In the increasingly desperate hunt for prison spaces, the Prison and Probation Service has clarified that two inmates can be placed together in the smallest cells, without Sweden violating the European Convention's Article 3 on torture or inhuman treatment.
The cells are approximately six square meters, and according to the authority's legal analysis, this corresponds to the "international minimum standard" for double occupancy.
"If there is less than three square meters per inmate, there is a presumption that a violation of Article 3 has occurred," the analysis states.
The move comes after virtually all larger cells have been double-occupied, says Torbjörn Nyberg, head of the Prison and Probation Service's capacity unit.
We started with the places that were best, the ones that were largest and had the most space in other communal areas. The ones that are left now at the end, they are constantly worse places we are taking over.
The Union is Concerned
Christer Hallqvist, chairman of Seko Prison, the largest union within the authority, says that the increased crowding is worrying.
That they are now looking at cells of six square meters, in those departments there are no real communal areas and they are almost full already with single occupancy. To then squeeze in two people, it will become a ticking bomb, he says.
According to Hallqvist, there is also a risk that they may be forced to triple-occupy cells in some cases to accommodate the inmates.
Crowded Everywhere
Both he and Torbjörn Nyberg believe, however, that crowding in cells is not the biggest problem. Instead, it is the lack of communal areas and meaningful activities that primarily escalates the situation.
It's crowded when you leave the room. There are barely enough seats for everyone, it's crowded in the showers and so on. It's things like that which actually create more problems, says Torbjörn Nyberg.
The crowding is what is pointed out as the primary cause of the 25 percent increase in violence between inmates last year.
Christer Hallqvist says that the situation for the employees is difficult.
It's getting tougher and tougher. It might get a little easier when we open up new units, but double occupancy is the new normal, so it will remain.
The Prison and Probation Service's assessment is that the violence between inmates in 2024 had a clear connection to crowding and double occupancy. "When double occupancy was established, reporting tended to increase, to then decrease again," the authority writes in its annual report.
The crowding creates more conflict areas in daily life between inmates, which is reinforced by a general lack of meaningful activities in crowded institutions. "Such circumstances created an increased level of boredom among inmates and led repeatedly to frustration and irritation," the authority writes.
Source: The Prison and Probation Service's annual report 2024
