The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has published a report on the periodic visit to Switzerland carried out from 22 March to 1 April 2021. The visit focused on the situation of persons deprived of their liberty in prisons, police establishments, psychiatric institutions and certain facilities for foreign nationals in seven different cantons of the Confederation. The report highlights good practices but also notes that structural problems remain, especially in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (see the executive summary of the report in French and in German).
On the subject of law enforcement, the CPT has received a number of complaints of excessive use of force by police officers and recommends that action to prevent police violence be enhanced. As regards persons on remand or serving custodial sentences, the CPT did not receive any allegations of physical ill-treatment by prison staff in the establishments visited.
However, prison overcrowding remains a considerable problem in the prisons visited in French-speaking Switzerland. This results in deplorable material conditions for both the prisoners and the prison staff and has a negative impact on the type of activity regime offered. Moreover, the situation in terms of activity regime has not improved for most persons on remand detention, who still often spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells. In contrast, in the canton of Zurich, adult remand prisoners can now benefit from an adequate regime as well as some occupational activities and association time. This example should be followed.
In their response to the report (in French, German and Italian), the Swiss authorities provide detailed information on the recommendations made by the CPT.
