Institution for men with developmental disabilities

Oborishte village, Valchi Dol municipality, Varna district

The Oborishte institution, although designed as a facility for adults with developmental disabilities, has many residents with mental illness (schizophrenia) - approximately half of all the men living there.

The living conditions in this institution are a very grave problem. The building was erected in 1956 and has not been renovated since. The flooring is rotten and broken, the paint on the walls and ceilings is peeling. The dining room, kitchen and bathroom are all located in the institution's basement and were found to be unhygienic and dark, with the plaster crumbling from the walls. The institution needs some 300,000 BGN (150,000 euro) to finish the new building to house its residents.

The outdoor toilet facilities are in a very poor condition. They have no doors and are a mere hole in the cement. When the BHC visited the institution in June 2002 there were a lot of faeces around the toilets. The taps of the water fountains were missing making them extremely hard to use. The only bathroom at the disposal of the residents is located in the building's basement, and at the time of the visit its metal door was locked. Therefore, use of the bathroom is not unrestricted. The hygiene on the premises of the entire institution was very bad.

The medical care and care in general of the residents in the institution is another serious cause for concern. Twenty men in the Oborishte institution have amputated or disabled limbs, and need auxiliary means to move around since they are not bedridden. Either because there are no such means, or because there is nobody to help them in a wheelchair, we found them on the floors in their rooms. They said they rarely went outside.

The general observation of the delegation is that high doses of medication are used in the institution merely for staff convenience. During the BHC visit all but a dozen residents were apathetic and impassive. No group or individual sessions are held with the men from Oborishte. They have no access to newspapers or magazines, and there is a television set in only one room which can host up to 10 men. Although the institution offers no purposeful activities for its residents, the men are not allowed to go to the nearby village.

Seclusion of Oborishte residents in isolation rooms constitutes degrading treatment.

The institution in Oborishte is the only one where the BHC has seen so many naked residents. (information as at June 2002)

There were 10 deaths in Oborishte in 2001, six people died in the first eight months of 2002. Not a single post mortem was carried out in these deaths.