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Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"

[03.12.02] - A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recently carried out a ten-day visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". The visit began on 18 November 2002. It was the Committee's fourth visit to "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", and the second of a periodic nature.

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

  • Silvia CASALE (Head of delegation) (President of the CPT) (British)
  • Zdenek HÁJEK (Second Vice-President of the CPT) (Czech)    
  • Eugenijus GEFENAS (Lithuanian)
  • Ingrid LYCKE-ELLINGSEN (Norwegian)
  • Mauro PALMA (Italian).

They were assisted by two experts, Mark KELLY, Director, Human Rights Consultants, Dublin, Ireland, and Davor STRINOVIĆ, Medical doctor, Professor at the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia, as well as by Fabrice KELLENS (Head of Unit) and Bojana URUMOVA of the CPT's Secretariat.

In the course of the visit, the CPT's delegation held consultations with Ismail DARDISHTA, Minister of Justice, Hari KOSTOV, Minister for the Interior, Ilinka MITREVA, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Rexhep SELMANI, Minister of Health. It also held discussions with senior officials from those Ministries, as well as from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Further, it met judicial and prosecuting authorities.

The CPT's delegation reviewed developments concerning the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies and legal remedies in cases involving allegations of ill-treatment. It also examined, for the first time, conditions of detention in remand prisons and in a social care home for mentally handicapped persons.

The delegation visited the following establishments:

Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior.

• Ќafasan Border Police Station
• Kuanovo Police Station
• Ohrid Police Station
• Resen Police Station
• Gazi Baba Police Station (Skopje)
• Struga Police Station
• Tearce Police Station
• Tetovo Police Station

Ministry of Justice

• Bitola Prison
• Ohrid Prison
• Tetovo Prison
• Skopje Prison (including the Educational- Correctional Institution)

Ministry of Health

• Skopje Psychiatric Hospital (Bardovci)

Ministry of Labour and Social Policy

• Demir Kapija Special Institution for mentally handicapped persons.