The purpose of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of persons held in a number of prisons and to assess the ways in which the Italian authorities are tackling the serious challenges facing the prison system, notably prison overcrowding, staff numbers and training, the high number of deaths in prison, and the quality of healthcare provided to prisoners. The visit was an opportunity to follow-up on the implementation of the recommendations made in the report on the 2022 visit and the commitments made by the Italian authorities following the high-level talks held in October 2024 between the Minister of Justice and the President of the CPT. To this end, the delegation conducted visits to five prison establishments, across four different regions of Italy.
In the course of the visit, the President of the CPT Alan Mitchell and the members of the delegation held consultations with Carlo Nordio, Minister of Justice, Stefano Carmine De Michele, Head of the Department of the Prison Administration (DAP), and Marco Doglio, Special Commissioner for the Prison Estate, as well as other senior officials from the Ministries of Justice, Health, and Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation.
The visit was carried out by the following CPT members:
- Juan Carlos Da Silva Ochoa, Head of Delegation,
- Christopher Cremona,
- Helena Papa,
- Kristina Pardalos,
and Alan Mitchell, President of the CPT.
They were supported by Hugh Chetwynd, Executive Secretary, and Christian Loda of the CPT Secretariat and assisted by Dan Halchin, Director of Arad Prison and former Director General of the Prison Service (Romania), and James Hard, General Practitioner working in prisons (United Kingdom).
The delegation visited the following Prison establishments
- Avellino Prison,
- Florence Sollicciano Prison,
- Foggia Prison,
- Genoa Marassi Prison,
- Santa Maria Capua Vetere Prison.
