During its Human Rights meeting from 8 to 10 June, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers examined the Stanev case against Bulgaria, concerning various human rights violations related to the placement in social care homes of persons with mental disabilities.
The Committee insisted on urgent measures to address the most serious problems of poor living conditions in the social institutions, including to increase staffing levels; to avoid total physical neglect of vulnerable residents and serious hygiene problems, such as those noted in the November 2021 public statement of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The authorities were also requested to assess the expected results of the short- and medium-term measures foreseen to overcome in a sustainable way the problems in these areas. In addition, they were asked for an assessment whether “family-type” homes constructed on the same grounds as the existing remote social care homes, could be a viable solution, given the risk of recurrent problems of neglect due to possible lack of qualified staff.
The Committee instructed the Secretariat, in the absence of information by the end of December 2022 on the measures taken to address the most serious problems of poor living conditions, to prepare a draft interim resolution for examination at the March 2023 Human Rights meeting.
News item in Bulgarian (unofficial translation)
Latest notes and decisions of the Committee of Ministers concerning this case (unofficial translation into Bulgarian)
