2002 News
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Slovenia
The report is published at the Slovenian authorities' request, together with their response. It covers the CPT's second visit to Slovenia, which took place in September 2001. Persons deprived of their liberty by the police in Slovenia are generally treated correctly. Nevertheless, the CPT has...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Transnistrian region of Republic of Moldova
The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) draws attention to the significant number of detained persons, interviewed by its delegation, who alleged ill-treatment by the police. It recommends a strengthening of fundamental...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on the Netherlands (including the Netherlands Antilles)
In the Kingdom in Europe, the CPT received no allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. Some recommendations were made regarding conditions of detention in police establishments (e.g., concerning access to outdoor exercise for remand prisoners) and fundamental safeguards for...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes reports on Estonia
During the 1997 visit, the CPT found that, in recent years, there had been a marked improvement in the manner in which detained persons were treated by the police. However, extremely poor conditions of detention prevailed in many police arrest houses. Detainees were held for prolonged periods in...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on its 2001 visit to Belgium
A limited number of allegations of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials were heard; the CPT has recommended that the Belgian authorities remain particularly vigilant in this area. As regards fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment, the CPT considers that the time has come, having in...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee: publication of three reports on Ukraine
During each visit, the CPT heard numerous allegations of physical ill-treatment of detainees by members of the criminal police ("opierativniki"); mainly kicks, punches and truncheon blows, but also asphyxiation with a gas mask, suspension by the legs and/or arms and beatings on the soles of the...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee examined situation in Turkish F-type prisons
The Anti-Torture Committee noted progress as regards communal activities at Sincan F-Type Prison. Some of the workshops are now up and running, regular association (conversation) periods for up to ten prisoners at a time have been introduced. Arrangements for open visits and access to the...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Moldova
The CPT's main concerns are the situation of people deprived of their liberty by the police as well as poor conditions in prisons; however, there have been notable improvements in the latter establishments. The CPT's delegation received widespread allegations of physical ill-treatment of persons...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee returns to Chechnya
An important focal point of the visit was the treatment of persons detained during special operations by federal forces. At a meeting with Lieutenant General V. MOLTENSKOY, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Group of Armed Forces in the North Caucasian region, the CPT's delegation explored the...
Council of Europe's anti-torture Committee publishes report on Poland
The report is published at the Polish authorities' request, together with their response. It covers the CPT's second visit to Poland, which took place in May 2000. A number of persons interviewed by the CPT's delegation alleged that they had been physically ill-treated by the police. In their...
Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee: report on Turkey goes public
The CPT’s findings – following a visit to the country from 2 to 14 September last year – confirm the gradual improvement already observed by the Committee in 2000 as regards the treatment of persons detained by the police in Istanbul. According to the Committee, resort to methods of severe...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes Swiss report
The great majority of persons detained by the police stated that they had been properly treated. The very few allegations of ill-treatment received concerned disproportionate use of force at the time of apprehension. Despite this rather favourable situation, there remains a need, in the CPT's...
European Anti-Torture Committee visits Chechnya
The visit was carried out by Zdenĕk HÁJEK, a Czech lawyer, Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI, a Swiss specialist in forensic and internal medicine, and two members of the CPT's Secretariat, Petya NESTOROVA and Edo KORLJAN. The CPT’s delegation reviewed the situation at SIZO No 2 in Chernokozovo, which...
European anti-torture Committee publishes Bulgarian report
The report, published after receiving a green light from the Bulgarian authorities, together with their responses, covers a visit by the CPT from 25 April to 7 May 1999. The Committee received numerous allegations of police ill-treatment: mainly slaps, punches, kicks and blows with a truncheon,...