2004 News
Anti-torture Committee publishes report on Bosnia and Herzegovina
In its report, the CPT calls upon the authorities to ensure that a thorough, independent and impartial investigation is carried out into allegations of large-scale ill-treatment following a riot in Zenica Prison in February 2003. The report also draws attention to inadequate staffing levels,...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes Swiss report
The main purpose of this fourth visit was to assess the implementation in practice of the measures adopted by the Swiss authorities after the CPT's visit in 2001, in particular as regards the procedures and means of restraint applied in the context of forcible removals by air. The delegation also...
Anti-torture Committee publishes report on Azerbaijan
In the report, the CPT concludes that people detained by the police in Azerbaijan run a significant risk of being ill-treated. The Committee recommends that a high priority be given to professional training for police officers and that the legal safeguards against ill-treatment (such as...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee returns to the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation
The visit was the seventh organised by the Council of Europe’s anti-torture body to this part of Russia since 2000. In June 2003, the CPT issued a public statement concerning the Chechen Republic (http://www.cpt.coe.int/en). The latest visit was an opportunity to review progress made in tackling...
The anti-torture Committee publishes report on Ukraine
In its report, the CPT emphasises that it cannot modify the conclusion it had reached in the past, that persons deprived of their liberty by the Militia run a significant risk of being ill-treated at the time of their apprehension and/or in custody, particularly when being questioned. Several...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Sweden
During the visit, the CPT’s delegation received no allegations of ill-treatment by the police from the detained persons it interviewed. However, the report raises questions as regards the effectiveness of the investigation into complaints lodged against the police and involving allegations of...
Anti-torture Committee publishes Finnish response to 2003 visit report
The response makes reference to several draft laws in the areas of police detention and imprisonment. These drafts, which will address many of the CPT's recommendations, are expected to enter into force in January 2006. In particular, the detention of remand prisoners in police establishments...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"
The CPT's delegation reviewed developments concerning the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies, as well as legal remedies in cases involving allegations of ill-treatment. The CPT concluded that the problem of ill-treatment of persons in police custody...
Anti-torture committee publishes its first report on Armenia
In the report, the CPT concludes that people detained by the police in Armenia run a significant risk of being ill-treated. The Commitee therefore recommends that a high priority be given to professional training for police officers, including in modern investigation techniques. The report also...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes two reports on Bulgaria
The first report relates to the third periodic visit to Bulgaria carried out in April 2002. During that visit, a considerable number of persons interviewed by the CPT alleged that they had been ill-treated by the police. A considerable number of allegations were received in respect of the 3rd...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Hungary
The continuing practice of holding remand prisoners on police premises, often for periods of several months, was one of the main reasons for the CPT's visit. Particular attention was paid to the activities provided to remand prisoners, in both police and prison establishments, and the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Finland
The CPT's delegation heard no allegations of recent ill-treatment of persons held in police establishments, and found no other evidence of such treatment. Police detention facilities were, on the whole, quite satisfactory for the initial 72 hour period of police custody; however, none of them...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes two reports on Romania
One of the reports relates to a visit carried out in October 2001, which focused on the situation of children placed in centres under the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption and the State Secretariat for Handicapped Persons. In its report, the CPT points to major deficiencies in...
New visit of the Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee to Prison No 8 in Bender
The visit was carried out by two members of the CPT, Andres LEHTMETS, an Estonian psychiatrist and First Vice-President of the CPT (Head of delegation), and Mario FELICE, a Maltese lawyer. They were supported by Jan MALINOWSKI of the CPT's Secretariat. In the course of the visit, the CPT's...
Anti-torture Committee publishes Georgian responses to 2001 visit report
In response to the CPT's recommendations aimed at preventing ill-treatment by the police, the Georgian authorities have taken measures to improve professional training and step up control of police activities. However, it is acknowledged that conditions of detention at the majority of police...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Azerbaijan
The main purpose of the visit was to collect information concerning the treatment of persons detained in relation to events which followed the recent Presidential election in that country. The delegation interviewed some thirty persons, currently held at Investigative isolator No 1 (Bayil) in...