Two suicides of prisoners in 15 days in Catalan prisons have put the government on alert. The Ministry of Justice, headed by Ramon Espadaler, has announced a review of protocols and the definition of urgent measures within two weeks to solve mental health problems in prisons.
This Thursday evening, the Ministry of Justice reported the suicide of an inmate at Lledoners Prison. On September 5, an inmate at Brians-1 also committed suicide. These two deaths represent ten suicides among inmates so far this year, a figure that exceeds the six that occurred in 2023 and is approaching the black figure of 14 in 2022, one of the highest in recent years.
Prisoner suicides are one of the biggest problems in prisons. Long sentences and prison dynamics have a negative impact on the mental health of prisoners, which is why professionals recommend measures involving the prisoner’s contact with the outside world and the reestablishment of social ties outside prison as early as possible.
More than half of the inmates in Catalan prisons suffer from some type of mental health problem, a figure seven times higher than in the rest of the population, according to a study carried out in late 2022 by Justicia i Pau.
The former Minister of Justice, Gemma Ubasart, had promoted last spring the incorporation of a hundred professionals to work on mental health in prisons. The new team of the department, led by the minister Ramon Espadaler, announced this Friday a shock plan.
As reported by the ministry in a press release, this Friday the suicide monitoring and prevention group in penitentiary centers, composed of professionals from Justice and Health, met to develop a “shock plan” with short-term measures.
It was agreed that within two weeks the working group would adopt “concrete measures” to improve suicide prevention, the department added. The aim is to improve information between prison officials and doctors for the prevention and approach to suicide, to evaluate predictive factors and to establish a “precise” follow-up period for prisoners who are part of mental health units and prevention protocols.
