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| What's New ? | About the CPT | Members | States | Visits | Documents | Database |
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About the CPT |
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"The Committee shall, by means of visits, examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
(Source: Article 1 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment)
In recent years the Council of Europe's efforts to guarantee human rights have laid increasing emphasis on preventing violations. Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". This article inspired the drafting, in 1987, of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
The Convention provides non-judicial preventive machinery to protect detainees. It is based on a system of visits by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The Secretariat of the CPT forms part of the Council of Europe's Directorate General of Human Rights.
The CPT's members are independent and impartial experts from a variety of backgrounds. They are for example lawyers, medical doctors and specialists in prison or police matters. They are elected for a four-year term by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's decision-making body, and can be re-elected twice. One member is elected in respect of each Contracting State.
The CPT visits places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals), to see how persons deprived of their liberty are treated and, if necessary, to recommend improvements to States.
Visits are carried out by delegations, usually of two or more CPT members, accompanied by members of the Committee's Secretariat and, if necessary, by experts and interpreters. The member elected in respect of the country being visited does not join the delegation.
CPT delegations visit Contracting States periodically but may organise additional "ad hoc" visits if necessary. The Committee must notify the State concerned but need not specify the period between notification and the actual visit, which, in exceptional circumstances, may be carried out immediately after notification. Governments' objections to the time or place of a visit can only be justified on grounds of national defence, public safety, serious disorder, the medical condition of a person or that an urgent interrogation relating to a serious crime is in progress. In such cases the state must immediately take steps to enable the Committee to visit as soon as possible.
Under the Convention, CPT delegations have unlimited access to places of detention and the right to move inside such places without restriction. They interview persons deprived of their liberty in private and communicate freely with anyone who can provide information.
The recommendations which the CPT may formulate on the basis of facts found during the visit, are included in a report which is sent to the State concerned. This report is the starting point for an ongoing dialogue with the State concerned.
Co-operation and confidentiality
The CPT has two guiding principles - co-operation and confidentiality. Co-operation with the national authority is at the heart of the Convention, since the aim is to protect persons deprived of their liberty rather than to condemn States for abuses. The Committee therefore meets in camera and its reports are strictly confidential. Nevertheless, if a country fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in the light of the Committee's recommendations, the CPT may decide to make a public statement.
Of course, the State itself may request publication of the Committee's report, together with its comments. In addition, the CPT draws up a general report on its activities every year, which is made public.
To date, the Convention has been ratified by the 47 member States of the Council of Europe.
Protocol No. 1, which entered into force on 1 March 2002, empowers the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to invite any non-member State of the Organisation to accede to the Convention.
Standards on the treatment of detainees
Over its years of activity in the field, the CPT has developed standards relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. These standards have been published in the brochure "The CPT standards".
(as of 09/02/2010)
- 280 visits (170 periodic visits + 110 ad hoc visits)
- 229 CPT Reports published
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