The main objective of the visit was to visit and examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held at Nicosia Central Prisons and Pournara Initial Registration Centre and to review the progress in the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations since its previous visit in 2023. With regard to Nicosia Central Prisons, these recommendations concerned overcrowding, inter-prisoner violence, staffing levels, material conditions and health care. In addition, the delegation visited several police stations to examine the treatment conditions of detention and safeguards in place for persons deprived of their liberty by the police. It also visited the airport holding facility of Larnaca International Airport.
In the course of the visit, the delegation held consultations with the Deputy Minister of Migration and International Protection, Nicholas Ioannides and the Acting Permanent Secretary and Head of the Justice Department of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order, Fedra Gregoriou, the Director of the Prison, Constantinos Constantinides, as well as with senior officials of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order and the Ministry of Migration and International Protection.
Further, the delegation met the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights, Maria Stylianou-Lottides, and representatives of the National Preventive Mechanism of Cyprus (NPM), as well as civil society bodies active in areas of concern to the CPT. It also held an exchange of views with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Office in Nicosia.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary findings to the Cypriot authorities.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Alan Mitchell, President of the CPT and Head of delegation
- Mari Amos
- Nikola Kovačević
They were supported by Hugh Chetwynd (Executive Secretary), Francesca Gordon and Ella Dodd of the CPT’s Secretariat.
The delegation visited the following establishments:
Police establishments
Nicosia Division
- Criminal Investigation Department (C.I.D.) Nicosia
- Lakatamia Police Detention Station
- Nicosia Central Police Station
Prison
- Nicosia Central Prisons
Immigration reception and detention facilities
- Holding facilities for immigration detainees at Larnaca Airport
- Kokkinotrimithia Initial Registration Centre “Pournara”
