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STRASBOURG, 14.12.99 - A delegation of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recently carried out a ten-day visit to Northern Ireland. The visit began in Belfast on 29 November 1999; it was the Committee's second visit to Northern Ireland.
The delegation met the Right Honourable Adam INGRAM MP, Minister of State with responsibility for security, including policing, criminal justice and prisons. Other authorities met during the visit included Professor Brice DICKSON, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Ms Nuala O'LOAN, Police Ombudsman Designate for Northern Ireland, and Sir Louis BLOM-COOPER, Independent Reviewer of the Holding Centres.
In the report on its July 1993 visit to Northern Ireland (published in November 1994), the CPT criticised conditions in police holding centres and, more particularly, at Castlereagh Holding Centre in Belfast. The 1999 visit afforded an opportunity to review the situation in the holding centres. On 10 December 1999, the Royal Ulster Constabulary announced that the Holding Centre at Castlereagh is to close by the end of December 1999.
Other matters examined during the visit included the operation in practice of the safeguards offered to persons detained under current emergency legislation, and the likely impact of replacement measures proposed in the new Terrorism Bill, which was introduced in the House of Commons during the CPT's visit.
Issues tackled by the CPT for the first time in Northern Ireland included the holding of immigration detainees in prisons, and the detention of young persons in juvenile justice centres.
The delegation visited the following places:
Police establishments
Prisons
Juvenile Justice Centres
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
They were assisted by two experts - Gisli GUDJONSSON (Head of Forensic Psychology Services at the Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals, London) and Claude NICOLAY (First Advocate General at the Supreme Court of Justice, Luxembourg) - as well as by Mark KELLY and Jan MALINOWSKI of the CPT’s Secretariat.
In accordance with Article 11 of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the information gathered by the CPT during its visit to Northern Ireland and its consultations with the United Kingdom authorities are confidential.
The CPT was set up under the 1987 European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 40 of the 41 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, 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.
The CPT is composed of persons from a variety of backgrounds: lawyers, medical doctors, 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. The Committee may formulate recommendations to strengthen, if necessary, their protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Further information may be obtained from:
the CPT’s Internet Site: www.cpt.coe.int
the Council of Europe Press Department:
Sabine ZIMMER, tel. +33/(0)3.88.41.25.97; fax +33/(0)3.88.41.27.90; e-mail pressunit@coe.int
the CPT’s Secretariat:
tel. +33/(0)3.88.41.23.88; fax : +33/(0)3.88.41.27.72; e-mail cptdoc@coe.int
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