2003 News
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee: Report on Roissy-Charles de Gaulle visit
No credible allegations were heard of ill-treatment of detained persons by staff employed in Immigration Waiting Zones (ZAPI) Nos. 2 and 3. However, there were a certain number of allegations of ill-treatment of foreign nationals (slaps, kicks, baton blows, tight handcuffing, threats and insults)...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes response of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the report on its February 2002 visits
As regards the Kingdom in Europe, the authorities react favourably to a number of recommendations and comments made by the CPT. By way of example, routine weekly strip-searching of EBI (high security) prisoners in Vught has stopped, and criteria for the prolongation of placement in the EBI have...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits Colony No 8 in Bender
Colony No 8 in Bender forms part of the penitentiary system of the Republic of Moldova, but is located in an area under the control of the Transnistrian region. That region of the Republic of Moldova unilaterally declared itself an independent republic in 1991. The visit was carried out by two...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Ireland
The visit was carried out within the CPT’s programme of periodic visits for 2002. It was the Committee’s third visit to Ireland. The CPT visited a number of police stations, prisons and psychiatric establishments, in particular in Dublin and Cork. In the report, the Committee pays particular...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes response of the Maltese Government to the report on its May 2001 visit
In its report on the May 2001 visit, the CPT focussed on the legal framework governing safeguards against ill-treatment by the police, the programme of reconstruction at Corradino Correctional Facility (the only prison in Malta), as well as the activities provided to prisoners, and the conditions...
Chechnya: Council of Europe anti-torture Committee makes a public statement
After six visits to the Chechen Republic in the last three years (most recently from 23 to 29 May 2003), the CPT assesses that there is a continued resort to torture and other forms of ill-treatment by members of the law enforcement agencies and federal forces operating in the Chechen Republic,...
First Council of Europe anti-torture Committee report on the Russian Federation published
The report contains findings and recommendations concerning places of detention in two far eastern regions of Russia, the territories of Khabarovsk and Primorskyi, as well as in a number of Militia (police) establishments in Moscow. During the visit, the CPT received a disturbing number of...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Chechnya
The CPT's delegation consisted of Zdenĕk HÁJEK (Head of delegation), a Czech lawyer, Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI, a Swiss medical doctor, and Davor STRINOVIĆ, a Croatian forensic doctor, together with Trevor STEVENS (Executive Secretary) and Petya NESTOROVA of the Committee's Secretariat. The...
The CPT publishes response of the Government of "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" to the report on its July 2002 visit
The July 2002 visit focussed on the treatment of persons detained by the State's law enforcement agencies (Ministry of the Interior). From the facts found, the CPT concluded that the physical ill-treatment of such persons is a serious problem, affecting ordinary criminal suspects as well as those...
Visit to Kaliningrad by Council of Europe's anti-torture Committee
The visit focused mainly on the arrangements for the transit of prisoners and psychiatric patients between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russia, and the authorities' plans for the future. To avoid lengthy delays and other problems related to the transfer of prisoners, the regional...
Council of Europe's anti-torture Committee: latest report on Spain
During the visit, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment continued to receive allegations of ill-treatment by National Police and Civil Guard officers. It also gathered evidence, including of a medical nature, consistent with those...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Germany
During the visit, the CPT followed up issues examined during the previous three visits to Germany and, in particular, the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty under aliens legislation. Issues tackled for the first time in Germany included the treatment of persons placed in forensic...
The Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee examines conditions of detention in Transnistria
It was the CPT's second visit to the region, the first visit having taken place in November 2000*. The CPT's delegation examined developments since its first visit, in particular as regards the treatment of persons held in penitentiary establishments. It also assessed the means required to...
Suspected international terrorists detained in the United Kingdom: report of the Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee
The CPT's delegation heard no allegations of physical ill-treatment by police officers of persons detained under the 2001 Act and, with one exception, there were no allegations of physical ill-treatment by prison officers. Some allegations of verbal abuse were received. Persons detained pursuant...
Italy gives green light to the publication of two reports by Council of Europe anti-torture Committee
Given the deficiencies observed during the 2000 visit, the CPT recommended an inspection of all detention facilities of law enforcement agencies. In their response, the Italian authorities highlight the improvements made in the light of the CPT’s standards. The CPT also welcomed the closing-down...
Turkish response to report by Council of Europe anti-torture Committee
In its report on the September 2001 visit, published on 24 April 2002, the CPT assessed the treatment of persons held in police stations, prisons (including F-type establishments and Imralı Closed Prison) and reformatories for juveniles.The response to that report is published at the request of...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes reports on "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
The visits focussed on the treatment of persons detained by the State's law enforcement agencies. From the facts found, the CPT concludes that the physical ill-treatment of such persons is a serious problem, affecting ordinary criminal suspects as well as those suspected of crimes against the...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Cyprus
The visit did not extend to the occupied part of the island. The CPT expresses the hope that, in the interests of avoiding a vacuum as regards the protection of human rights in that part of Cyprus, appropriate ways and means will be found to enable the Committee to exercise its mandate throughout...