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Council of Europe Anti-torture Committee visits Latvia

[10.10.02] - A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) carried out a visit to Latvia from 25 September to 4 October 2002. It was the CPT's second periodic visit to Latvia.

During the visit, the CPT’s delegation reviewed the measures taken by the Latvian authorities following the recommendations made by the Committee after its 1999 visit. Particular attention was paid to the treatment of persons detained by the police and border guards, as well as the conditions of detention of life-sentenced prisoners and juvenile prisoners on remand. For the first time in Latvia, the delegation visited a social care home.

The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:

    -     Renate KICKER (Head of Delegation) (Austrian)
    -     Aleš BUTALA (Slovenian)
    -     László CSETNEKY (Hungarian)
    -     Pétur HAUKSSON (Icelander)
    -     Jagoda POLONCOVÁ (Slovakian).

They were assisted by Alan MITCHELL, Head of Health Care, Medical Adviser to the Scottish Prison Service, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Sonja SNACKEN, Professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, as well as by Edo KORLJAN and Michael NEURAUTER of the CPT's Secretariat.

In the course of the visit, the CPT's delegation held consultations with Ingrida LABUCKA, Minister of Justice, Raimonds BLUĶIS, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of the Interior, Juris REKŠŅA, Chief of the State Police, Vitolds ZAHARS, Director General of the Prison Administration, as well as with senior officials of the Ministry of Welfare.

The delegation visited the following places:

Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior

    -     Daugavpils Police Headquarters
    -     Liepāja Police Headquarters
    -     Ogre Police Station
    -     Rīga Pre-Trial Investigation Centre and Short-Term Isolator
    -     Ventspils Police Headquarters

    -     Detention facilities at Rīga International Airport
    -     Kaplava Border Guard Unit
    -     Olaine Detention Centre for Illegal Immigrants

Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice

    -     Daugavpils Prison
    -     Jelgava Prison
    -     Liepāja Prison
    -     Rīga Central Prison (including the Prison Hospital)

    -     Mental Hospital for Children, Vīķi
    -     Ezerkrasti Social Care Centre, Rīga