Amnesty International has long been seriously concerned that the placement, living conditions and treatment of patients in many psychiatric wards and hospitals in Romania are in violation of international human rights standards and best professional practice in this field. In one of the most tragic recent incidents illustrative of such concerns, in the two first months of 2004, 17 patients died at a psychiatric hospital in Poiana Mare in southern Romania, most of them reportedly of malnutrition and hypothermia.
