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STRASBOURG, 12.10.2000 - 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 two-week visit to the Russian Federation. The visit began on 25 September 2000 and was organised within the framework of the CPT's programme of periodic visits for 2000. It was the Committee's fifth visit to the Russian Federation.
The delegation focused its attention on Siberia, where it visited places of detention in the Irkutsk and Novosibirsk Regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Places visited included military detention facilities and a penal colony for women; this was the first time that a CPT delegation had examined the treatment of persons held in such places in the Russian Federation. The delegation also reviewed conditions of detention in the largest pre-trial establishment in Moscow, first visited by the CPT in 1998.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
They were assisted by Schack LYSTRUP (Chief Psychiatrist, Drammen Psychiatric Centre, Buskerud Central Hospital, Norway), James McMANUS (Senior Lecturer in Law, Dundee University, United Kingdom) and Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI (Specialist in forensic and internal medicine, Geneva, Switzerland) as well as by Petya NESTOROVA and Borys WÓDZ of the CPT’s Secretariat.
The delegation visited the following places:
Law enforcement establishments
Irkutsk Region
Krasnoyarsk Territory
Novosibirsk Region
Penitentiary establishments
Moscow City
Irkutsk Region
Krasnoyarsk Territory
Novosibirsk Region
Strict regime colony No 8, Novosibirsk
Psychiatric establishments
Irkutsk Region
Krasnoyarsk Territory
Military detention facilities
Novosibirsk Region
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 the Russian Federation and its consultations with the Russian authorities are confidential.
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The CPT was set up under the 1987 European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. All 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, Georgia, 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 and to interview those persons in private. The Committee may formulate recommendations to strengthen, if necessary, their protection against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The CPT organises periodic visits as well as any other visits which appear to it to be required in the circumstances.
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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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