Back CPT visits to Malta and Greece focused on treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prison and in immigration detention

CPT visits to Malta and Greece focused on treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in prison and in immigration detention

A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out a visit to Malta from 26 September to 5 October 2023. It was the Committee's sixth periodic visit to the country.

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 measures taken by the Maltese authorities to implement recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visits in 2015 and 2020. The delegation examined the situation at Corradino Prison Facility, the Centre of Residential Restorative Services, Safi Detention Centre, Hal Far Reception Centre (“China House”), Marsa Initial Reception Centre, Dar il-Liedna, Floriana and Gozo Custody Centres, as well as visiting several police establishments across the country.

In the course of the visit, the delegation met with Minister Byron Camilleri, Minister for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality to discuss its findings. It also met Angelo Gafa, Commissioner of Police, Malcolm Cutajar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the International Protection Agency (IPA) and Commissioner for Refugees, Christopher Siegersma, CEO of the Correctional Services Agency, Kyle Mifsud, CEO of the Detention Services Agency (DSA), and Clayton Xuereb, CEO of the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS). In addition, the delegation held consultations with senior officials from the Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality and its agencies, including from the Directorate of Policy Development and Programme Implementation, the Migration Unit, AWAS, IPA, DSA, the Probation and Parole Directorate, as well as senior officers from Malta Police Force (Immigration Police).

The delegation also met Steve Libreri, Commissioner for Inmates Welfare and Development, Antoinette Vassallo, Commissioner for Children, and Judge Emeritus Franco Depasquale, Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Board. Further, meetings were held with the Boards of Visitors for Detention and of the Prisons, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) and representatives of civil society bodies active in areas of concern to the CPT. Consultations were also held with the UNHCR Malta office.

At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary findings to the Maltese authorities.

A CPT delegation carried out an ad hoc visit to Greece from 21 November to 1st December 2023. The main objective 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 since its visits in 2018 and 2020, including as regards informal forced removals at both land and sea borders (so-called “pushbacks”). Two other visits, during which immigration issues are being examined, are currently under way.

It is also noteworthy to mention that during its November plenary meeting the CPT held an exchange of views with the ECtHR on matters of common interest, one of which concerned pushbacks of foreign nationals across international borders.

The CPT also took stock of the recent visits focusing on the migration-related issues:

CPT Strasbourg 11 December 2023
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