News 2026
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2025 visit to Liechtenstein
During its visit, the CPT examined the treatment of persons held at Vaduz State Prison and of those detained by the police. It also spoke to persons sentenced by Liechtenstein courts who were held in establishments in Austria and Switzerland and assessed the legal safeguards surrounding the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to the United Kingdom
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in the men’s prison estate in England and Wales, and of patients held in forensic psychiatric establishments in England. This visit also assessed the implementation of recommendations made by...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) visits residential care homes in Portugal
The objective of the visit was to assess the treatment and living conditions of residents placed in social care homes. To this end, the delegation visited three establishments accommodating children and/or adults with disabilities in Cascais, Fátima and Lisbon. In the course of the visit, the...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its November-December 2024 visit to Serbia
Juvenile Educational-Correctional Facility, Kruševac Some improvements were noted since the CPT’s visit in 2023, including better material conditions and reduced recorded incidents of use of force. However, the institution retained an excessively punitive culture, outweighing its educational...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee calls for improving prison conditions and further action to prevent police ill-treatment
In its annual report for 2025, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), while acknowledging progress in certain areas in recent years, highlights worrying signs on the treatment and living conditions of individuals in detention in Europe, including the re-emergence...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee announces periodic visits to eight countries in 2027
The Committee intends to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the following countries: Albania Andorra Croatia Iceland Latvia Slovakia Switzerland Türkiye Persons and organisations willing to communicate relevant information concerning the situation of persons deprived of...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes the report on its 2025 visit to Ukraine
The aim of the visit, the CPT’s second to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale military aggression by the Russian Federation in February 2022, was to examine the treatment and living conditions of persons involuntarily admitted to and treated in psychiatric hospitals, and of persons...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee holds high-level talks in Azerbaijan
The talks, held on 2 April 2026, focused on the state of co-operation between the CPT and the Azerbaijani authorities, with particular attention to the implementation of the CPT’s long-standing recommendations concerning law enforcement agencies, as well as prisons and psychiatric establishments....
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina
The objective of the visit was to assess the situation of residents in social care homes, and foreign nationals deprived of their liberty under migration legislation, in light of the specific recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visit in 2024. To this end, the delegation...
The CPT adopts visit reports on Azerbaijan, France, the Netherlands, Italy, and the United Kingdom and welcomed six new members
During the meeting, the CPT examined and adopted the reports on its periodic visit to Azerbaijan (September-October 2025) and its ad hoc visits to France (October 2025), Italy (September 2025), the Netherlands (October 2025), and the United Kingdom (December 2025). These reports will now be...
Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee (CPT) publishes preliminary observations on its recent visit to Montenegro
The preliminary observations are particularly critical of the situation of persons on remand, highlighting that they are subjected to poor treatment and appalling conditions of detention. They are often confined to their cells for 23 hours per day and, in some instances, are offered only 2.5 m2...
The Council of Europe's Anti-Torture Committee (CPT) holds talks in France on prison overcrowding and the detention of children
The discussions focused on the current situation in French prisons and the measures taken by the French authorities, particularly to overcome prison overcrowding. Given the negative impact of overcrowding on all aspects of life in detention, the President of the CPT stressed the importance of...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) again calls on Greece to improve its prisons
The report examines the treatment and detention conditions of persons held in seven prisons for men and two prisons for women, as well as several police facilities. The findings of the 2025 visit confirm once again that the structural issues of overcrowding and severe staff shortages, compounded...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Kosovo*
It was the CPT’s fifth visit on the basis of an agreement signed in 2004 between the Council of Europe and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). In the course of the visit, the delegation examined the treatment, conditions of detention and safeguards afforded to...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) publishes report on its 2024/2025 visit to Georgia
During its visit, the CPT assessed the treatment and safeguards afforded to persons in police custody, including those recently detained in connection with the public demonstrations which had been ongoing in Tbilisi since 29 November 2024. The delegation also examined the conditions in several...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee visits Bulgaria
The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of people in prisons and psychiatric establishments, as well as the situation of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty pursuant to immigration legislation. The visit was also an opportunity to review...
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee (CPT) carries out a visit to Albania
In the course of the visit, the delegation met with Elona Hoxha, Deputy Minister of Justice, and Eugena Tomini, Deputy Minister for Health, as well as senior staff from both ministries. Consultations were also held with Endrit Shabani, People’s Advocate, as well as with Silvio Gonzato, European...
The Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes critical report on its 2024 periodic visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina
The primary objective of the visit, which took place from 2 to 13 September 2024, was to examine the treatment of persons apprehended and detained by various police agencies at the State, Entity and Cantonal levels, as well as that of sentenced and remand prisoners held in a number of prison...
Anti-torture committee once again deplores prison overcrowding and worsening detention conditions in France
During this visit, the CPT visited 14 police and gendarmerie detention facilities, four prisons (Fleury-Mérogis, Fresnes, Marseille-Baumettes and Villefranche-sur-Saône) and the Valentine-Marseille detention centre for children. Most persons recently apprehended by the law enforcement authorities...
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