2017 News
CPT holds high-level talks in Albania
The main objective was to discuss the situation of forensic psychiatric patients and mentally-ill prisoners at Zaharia Special Facility for Ill Inmates in Kruja and the Prison Hospital in Tirana, in the light of the findings of previous visits by the CPT, and the implementation of the CPT’s...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation
The CPT’s delegation reviewed the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police in the Chechen Republic. Another objective of the visit was to examine the effectiveness of investigations into allegations of ill-treatment of detained persons by law enforcement officials. The...
UK Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus: First report from the Council of Europe’s anti-torture committee
The report assesses conditions of detention and the treatment of people held by the SBA Police and the British Forces Cyprus in various locations including police stations, Her Majesty’s Prison at Dhekelia and military detention facilities. It also briefly examines the situation of migrants held...
Council of Europe anti-torture committee acknowledges some positive steps in Spain, but calls for ending fixation in prisons and juvenile centres
During its 2016 periodic visit to the country, the CPT’s delegation found that the vast majority of people detained by law enforcement agencies stated that they had been treated correctly by police officers. However, the delegation did receive some credible allegations of excessive use of force...
CPT signs monitoring agreement with ICC
Under the terms of the Exchange of Letters, the CPT will assist the ICC in the monitoring of persons sentenced by the ICC where the person concerned is imprisoned in a member State of the Council of Europe which has specifically indicated the CPT as the monitoring body. In welcoming the agreement...
CPT holds its November 2017 plenary meeting
During this meeting, the Committee adopted the reports on its periodic visits to Belgium (March/April 2017), Turkey (May 2017) and Poland (May 2017), and on its ad hoc visits to Serbia (May/June 2017) and Italy (June 2017). These reports will be sent in due course to the respective authorities....
CPT carries out ad hoc visit to Azerbaijan
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons in the custody of law enforcement agencies and in penitentiary establishments and to review the measures taken by the Azerbaijani authorities in response to the relevant recommendations made by the...
CPT returns to Hungary to assess the situation of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation. To this end, the CPT’s delegation visited the two transit zones at Röszke and Tompa situated at the border with Serbia, as well as the Csongrád County...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Montenegro
The CPT’s delegation reviewed the measures taken by the Montenegrin authorities to implement recommendations made by the Committee after its 2013 visit. To this end, it examined the treatment of persons detained by the police and the safeguards afforded to them, the effectiveness of...
President of the CPT discusses dire situation in prisons with Prime Minister Zaev in Skopje
The objective of the talks was to see what action was being taken by the new government to address the long-standing recommendations to improve the situation in prisons as set out most recently in the CPT’s report on the December 2016 visit to the country. The report which was published last week...
CPT publishes report on Turkey
The visit focused on the situation of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation, and the report contains the CPT’s findings and recommendations relating to various removal centres, as well as the holding facilities in the transit zone of Istanbul Atatürk Airport. In their response, the...
Exchange of views within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concerning the CPT’s public statement on Belgium
The public statement addressed the ongoing failure of the Belgian authorities to put in place a minimum level of service to guarantee the rights of inmates during periods of industrial action by prison staff. Today’s discussion focused on the possible follow-up to the concerns voiced by the CPT....
CPT publishes highly critical report on prisons in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”
The report recalls that since 2006 the CPT has repeatedly highlighted certain fundamental structural issues, such as a lack of policy on how to manage complex institutions, an inadequate system of reporting and supervision, and the poor management and performance of staff. The findings from the...
The CPT visits Bulgaria
The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Bulgarian authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits and after the Public Statement issued by the CPT in 2015. In this connection, particular attention was paid to the treatment...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Estonia
During the visit, the CPT’s delegation assessed progress made in implementing recommendations made by the Committee after the previous visit. In this context, the delegation paid particular attention to the treatment and safeguard afforded to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and...
Greece: anti-torture committee criticises treatment of irregular migrants and the continued detention of migrant children
The report also criticises the situation of adult immigration detainees in Athens and Thessaloniki, and calls for determined action to tackle the problem of police ill-treatment. In the report, the CPT is critical about the treatment of foreign nationals in the “hotspots” on the Aegean islands....
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes response of the Dutch authorities
The response has been made public at the request of the Dutch authorities. The CPT’s report on the May 2016 visit was published on 19 January 2017. Read the response Read the CPT report
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Slovenia
During the visit, the CPT’s delegation assessed progress made since previous visits and the extent to which the Committee’s recommendations had been implemented. Particular attention was paid to the treatment of and safeguards offered to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the...
CPT visits Northern Ireland for first time since 2008
The focus of the visit was to examine the conditions of detention and treatment of inmates at Maghaberry Prison and at Ash House women’s prison within Hydebank Wood College. The CPT’s delegation also visited Shannon Clinic, the only medium secure psychiatric establishment in Northern Ireland....
CPT publishes new report on Italy
Material conditions are also found to be deficient at a number of State Police and Carabinieri establishments, and the CPT’s delegation made an immediate observation during the visit in respect of the persistently poor detention conditions at the Florence Questura. Further, the material...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Liechtenstein
The main objective of the visit was to review the measures taken by the Liechtenstein authorities to implement recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visits. In this context, the CPT’s delegation paid particular attention to the treatment and conditions of detention of prisoners...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes Ukrainian response to the report on the November 2016 visit
The response has been made public under an automatic publication procedure introduced by the Ukrainian authorities in 2014. According to this procedure, all documents related to CPT visits shall be published automatically, unless the Ukrainian authorities submit within one month a request to...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee issues public statement on Belgium
In its Statement, the Committee makes it clear that the failure to comply with this requirement may result in a large number of inmates being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment, or in a worsening of situations already regarded as intolerable, in endangering the health and life of these...
CPT holds its July 2017 plenary meeting
During this meeting, the Committee adopted the reports on its periodic visits to the Russian Federation (November/December 2016), Cyprus (February 2017), Croatia (March 2017) and Slovenia (March/April 2017), and on its ad hoc visits to Albania (February 2017) and to the United Kingdom Sovereign...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes new report on Latvia
Looking at the treatment in police detention facilities, the CPT received a number of allegations from detained persons (including juveniles) of physical ill-treatment by police officers, mostly referring to the excessive use of force in the context of apprehension or tight handcuffing, as well...
Ukraine: anti-torture committee concerned about police ill-treatment and poor conditions of detention of remand and life-sentenced prisoners
The CPT acknowledges the Ukrainian authorities’ ongoing legislative and organisational reforms of the prison system and the efforts to reduce the prison population. That said, the CPT expresses its dismay at the appalling conditions of detention in the pre-trial establishments (SIZOs) visited, in...
CPT visits Italy to examine the situation of persons in immigration detention
The purpose of the visit was to examine the situation of persons held in immigration detention in Italy. To this end, the CPT’s delegation visited the so-called “hotspots” in Lampedusa, Pozzallo and Trapani (Milo), as well as a mobile “hotspot” unit at Augusta port. Further, it was able to...
CPT visits Serbia to look into policing matters and the situation in remand detention
The focus of the visit was to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the police and the practical application of safeguards surrounding their detention. It also looked into the manner in which complaints of ill-treatment of detained persons by police officers are handled,...
Germany: Uneven progress in treatment of detained persons and detention conditions, says anti-torture committee
During the visit, carried out in late 2015, the CPT’s delegation heard no allegations of deliberate physical ill-treatment of detained persons by police officers whilst in police custody. However, some allegations were received – in particular from foreign nationals and persons suffering from a...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Poland
The visit provided an opportunity to assess the extent to which the recommendations made after previous CPT visits have been implemented. Particular attention was paid to the treatment of persons in police custody, foreign nationals detained in Border Guard establishments, remand and sentenced...
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