What's New ?  |  About the CPT  |  Members  |  States  |  Visits  |  Documents  |  Database

Press Release

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture: 
Publication of the report on the visit to Malta and of the response of the Maltese Government

STRASBOURG, 26.09.96 - The Maltese Government has decided to make public the report of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on its visit to Malta in 1995 and the interim report drawn up by the Maltese authorities in response to the CPT's report.

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 concerned may agree to lift the rule of confidentiality provided for in the Convention.

The CPT's visit to Malta was carried out from 16 to 21 July 1995, within the framework of the Committee's programme of periodic visits for 1995. The CPT's delegation visited the following places of detention:

Police establishments

• Police Headquarters, Floriana;
• Cospicua District Headquarters;
• St. Julian's Police Station;
• Ta'Kandj Police Complex, Siggiewi;
• Immigration Service cells at Luqa International Airport.

Prisons

• Corradino Correctional Facility, Paola.

Hospitals

• Mount Carmel Hospital, Attard;
• St. Michael's Ward at St. Luke's Hospital, Pietà.

The CPT was set up under the 1987 European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The following member States of the Council of Europe are bound by the Convention: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey 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. It may formulate recommendations to strengthen, if necessary, their protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Committee organises periodic visits as well as any other visits which appear to it to be required in the circumstances.

The CPT's 57 page report on its visit to Malta and the 28 page interim report of the Maltese authorities can be obtained from:

• the Council of Europe Press Department, Strasbourg
  (Sabine ZIMMER, tel. 33/88.41.25.97; fax 33/88.41.27.90)
• the Committee for the Prevention of Torture's Secretariat
  (tel. 33/88.41.23.88; fax 33/88.41.27.72)

A 5 page summary of the CPT's main findings can be faxed upon request.