Statement on the preconditions for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to segregate prison inmates for their own safety

Summary of the decision: Based on an individual case, the Parliamentary Ombudsman makes a statement concerning the preconditions for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to segregate inmates for their own safety. Among other things, she underlines the importance of the agency making every effort to ensure that the possibility of segregating prisoners at their own request pursuant to Section 4 of Chapter 6 of the Swedish Act on Imprisonment (SFS 2010:610) is not diminished due to the present overcrowding.

According to the Parliamentary Ombudsman, one unavoidable consequence of overcrowding appears to be that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s security assessments of inmates have become more complex and opportunities to adapt placements to individual assessments are more limited. In her decision, the Parliamentary Ombudsman states that the current difficult situation notwithstanding, it can never be acceptable to expose inmates to the real risk of being subjected to violence by fellow inmates.

The Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s Annual Report 2024 reveals that the strained situation is forcing the agency to consciously take greater risks when it comes to the placement of inmates. This is a conclusion that the Parliamentary Ombudsman shares based on information from inspections conducted as part of the Parliamentary Ombudsmen’s assignment as a National Preventive Mechanism. She emphasises that, if taken to extremes, this risk-taking may conflict with Sweden’s obligation under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights to protect inmates from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Ultimately, it may even contravene the State’s undertaking to protect inmates’ right to life pursuant to Article 2 of the Convention. These obligations involve a specific duty to monitor persons deprived of liberty and take those measures that can reasonably be demanded to protect them from danger to life or threat to their physical integrity.