given the necessary means, the Ombudsman stated.
“People are too easily remanded in custody in Luxembourg,” Monti criticised. As a result, the Grand Duchy is said to have almost 100 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, a fact that was recently criticised by Dr Thomas Galli, a lawyer and former prison governor, who visited Luxembourg to give a lecture. While Monti stated that it is not her job to criticise the justice system, she still wants to raise the question of whether it is always right to put someone in prison immediately. “Maybe electronic bracelets, especially for people who are still working, would be an alternative,” she suggested. She acknowledged that examining magistrates are not in a position to do anything about this and that it is up to legislators to adapt the laws.
Monti also addressed refugee facilities in Luxembourg, stating that “they are certainly not ideal for traumatised people.” However, she noted that there is a general lack of infrastructure, which is directly tied to Luxembourg’s housing crisis.
