News 2023
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits France overseas (French Guiana and Guadeloupe)
During the visit, particular attention was paid to the conditions of detention of persons deprived of liberty in prisons, including remand establishments, affected by overcrowding. Further, the delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to involuntary patients in psychiatric...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on Portugal
The main objective of the visit was to the examine the treatment of persons apprehended by the Public Security Police (PSP) and the National Republican Guard (GNR) and to evaluate once again the effectiveness of investigations into allegations of police ill-treatment. A further focus of the visit...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Slovakia
In the course of the visit, the delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the treatment of persons in prison and their conditions of detention. Further, it assessed the treatment of persons placed at Hronovce Detention...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Greece
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation. The visit was also an opportunity to review the progress made by the authorities in implementing the CPT’s recommendations in relation to immigration matters...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on San Marino
The CPT’s 5th periodic visit to the Republic of San Marino aimed to evaluate, based on the recommendations from the Committee’s 2013 visit, the treatment of persons held in police custody at San Marino Prison, persons subject to “compulsory medical treatment” (trattamento sanitario obbligatorio -...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 periodic visit to Croatia
During the visit, the CPT delegation examined the treatment and conditions of detention of prisoners held in four prison establishments, and of criminal suspects deprived of their liberty by the Croatian police. The delegation also visited three psychiatric establishments and two social care...
The CPT held its 112th plenary meeting in November 2023
During this meeting, the CPT adopted the reports on its periodic visits to Albania (May 2023), Cyprus (May 2023), Estonia (May-June 2023) and Hungary (March 2023) and on its ad hoc visit to monitor the treatment of foreign nationals during a Frontex-supported return flight from Germany to...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes the response of the Moldovan authorities to the report on the 2022 visit
The main objective of the visit was to re-examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prison. To this end, the CPT visited Prison no. 4 in Cricova, Prison no. 13 in Chișinău and Prison no. 18 in Brănești. Particular attention was paid to assessing the progress achieved by...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Ukraine
The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Ukrainian authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits. Particular attention was paid to the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee (CPT) holds high-level talks in Greece on prison reform
The talks focused on the continued serious concerns of the Committee regarding the fundamental shortcomings in the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prisons. The delegation was particularly keen to learn about the action being taken by the Government to tackle the systemic...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee carries out periodic visit to North Macedonia
During the visit, a primary objective of the delegation was to assess the treatment of persons held in prisons, and to see what progress had been made by the authorities to develop a professional prison management system, with clear reporting lines and accountability. In particular, the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Malta
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prison and in immigration detention, as well as the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons detained by law enforcement agencies. To this end, the CPT’s delegation reviewed the...
Council of Europe anti-torture committee (CPT) publishes report on Romania
The findings of the 2022 visit highlight the need for urgent action to ensure that all persons in psychiatric establishments are offered decent living conditions and appropriate treatment for their mental disorders. Above all, this requires reinforcing staffing levels in the hospitals visited....
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Armenia
The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Armenian authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits. To this end, the delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 ad hoc visit to the Republic of Moldova
The main objective of the visit was to re-examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prison. To this end, the CPT visited Prison no. 4 in Cricova, Prison no. 13 in Chișinău and Prison no. 18 in Brănești. Particular attention was paid to assessing the progress achieved by...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee monitors treatment of foreign nationals during Frontex-supported return flight from Germany to Pakistan
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation as well as the procedures and safeguards applied to them in the context of their removal. More specifically, the delegation observed the preparation and...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its visit to Luxembourg
During the visit, the CPT examined the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police and of persons detained in the two closed prisons. The Committee also examined the situation of patients subject to a placement measure in several closed psychiatric units in two hospitals....
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on the 2022 ad hoc visit to Greece
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and living conditions of persons held in the Korydallos Psychiatric Hospital for prisoners (the Hospital). The CPT found that to all intents and purposes the Hospital remains a prison both in its design and functioning. Further, the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes two reports on the monitoring of a Frontex-supported return operation from Belgium and Cyprus to the Democratic Republic of Congo
The two reports examine the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation and the safeguards afforded to them in the context of their removal. The CPT sent, for the first time, two delegations to observe the preparations and...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 visit to Latvia
As regards police custody, the majority of persons interviewed by the CPT delegation stated that they had been treated correctly by the police. However, the delegation did receive several allegations from detained persons, of physical ill-treatment by police officers. Most of these allegations...
The CPT held its 111th plenary meeting in July 2023
At this session, the Committee adopted the reports on its periodic visit to Luxembourg (March/April 2023) and its ad hoc visits to Azerbaijan (December 2022), Bulgaria (March 2023), Georgia (March 2023), Moldova (December 2022), Serbia (March 2023) and the United Kingdom (March/April 2023). These...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 ad hoc visit to the United Kingdom
The focus of the visit was to examine the treatment of foreign nationals arriving by small boat in the UK after crossing the English Channel. The CPT visited the Western Jet Foil disembarkation site and the Manston Short-Term Holding Facility (STHF), where migrants are processed and held for the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2021 visit to Austria
In respect of persons held in police custody, the vast majority of detainees interviewed by the delegation made no allegations of ill-treatment. However, the report reiterates the Committee’s doubts as to whether investigations into allegations of police ill-treatment can be seen to be fully...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 periodic visit to the Netherlands
During the visit, the delegation assessed the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and it examined the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in prison, including those held in high-security units. Several immigration detention facilities...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 ad hoc visit to Montenegro
The report highlights that a considerable number of allegations of serious physical ill-treatment of detained persons by police officers were received by the CPT’s delegation. These included allegations against officers from the Sector for the Fight against Organised Crime and Corruption, Special...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Estonia
The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Estonian authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits. In this connection, particular attention was paid to the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in police custody...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits Hungary
In the course of the visit, the delegation examined the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the treatment of persons in prison and their conditions of detention. Further, it assessed the situation of persons placed in the Judicial Observation...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Cyprus
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...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Albania
The main objective of the visit was to review the progress made as regards implementation of the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits. Particular attention was paid to the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in police custody and of inmates in several prison...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2021 ad hoc visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina
During the visit, the CPT delegation examined the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by various police agencies, in particular in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), and the effectiveness of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment by the police. The delegation...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to the United Kingdom
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held under immigration legislation, both in immigration removal centres and prison establishments. The visit also afforded the delegation the possibility to examine the effectiveness of the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Luxembourg
The main objective of the visit was to examine the measures taken by the Luxembourg authorities, in light of the recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visits in 2009 and 2015. To this end, the delegation visited two police stations and two prison establishments, to assess the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Bulgaria
The focus of this ad hoc visit was to review the implementation of the long-standing CPT recommendations as regards the situation of persons deprived of their liberty in psychiatric institutions and social care homes. The situation found by the CPT in such establishments in Bulgaria during the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Serbia
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police. The CPT considered that the action taken to prevent ill-treatment by the police in light of the recommendations contained in the reports on the 2017 and 2021 visits was not sufficient....
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) calls for an end to illegal pushback practices and for increased safeguards against ill-treatment
As a result of its observations made during various monitoring visits, the CPT warns of the increasing number of cases of ill-treatment of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under immigration legislation. “Foreign nationals detained under immigration legislation are often held – and...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee announces periodic visits to eight countries in 2024
The Committee intends to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the following countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina Czech Republic Denmark France Georgia Ireland Norway Slovenia Persons and organisations in possession of relevant information concerning the situation of persons...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Georgia
The focus of the visit of the CPT’s delegation was on the secure wards of VivaMedi Clinic in Tbilisi, where prisoners receiving inpatient treatment are accommodated. During the visit, the delegation held consultations with Rati Bregadze, Minister of Justice, Beka Dzamashvili, Deputy Minister of...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2022 periodic visit to Italy
During the visit, the CPT's delegation examined the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in four prison establishments. It also assessed the treatment of patients in the psychiatric wards of four civil hospitals (Servizi psichiatrici di diagnosi e cura or SPDCs) and, for the...
The CPT held its 110th plenary meeting in March 2023
During the session, the Committee adopted the reports on its periodic visits to Croatia (September 2022), Portugal (May 2022) and San Marino (September 2022) and on its ad hoc visits to Greece (November 2022), Romania (September 2022) and Türkiye (September 2022). The CPT also adopted the reports...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) holds high-level talks in Lithuania
The main objective of the talks was to discuss the action taken by the government to address the long-standing recommendations to improve the situation in prisons as set out in the CPT’s report on the December 2021 visit to the country, which was published on 23 February 2023, together with the...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) holds high-level talks in Poland
The aim of the talks was to relaunch the dialogue between the CPT and the Polish authorities in a spirit of cooperation, in particular as regards the implementation of the Committee’s long-standing recommendations concerning the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. The atmosphere of...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2021 visit to Lithuania
During the visit, the delegation examined the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in police and prison establishments as well as the situation of persons in foreigners’ registration centres. The delegation also reviewed the use of means of restraints and legal safeguards offered...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Azerbaijan
The main objective of the visit was to examine, in light of the recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visit in 2020, the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police. To this end, the delegation visited several police establishments in Baku (namely the Temporary...
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