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Strasbourg, 14.12.07 – 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 periodic visit to Latvia from 27 November to 7 December 2007. It was the CPT’s fourth visit to this country.
The CPT’s delegation reviewed the measures taken by the Latvian authorities following the recommendations made by the Committee after its previous visits. In this connection, particular attention was paid to the fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment offered to persons deprived of their liberty by the police and to conditions of detention in police “short-term isolators”. The delegation also examined in detail various issues related to prisons, in particular the situation of juvenile and female prisoners as well as the regime and security measures applied to life-sentenced prisoners. In addition, the delegation visited a psychiatric hospital and a social welfare institution, where it examined the treatment and living conditions of patients/residents and the legal safeguards in the context of admission procedures.
In the course of the visit, the delegation had consultations with Gaidis BĒRZIŅŠ, Minister of Justice, Iveta PURNE, Minister of Welfare, Aivars STRAUME, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, Visvaldis PUĶĪTE, Head of the Latvian Prison Administration, and Juris BUNDULIS, Under Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health, as well as with other senior officials of the ministries concerned. It also met Romāns APSĪTIS, Ombudsman of Latvia, and representatives of non-governmental organisations active in areas of concern to the CPT.
At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary observations to the Latvian authorities.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Renate KICKER(Austrian), First
Vice-President of the CPT and Head of delegation
- Aleš BUTALA (Slovenian)
- Marija DEFINIS GOJANOVIĆ (Croatian)
- Latif HÜSEYNOV (Azerbaijani)
- George TUGUSHI (Georgian).
They were supported by Michael NEURAUTER (Head of Division), Elvin ALIYEV and Kristian BARTHOLIN of the CPT's Secretariat, and assisted by two experts: Timothy HARDING, former Director of the University Institute of Forensic Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland, and Alan MITCHELL, former Head of Health Care, Scottish Prison Service, United Kingdom.
The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Police establishments
- Cēsis District Police Board
- Cēsis Municipal Police Station
- Daugavpils City and District Police
Board
- Daugavpils Municipal Police Station
- Jēkabpils District Police Board
- Jelgava City and District Police
Board
- Limbaži District Police Board
- Preiļi District Police Board
- Sigulda Municipal Police Station
- Sigulda State Police Station
Establishments under the Ministry of Justice
- Cēsis Correctional Centre for
Juveniles
- Daugavpils Prison (Unit for
Life-Sentenced Prisoners)
- Iļģuciema Prison for Women
- Jēkabpils Prison
- Jelgava Prison (Unit for
Life-Sentenced Prisoners)
- Rīga Central Prison
Establishments under the Ministry of Health
- Daugavpils Neuropsychiatric Hospital
Establishments under the Ministry of Welfare
- Krastiņi Social Nursing Centre.
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