Human Rights in Bulgaria's Closed Institutions
4.4 Death cases and their investigation The number of deaths in the inpatient psychiatric facilities is not proportional to the placements. The BHC established that there was lack of information about the causes of death and no feedback on correcting the circumstances that have resulted in death cases. Actually, the reasons thereto are not known, because the notifications of death most often state “ACVD-acute cardiovascular deficiency”57. This is a phrase that does not convey any information about the causes for the death and reflects the ignorance and the reluctance of medical specialists to work on the case. Only some of the establishments have adopted the practice of autopsy and verification of the clinical and pathoanatomical presentation. For most cases, however, autopsy is evaded by means of a request and a declaration signed by the relatives. This procedure is partly applicable for patients undergoing voluntary treatment, but is absurd and illegal for committals. During 2005 BHC came upon information about several death cases in psychiatric hospitals. For some of them BHC carried out thorough investigation and took legal representation of the victim’s relatives before prosecution offices and courts. Other cases remained not investigated yet. Below are given some of the cases that are illustrative about the practice of investigation of deaths in psychiatric hospitals. Ivaylo Vakarelski During a regular monitoring visit of the BHC’s research team in Karlukovo Psychiatric Hospital (North-Western Bulgaria) it came across records about a recent death case of a young man (Ivaylo Vakarelski). Ivaylo Vakarelski was admitted for compulsory treatment to Karlukovo psychiatric hospital on 27 June 2005. On 30 June 2005 at 9 p.m. he died under suspicious circumstances in the hospital. At the moment of his death he was restrained and secluded. No autopsy was carried out. The body was buried by his relatives on 2 July 2005. Because the case seemed unusual on 12 July 2005 a BHC’s researcher visited the parents of the dead person at their home. During this visit he learned that parents found traces of violence - bruises on the right side of the forehead and neck and around both wrists over the death body. On 16 July 2005 Vakarelski’s mother signed a power of attorney for starting a criminal procedure to a BHC’s lawyer. BHC initiated a criminal procedure on behalf of the mother at the Lukovit District Prosecution Office to investigate the death of Vakarelski. BHC asked the prosecutor to exhume the body and to conduct a post-mortem examination to establish the circumstances and reasons of the death. On 18 July 2005 BHC’s lawyer requested Lovech Regional Prosecution Office to start a criminal procedure. On 15 August 2005 senior sergeant Atanasov, who works at the District Police Office in Lukovit prepared a decree for verification based on the instructions of Lovech Regional Prosecution Office. The decree says that Vakarelski was very aggressive and for this reason he was tied several times during his stay in the hospital. According to this decree the father took his son’s corpse and refused autopsy in written. On 8 September 2005 in an informal talk the prosecutor told BHC’s lawyer that there is 57
A typical example of that is SPH-Byala.
5