Cell assignment is done on the basis of the needs expressed by the inmates themselves, but decisions are ultimately made on a discretionary basis. The judicial authority may require the administration to prevent contact between certain prisoners. Inmates should be separated according to their legal status. Overcrowding often compromises this legal obligation.

The sentence should provide individualized treatment for the inmate, carried out by a team of socio-educational professionals. In practice, the prison administration does not allocate sufficient means to respect this objective.

There are around 900 educators for a population of almost 60,000 prisoners, a low number compared to the European average.

The prison educator is appointed through a competitive examination. It is necessary to have a higher education degree.

Inmates are not allowed to have private phone conversations with their lawyers. They can only exchange letters in confidentiality.

According to Italian law, the partner or closest relatives of the inmate should be informed in case of death. This provision is not duly implemented in practice. Authorities sometimes communicate deaths in a cold way or delegate the duty to the prison chaplain¹.

According to Italian law, perpetrators of torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment face prison sentences from five to 12 years. If the acts result in the unintentional death of the victim, penalty increases up to 30 years. They might incur a life sentence if the resulting death is considered intentional.

During the last Universal Periodic Review, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) recognized the efforts made by Italy to provide training programmes in human rights to prison staff. However, it considered that there was not enough information about the impact those programmes were having[^16]. [^16]: UN Committee against Torture “Concluding observations on the combined fifth and sixth periodic reports of Italy”, 18 December 2017, §30.

The medical staff is independent from the prison administration. However, they do not have any specific training to properly document the physical and psychological effects and signs of torture and ill-treatment¹.

The most frequent forms of violence reported are aggressions (between inmates and between police officers and inmates). The prison administration does not provide a real distinction of the nature of the aggressions recorded. It is known that insults are not taken into account in the number of aggressions registered. Violence between inmates is mainly linked to overpopulation and internal tensions within prison life.

However, overcrowding is not the single reason that increases violence in prison. High occupancy rates combined with other factors such as the lack of activities or work opportunities, as well as prolonged solitary confinement, can increase the number of aggressions registered in a prison facility.

This is the case in the overcrowded Como prison, where Antigone’s monitoring team has been observing a situation of strong tension in the past years.

Inmates can file complaints against the penitentiary administration.

They can claim remedies for poor prison conditions. After exhaustion of domestic remedies, inmates can address their complaints to the ECtHR.

Complaints can be made orally or in writing.

Investigations, after complaints, are always very lengthy. After several years of judicial proceedings, judges have difficulties in pronouncing a decision. Moreover, when offenders have been convicted, they can benefit from pardon and serve a sentence lower than the one decided by the judge¹.

Inmates, relatives, lawyer or prison activists can refer to the NPM. There are no conditions to seize this body. When the NPM receives a large number of complaints from one specific facility, they usually organise a visit to verify the general conditions of detention of the prison.

For following up on NPM recommendations, the direction of a prison facility has 30 days to respond to remarks and recommendations made by NPM.

The adjustment of sentences is decided by special judges and courts (Magistrato di Sorveglianza and Tribunale di Sorveglianza).

The last amnesty was granted in 1990 to inmates who were sentenced to no more than four years. Recidivists prisoners were not eligible¹.