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Strasbourg, 03.04.2007 - A delegation of the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recently completed its first visit to Kosovo (from 21 to 29 March 2007). The visit was carried out on the basis of an agreement signed in August 2004 between the Council of Europe and the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) and an exchange of letters concluded in 2006 between the Secretaries General of the Council of Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
The delegation examined the treatment of detained persons and the conditions of detention in a variety of establishments throughout Kosovo, including police stations, penitentiary establishments and psychiatric/social welfare institutions. It also visited the detention facilities at the United States military base Camp Bondsteel where persons may be detained under the authority of KFOR.
In the course of the visit, the delegation held consultations with Mr Joachim RÜCKER, Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Kosovo (SRSG), Mr Steven P. SCHOOK, Principal Deputy SRSG, and representatives of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government, including Messrs Sadik IDRIZ, Minister of Health, Ibrahim SELMANAJ, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Jonuz SALIHAJ, Minister of Justice, and Blerim KUQI, Minister of Internal Affairs, as well as senior officials of UNMIK and the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government. It also met Mr Hilmi JASHARI, Acting Ombudsman of Kosovo, and representatives of various International Organisations and NGOs.
In the context of its visit to Camp Bondsteel, the delegation met Brigadier General Albert BRYANT, Chief of Staff of KFOR.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Mauro PALMA, President of the
CPT and Head of the delegation (Italian)
- Andres LEHTMETS, 2nd Vice-President
of the CPT (Estonian)
- Anna GAVRILOVA-ANCHEVA (Bulgarian)
- Roland MARQUET (Monegasque).
They were supported by Fabrice KELLENS (Deputy Executive Secretary of the
CPT) and Michael NEURAUTER (Head of Division) of the CPT's Secretariat, and
assisted by Eric DURAND, medical doctor, former Head of medical services at
Fleury-Mérogis Prison, France (expert) and Michael KELLETT, former Detective
Chief Inspector in the Lancashire Constabulary, United Kingdom (expert).
The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Police establishments
Deçan/Dečani Police Station
Gjilan/Gnjilane Police Station
Istog/Istok Police Station
Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North Police Station
Mitrovicë/Mitrovica South Police Station
Pejë/Peć Police Station
Prishtinë/Priština Police Station No 1
Prishtinë/Priština Police Station No 2
Viti/Vitina Police Station
Penitentiary establishments
Dubrava Prison
Lipjan/Lipljan Correctional Centre
Gjilan/Gnjilane Detention Centre
Mitrovica/Mitrovicë Detention Centre
Pejë/Peć Detention Centre
Prishtinë/Priština Detention Centre
Psychiatric/social welfare institutions
Psychiatric Unit of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë Regional Hospital
Psychiatric Clinic of Prishtinë/Priština University Hospital
Shtime/Štimlje Special Institute (Unit for persons with learning disabilities
and Unit for chronic psychiatric patients)
KFOR detention facilities
US military base Camp Bondsteel, Ferizaj/Uroševac.
At the end of the visit, the delegation provided the relevant authorities with its preliminary observations. The full visit reports will be transmitted respectively to UNMIK and NATO in due course.
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