European states should ensure that persons deprived of their liberty have access to effective complaints mechanisms in prisons, police stations, immigration detention centres, psychiatric institutions and other places of detention.
This is a fundamental safeguard against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment, warns the Council of Europe's anti-torture committee (CPT) in its annual report, published today.
On a number of occasions during its country visits, the CPT has found that complaints mechanisms did not exist or suffered from major shortcomings. Deficiencies included not informing detainees adequately about complaints bodies or procedures, undue delays in the processing of complaints, failure to thoroughly examine the detainee's allegations, lack of independence or impartiality of officials dealing with complaints and insufficient protection against intimidation and reprisals.
“Complaints mechanisms should be immediately accessible in all places of detention in Europe. For the complaints system to be effective and trusted by persons deprived of their liberty, all complaints should be dealt with swiftly and thoroughly following a clear procedure which protects the person concerned from possible intimidation or reprisals”, said the CPT President Mykola Gnatovskyy.
