News Flash
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee holds high-level
talks with Turkish authorities
Strasbourg, 20.10.2008 - Representatives of the European Committee for the
prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT)
recently went to Ankara for talks with Mehmet Ali ŞAHIN, Minister of Justice,
and senior officials of the Ministries of Justice, the Interior, Foreign
Affairs, National Defence and the Turkish Armed Forces.
Issues discussed during the talks on 13 October 2008 included the conditions of
detention of Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held for more than nine years as the
sole inmate of the prison on the island of Imralı. The CPT’s representatives
also raised other matters with the Turkish authorities, in particular, recent
allegations of ill-treatment of detained persons by law enforcement officials
and prison officers, as well as the situation of foreign nationals detained
under aliens legislation.
The CPT’s representatives were Mauro PALMA, President of the CPT, Marc NEVE and
Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI, members of the CPT, and Michael NEURAUTER (Head of
Division) of the Committee’s Secretariat.
- A "CPT Video-kit" is available for the audiovisual press. For more details
please access our page "For the press".
