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STRASBOURG, 19.07.2001 - The French Government has agreed to the publication of the report of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) on the visit to France in May 2000 and of its response.
Under Article 11 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the information gathered by the Committee in relation to a visit, its report and its consultations with the State concerned are confidential. However, the State may decide to lift the rule of confidentiality provided for in the Convention.
* * *
The CPT's visit was carried out from 14 to 26 May 2000 within the framework of the CPT's programme of periodic visits for 2000; it was the Committee's fifth visit to France.
During this visit, the CPT's delegation met Mrs Elisabeth GUIGOU, Minister for Justice, Mr Jean-Pierre CHEVÈNEMENT, Minister for the Interior, and Mrs Dominique GILLOT, Secretary of State for Health and Handicapped Persons. It also met Mr Jean-Marc SAUVE, Secretary General of the French Government. In addition, the delegation had consultations with senior officials of various ministries, including Mrs Martine VIALLET, Director of the Prison Administration, as well as representatives of the General Inspectorate of the National Police and the General Inspectorate of the Services of the Paris Police Prefecture.
The delegation visited the following places:
Prisons
- Public Establishment of National Health, Fresnes
- Fresnes Remand Prison (isolation and disciplinary units)
- Lannemezan Prison
- Lyon Remand Prison ("Saint Paul")
- Paris Remand Prison ("La Santé") (*)
Police establishments
Bobigny
- Departmental Service of the Seine-Saint Denis Criminal Police (SDPJ 93) and
Police Station (including the Administrative Detention Centre), Paul Vaillant
Couturier Avenue
Lyon
- Police Headquarters, Departmental Directorate of Public Security, Marius
Berliet Street, 8th administrative district
- Police Station, Georges Dimitrov Avenue, Vaulx en Velin
Marseille
- Marseille-Arenc Administrative Detention Centre (*)
Moulins
- Police Headquarters, Bourgogne Street
Pantin
- Police Station, Eugène et Marie-Louise Cornet Street
Paris
- "Dépôt" of the Paris Police Prefecture (including the
Administrative Detention Centre), quai de l'Horloge, 1st administrative district
(*)
- National Anti-Terrorist Division
- Detention facility of the General Inspectorate of the National Police, Cambacérès
Street, 8th administrative district
- Reuilly Police Headquarters, Hénard Street, 12th administrative district
Roissy
- Holding areas and Border Police detention facilities, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle
Airport (*)
- Holding area, Hôtel Ibis (*)
Strasbourg
- Police Headquarters, Departmental Directorate of Public Security, Nuée Bleue
Street
- Detention facilities of the Border Police, Strasbourg, Pont de l'Europe
Gendarmerie establishments
- Territorial Brigade at Lannemezan
- Administrative Detention Centre, Strasbourg-Geispolsheim
Holding facilites of the Customs Administration
- Strasbourg Surveillance and Intervention Brigade, Pont de l'Europe
Health establishments
- Yzeure Hospital, Moulins-Yzeure Hospital Centre
- Unit for Difficult Patients at Sarreguemines Special Hospital Centre
Other establishments
- "Petit Dépôt", New Palais de Justice, Lyon
Moreover, the delegation went to Perpignan Prison in order to interview a prisoner who had recently been transfered from Lannemezan Prison.
(*) Follow-up visit
* * *
The CPT was set up under the 1987 European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. So far 41 of the 43 member States of the Council of Europe are bound by the Convention: Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. When they joined the Council of Europe in January 2001, Armenia and Azerbajan commited themselves to ratify the Convention within a one-year delay.
The CPT is composed of persons from a variety of backgrounds: lawyers, medical doctors, police and prison experts, persons with parliamentary experience, etc. The Committee's task is to examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty. For this purpose, it is entitled to visit any place where such persons are held by a public authority and to interview those persons in private. The Committee may formulate recommendations to strengthen, if necessary, their protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The CPT organises periodic visits as well as other visits which appear to it be required in the circumstances.
* * *
The CPT's report on its visit to France in 2000 (95 pages) and the response of the French Government (80 pages) can be obtained from:
A 6 page summary of the CPT's main findings can be faxed upon request.
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