A policy regulating how transgender people should be treated in prison was introduced in August 2016, the government say

The government will not appeal a decision by the constitutional court that found in favour of seven transgender inmates, who claimed inhuman and degrading treatment in prison.

In a strongly-worded ruling, Judge Silvio Meli awarded the inmates €5,000 each in damages after they were placed in the male section of prison and were subjected to inhuman treatment.

In a statement, the government said it will not appeal the decision, adding that it had already implemented measures to change pre-existing systems that fostered injustices of the sort.

Government said the Corradino Correctional Facility has adopted a policy on procedures to be followed when trans, gender variant, or intersex inmates are admitted to the facility. The policy enables all inmates to be treated fairly and without discrimination, the government added.

It also noted that gender diversity training for prison warders was also undertaken.

“The government has also introduced a specific legal provision to ensure that inmates who are unable to change their legal documents in their home country are still able to be accommodated in prison according to their lived gender,” the statement said.

The government pledged to dedicate additional efforts and resources to ensure that the “human rights of all inmates are protected and laws are upheld with respect to dignity, equity, and social justice”.

Source: maltatoday.com.mt

Grupp ta’ priġunieri transgender, ħamsa Maltin u tnejn barranin, se jiġu kkumpensati €5,000 kull wieħed minħabba ksur tad-drittijiet tagħhom u diskriminazzjoni mid-diriġenti tal-Faċilità Korrettiva ta’ Kordin.

Is-seba’ priġunieri, li biddlu s-sess tagħhom minn raġel għal mara, sentejn ilu ressqu rikors il-Qorti li fih argumentaw li meta kienu l-ħabs kienu jitqiesu bħala irġiel flok nisa.

Huma talbu li ma jibqgħux fit-taqsima tal-irġiel, iżda oġġezzjonaw għall-fatt li kieku għażlu li jitrasferixxu ruħhom fit-taqsima tan-nisa ma setgħux ikomplu jistudjaw u jaħdmu għad-detriment li ma kienx se jkollhom flus biżżejjed biex iħallsu għat-terapija tal-ormoni.

Barra minn hekk, argumentaw ukoll li kien hemm xi priġunieri nisa u gwardjani nisa b’aġir ostili fil-konfront tagħhom, filwaqt li minkejja li kienu biddlu isimhom u l-fiżikament saru nisa, fil-ħabs baqgħu jiġu trattati daqs li kieku kienu rġiel.

Dan minbarra li qalu li kienu jiġu nsultati u mżebilħa mill-priġunieri u l-gwardjani, kif ukoll kienu suġġetti għall-fastidju u abbuż sesswali jew vjolenti kontinwu, filwaqt li ma kienux jitħallew jilbsu ħwejjeġ ta’ nisa u kellhom jinħaslu fl-istess post fejn jinħaslu l-irġiel.

Il-priġunieri transgender talbu lill-Qorti biex jitħarsu d-drittijiet tagħhom mid-diriġenti tal-ħabs, jingħataw kumpens tad-diskriminazzjoni li sofrew, u talli nkisru d-drittijiet tagħhom.

Fid-deċiżjoni tagħha l-Qorti, ippreseduta mill-Imħallef Silvio Meli, tat raġun lill-priġunieri, uħud aktar minn oħrajn, talli ngħataw trattament inuman, degradanti u diskriminatorju u ordnat lid-Direttur tal-Ħabs biex tkompli ssir ir-riforma meħtieġa f’dan ir-rigward.

Fid-dawl tar-riformi li bdew jitwettqu fil-ħabs, il-Qorti ddeċidiet li tordna l-ħlas ta’ kumpens lil kull priġunier intimat ta’ €4,000 għall-ksur tad-drittijiet fundamentali tal-priġunieri u €1,000 oħra għad-dannu li sar lid-dinjità tal-priġunieri minħabba l-indifferenza għad-diversità.

Il-Gvern qal li mhux ser jappella min din id-deċiżjoni tal-Qorti kostituzzjonali.  Fi stqarrija spjega li qabel din is-sentenza kif irrikonxxiet il-Qorti stess, fil-Faċilità Korrettiva ta’ Kordin ittieħdu passi u saret policy speċifika fuq kif għandhom ikunu trattati l-persuni transgender. Qal li dan qed isir fir-rispett sħiħ tal-liġi internazzjonali u Ewropea.

Source: tvm.com.mt

A Maltese judge has ruled that a group of transgender inmates were ‘knowingly and repeatedly’ placed by the prison authorities in Malta in situations where they were at high risk of sexual and psychological violence

A group of transgender inmates have been awarded €5,000 in damages each by the courts after their human rights were breached when they were placed with male prisoners.

The seven inmates, some of whom had transitioned from the male gender to female, all lived their lives as females and identified as such. They filed the court case, arguing that the prison authorities were insisting on treating them as males.

Some of the group were offered a choice to move to the female section of Corradino prison, but as this would entail them losing the opportunity to work and study, they declined. The inability to work would mean they could not afford hormone therapy.

The female inmates and warders were also hostile to them and so they decided to stay in the male section, even though some of them had to share a cell with a male inmate.

The situation led to ridicule, insults and vulgar sexual innuendos from both their fellow inmates and the prison warders. They were constrained to use the men’s showers and would therefore wait until all the other inmates had washed, with one of their number standing guard.

They had suffered degrading and discriminatory treatment on account of their gender, which had an adverse effect on their wellbeing Judge Silvio Meli 

This meant that they would often have to forgo washing altogether. They had no personal security and would be subjected to insults and “continuous sexual abuse and violence”.

The inmates argued that the situation breached their right to private life and constituted inhuman and degrading treatment. 

Instead of creating a dignified and secure environment, the prison authorities had “knowingly and repeatedly” placed them in situations where they were at high risk of sexual and psychological violence.

The defendants argued that they had made efforts to accommodate the prisoners’ needs by allocating different shower times. They had received no reports of abuse by the guards or other inmates, they claimed. 

They further rebutted the claims, by saying the minister was not the correct defendant and that the prisoners had not exhausted their ordinary remedies before resorting to court action.

The court noted that the prisoners had been admitted at a young age and had suffered greatly over the period of their detention. It upheld the defence’s first argument, saying that the correct defendant should have been only the prison director but not that the inmates had failed to exhaust their ordinary remedies. 

Making many references to European and local case law, Judge Silvio Meli said the treatment suffered by the plaintiffs fell within the parameters established by Strasbourg for a breach of their rights. 

It observed that the cell allocated to one in the female section of prison was filthy and used as a store room. The court added that the treatment suffered at the hands of the guards and inmates was “truly disgusting” and did not bear repeating. 

The inmates had been offered a Hobson’s choice in either losing their education and income opportunities or their safety, said the judge.

Although they were in prison to repay their debt to society this did not mean that they were unworthy of respect for their basic human dignity. It was plain to see that they had suffered degrading and discriminatory treatment on account of their gender, which had an adverse effect on their wellbeing, said the court.

The judge ordered the director of prisons to pay each of the seven inmates €4,000 for the breach of their rights, together with €1,000 each as damages to their personal dignity.

The victims were represented by lawyers Neil Falzon and Carla Camilleri from the human rights NGO Aditus Foundation, and Cedric Mifsud.

Source: maltatoday.com.mt