Missnöjet pyr över svensk häktestortyr - En undersökning av det kritiserade häktningsinstitutet

Sammanfattning: Pre trial detention is a coercion measure where a suspect is incarcerated between the time he or she is being arrested until the trial. A pre trial detainee is considered innocent until proven guilty and thus it is important that the detention is not used as a punishment or rehabilitation. Whether a detainee is innocent or not he or she should be treated with respect for his or her human dignity. If there is a risk that a pre trial detainee will remove or effect evidence in the ongoing criminal investigation The court may allow the prosecutor to impose restrictions which limit the detainees contact with the outside world. Individual restrictions should be proportional to their means and used restrictively. Extensive use of such restrictions in combination with a long period of detention may lead to isolation of a detainee increasing the risk of anxiety, reduced cognitive abilities, sleeping difficulties and memory loss. Extended periods of isolation may even lead to serious mental illness such as personality changes and post traumatic stress disorder. Such isolation and its consequences has been compared to psychological torture. Another aspect of this matter is that a detainee who is experiencing mental illness may be disadvantaged when it comes to participating in interrogations, appearing in court or preparing his or her defence. The Swedish pre trial detention system has been widely criticized due to an extensive use of restrictions, long detention times and the treatment of adolescents in custody. Nearly 50 % of all the detainees where subject to one or more types of restrictions and there are examples of detainees in Sweden that have been in pre trial detention with full restrictions up to three or four years. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) and the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (SPT) have visited Sweden eight times altogether since 1991. The purpose of the visits has been to evaluate the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. The reports and recommendations following the visits have shown that there is a need for change for Sweden to better meet the mental health of detainees in pre trial detention. In April 2015 the Swedish prosecutor general provided guidelines directed to Swedish prosecutors. The guidelines aim to change the procedure of imposing restrictions of detainees and to reduce the time they spend in pre trial detention. The subject of this thesis is the question of whether these guidelines will change the prevailing situation, or if they need to be supplemented by legislative measures. Among the proposals of what such legislative measures might look like are detailed regulation regarding the use of restrictions, established time limits for pre trial detention and isolation, and a procedure where the District Court Judge has a greater influence on the restrictions that are imposed. In my opinion, Swedish custody laws are in great need of change in order to make sure that the needs of the detainees and their mental health are respected.