The main objective of the visit was to review the progress in the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations since its previous visit in 2017 in relation to Nicosia Central Prisons, notably in respect of overcrowding, inter-prisoner violence, staffing levels, material conditions and health care. The delegation also focused its attention on persons held under immigration legislation and examined the situation at Menoyia Detention Centre, the Initial Registration Centre of Pournara, Limnes Immigration Centre, in a shelter for unaccompanied and separated juveniles and at the airports’ holding facilities of Larnaca and Paphos. Particular attention was also paid to the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived of their liberty by the police and to this end the delegation visited several police stations and police detention centres.
In the course of the visit, the delegation held consultations with the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Anna Koukkides-Procopiou as well as with the Chief of Cyprus Police, Stelios Papatheodorou, the Acting Director of the Prisons, Ioannis Kapnoullas, and the Director of the Civil Registry and Migration Department, Maria Adamidou. Consultations were also held with senior officials of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and with the Ministry of Interior, including the Asylum Service, the Aliens and Immigration Unit, and the Civil Registry and Migration Department. Further, the delegation held discussions with the President and Director of the Independent Authority for the Investigation of Allegations and Complaints Against the Police, as well as the President and former members of the Council of Prisons (Prison Board).
The delegation also met the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights, Maria Stylianou-Lottides and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Despo Michaelidou, as well as representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Office in Nicosia, the National Preventive Mechanism of Cyprus (NPM) and of civil society active in areas of concern to the CPT.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary findings to the Cypriot authorities.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Alan Mitchell, President of the CPT and Head of delegation
- Mari Amos
- Ifigeneia Kamtsidou
- Nikola Kovačević
- Kristina Pardalos
- Dmytro Yagunov
They were supported by Francesca Gordon and Vera Manuello of the CPT’s Secretariat.
The delegation visited the following establishments:
Police establishments:
Ammochostos Division
- Paralimni Police Station
Larnaca Division
- Aradippou Police Station
- Kofinou Police Station
- Oroklini Police Station
Limassol Division
- Germasogia Police Station
- Limassol Central Police Station
Nicosia Division
- Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) Nicosia
- Lakatamia Police Detention Station
- Nicosia Central Police Station
- Pera Chorio Nisou Police Station
Paphos Division
- Paphos Central Police Station
- Polis Chrysochous Police Station
Prison:
- Nicosia Central Prisons
Immigration detention facilities:
- Holding facilities for immigration detainees at Larnaca Airport
- Holding facility for immigration detainees at Paphos Airport
- Kokkinotrimithia Initial Registration center “Pournara”
- Limnes Multi-purpose Immigration Centre
- Menoyia Detention Centre for Illegal Immigrants
- Crown Resorts Henipa Shelter for unaccompanied and separated children
- Various police custody facilities where foreign nationals may be held under Aliens Legislation (listed above)
