Turin's CIE - International University College of Turin

“2.2 Upon the request of the interested person [the detainee], the grant for postal
and telegraph expenses is given in the form of stamps for three letters and a
payment for three telegrams worth up to a total of 30.000 Lire [approximately 15
euros].” 48
“4.1 The Ministry of the Interior, in consultation with the Ministry of Finance,
redefines proportionally the amount of the grant provided for in articles 1 and 2 in
the case of relevant increases or reductions in the mail, telegraph or telephone
tariffs.” 49
5. TELEPHONES AND TELEPHONE CREDIT
With large distances between family and CIE, telephone calls are the principal way of staying
connected to loved ones. Detainees consistently expressed frustration that they could not afford
to buy telephone credit. The interviews provide strong evidence that detainees are only being
given a total of 3 x 5 euro international telephone cards (worth a total value of 15 euros) for
their entire stay in CIE. The 15 euros of credit is distributed during a detainees’ first weeks in
Turin’s CIE and allegedly they are not given any free telephone credit after this initial 15 euros
of credit has been spent. Most detainees and religious personnel noted the difficulty of obtaining
telephone credit: “They [detainees] have to buy phone credit but we, the priests and nuns give
them stamps. I don’t know if they get them from other people or not” (Interview 3).
Furthermore, Italian CIEs do not consistently apply rules about personal telephones. After an
interview, we received a distressed phone message from one detainee who was unexpectedly
transferred to the CIE of Gradisca d’Isonzo (GO) where detainees are not allowed personal
telephones. It was very difficult to get in touch with this detainee once he had been transferred
to Gradisca and the staff at Gradisca’s CIE confirmed that the detainee could no longer use his
telephone. In contrast, Turin’s CIE allows its detainees to keep their telephones, however all of
the cameras and recording devices must be broken. A few detainees were deeply distressed that
their telephones might be tapped. However, we did not receive strong evidence to support this
claim.
6. VISITS
Connection with family is not limited to telephone calls and those with loved ones who can
afford to visit Turin have the option to receive visitors. However, one interviewee alleged the
following limitations with the visiting system:
“The visiting hours are every afternoon from two to six o’clock and there is only one room
for visits. The problem is that there is only onechannel for all kinds of visits: for diplomatic
personnel, for lawyers, for family members. So, if there is a diplomatic representative or a
lawyer talking with a detainee, family members have to wait for their turn, even though
they already have the authorisation and they may have had a long journey to come to
47 “2.1 A favore del cittadino straniero trattenuto, è assicurato l'utilizzo del servizio postale e telegrafico in
modo da garantire la riservatezza della corrispondenza”.
48 “2.2 Il contributo per le spese postali e telegrafiche concesso ad ogni cittadino straniero trattenuto è erogato,
su richiesta dell'interessato, tramite l'affrancatura di tre lettere ed il pagamento di tre telegrammi per un
ammontare complessivo non superiore alle lire trentamila”.
49 “4.1 Il Ministero dell'interno, di concerto con il Ministero del tesoro, del bilancio e della programmazione
economica, ridetermina proporzionalmente il contributo di cui agli articoli 1 e 2 ove intervengano rilevanti
variazioni, in aumento o in diminuzione, delle tariffe telefoniche, postali e telegrafiche”.
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