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Excerpts from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture
Article 1
There shall be established a European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (hereinafter referred to as "the Committee"). The Committee shall, by means of visits, examine the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty with a view to strengthening, if necessary, the protection of such persons from torture and from inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 2
Each Party shall permit visits, in accordance with this Convention, to any place within its jurisdiction where persons are deprived of their liberty by a public authority.
Article 7
1.The Committee shall organise visits to places referred to in Article 2. Apart from periodic visits, the Committee may organise such other visits as appear to it to be required in the circumstances.
2.As a general rule, the visits shall be carried out by at least two members of the Committee. The Committee may, if it considers it necessary, be assisted by experts and interpreters.
Article 8
1.The Committee shall notify the Government of the Party concerned of its intention to carry out a visit. After such notification, it may at any time visit any place referred to in Article 2.
2.A Party shall provide the Committee with the following facilities to carry out its task:
(a) access to its territory and the right to travel without restriction;
(b) full information on the places where persons deprived of their liberty are being held;
© unlimited access to any place where persons are deprived of their liberty, including the right to move inside such places without restriction;
(d) other information available to the Party which is necessary for the Committee to carry out its task.
In seeking such information, the Committee shall have regard to applicable rules of national law and professional ethics.
3.The Committee may interview in private persons deprived of their liberty.
4.The Committee may communicate freely with any person whom it believes can supply relevant information.
5.If necessary, the Committee may immediately communicate observations to the competent authorities of the Party concerned
Article 10
1.After each visit, the Committee shall draw up a report on the facts found during the visit, taking account of any observations which may have been submitted by the Party concerned. It shall transmit to the latter its report containing any recommendations it considers necessary. The Committee may consult with the Party with a view to suggesting, if necessary, improvements in the protection of persons deprived of their liberty.
2.If the Party fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in the light of the Committee's recommendations, the Committee may decide, after the Party has had an opportunity to make known its views, by a majority of two-thirds of its members to make a public statement on the matter.
Article 11
1.The information gathered by the Committee in relation to a visit, its report and its consultations with the Party concerned shall be confidential.
2.The Committee shall publish its report, together with any comments of the Party concerned, whenever requested to do so by that Party.
3.However, no personal data shall be published without the express consent of the person concerned.
The Committee's November 1998 Visit
Press Release
STRASBOURG, 4.12.98 - A delegation of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) recently carried out a fifteen day visit to the Russian Federation (16 to 30 November 1998). It was the CPT's first visit to the Russian Federation, the Convention setting up the Committee having entered into force for Russia on 1 September 1998.
In the course of the visit, the CPT's delegation focused its attention on pre-trial detention and the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the Militia. In addition to visiting a number of pre-trial and Militia establishments in Moscow City and the regions of Nizhnyi Novgorod and Saratov, the delegation held extensive consultations with the Russian authorities, at both federal and regional level.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
Constantin ECONOMIDES, Head of the Delegation (Greek)
Emilia DRUMEVA (Bulgarian)
Zdenek HAJEK (Czech)
Adam LAPTAS (Polish)
Gisela PERREN-KLINGLER (Swiss)
Jagoda POLONCOVA (Slovak).
They were assisted by three experts - Andrew COYLE (Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, King's College, London), Enda DOOLEY (Director of Prison Medical Services, Department of Justice, Dublin) and Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI (Specialist in forensic and internal medicine, Geneva) - as well as by Trevor STEVENS (Secretary of the CPT) and Petya NESTOROVA of the CPT's Secretariat.
The delegation visited the following places:
Pre-trial establishments (SIZO)
SIZO N/ 2 ("Butyrka") in Moscow
SIZO N/ 1 in Nizhnyi Novgorod
SIZO N/ 1 in Saratov
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Moscow
Temporary holding facility (IVS) at Moscow City Directorate of Internal Affairs (Petrovka St.)
Moscow City Regional Directorate for Combating Organised Crime
Kazanskyi Railway Station Division of Internal Affairs
Divisions of Internal Affairs at Sheremetevo-1 and 2 Airports
Central Administrative Area:
11th Division of the Militia, 2nd District Command of Internal Affairs (Barrikadnaya St.)
5th Division of the Militia, 3rd District Command of Internal Affairs (Gorky St.)
68th Division of the Militia, 7th District Command of Internal Affairs (Myasnitskaya St.)
North-East Administrative Area:
Alekseevskee District Division of Internal Affairs (Novoalekseevskaya St.)
Otradnoe District Division of Internal Affairs (Olonetskaya St.)
Temporary holding facility (IVS) (Dekabristov St.)
East Administrative Area:
Izmailovo District Division of Internal Affairs (Izmailovskaya Square)
Temporary holding facility (IVS) (Parkovaya St.)
South-West Administrative Area:
Kon'kovo District Division of Internal Affairs (Profsoyuznaya St.)
North-West Administrative Area:
Strogino District Division of Internal Affairs (Tvardovskovo St.)
Nizhnyi Novgorod
Avtozavodskoe District Division of Internal Affairs
Nizhegorodskoe District Command of Internal Affairs (N. Volzhskaya Naberezhnaya St.)
Volgo-Vyatskoe Regional Directorate for Combating Organised Crime
Saratov
Engels City Command of Internal Affairs (Telegrafnaya St.)
3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions of the Militia, Engels
Saratov City Command of Internal Affairs (Moskovskaya St.)
Leninskoe District Command of Internal Affairs, Saratov (Ippodrumnaya St.)
Zavodskoe District Command of Internal Affairs, Saratov (Entuziastov Av.)
"KOBRA" unit, Saratov
Other establishments
Moscow City Hospital N/ 20 (Security ward)
Transit zone at Sheremetevo-2 Airport, Moscow
Holding facility for aliens at Sheremetevo Hotel, Moscow
The Committee's September 1999 Visit
Press Release
STRASBOURG, 17.09.99 - A delegation of the COUNCIL OF EUROPE Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) recently carried out a seventeen-day visit to the Russian Federation. The visit began on 30 August 1999 and was organised within the framework of the CPT's programme of periodic visits for 1999. It was the CPT's second visit to the Russian Federation. The first visit - which focused specifically on pre-trial detention and the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the Militia - took place in November 1998.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
John OLDEN, Head of the delegation, 2nd Vice-President of the CPT, (Irish)
Constantin ECONOMIDES (Greek)
Andres LEHTMETS (Estonian)
Adam LAPTAS (Polish)
Jagoda POLONCOVA (Slovak)
Ole Vedel RASMUSSEN (Danish).
They were assisted by three experts - Andrew COYLE (Director of the International Centre for Prison Studies, King's College, London), TimothyHARDING (Director of the University Institute of Forensic Medicine, Geneva) and Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI (Specialist in forensic and internal medicine, Geneva) - as well as by Petya NESTOROVA and Borys WIDZ of the CPT's Secretariat.
The delegation visited the following places:
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
Chelyabinsk:
Leninskoe District Command of Internal Affairs
Traktozavodskyi District Command of Internal Affairs
Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (UBOP)
St.Petersburg:
Temporary holding facility (IVS) at St.Petersburg City Command of Internal Affairs
Petrogradski District Command of Internal Affairs
Primorski District Command of Internal Affairs
35th Militia Division, Primorskyi District
52nd Militia Division, Krasnogvardeiskyi District
Joint reception and distribution centre at St.Petersburg City Command of Internal Affairs
Vologda:
City Command of Internal Affairs
City Sobering-up Centre
Reception and distribution centre for minors (Gorki Street)
Joint reception and distribution centre (Leningradskaya Street)
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Justice
Chelyabinsk Region:
Medical-correctional establishment (LIU) No 3, Chelyabinsk
Prison No 2, Zlatoust
Strict regime colony No 2, Chelyabinsk
St.Petersburg City and Leningrad Region:
Educational colony for juveniles, Kolpino
Pre-trial establishment (SIZO) No 1 ("Kresty"), St.Petersburg
Vologda Region:
Colony No 5 for prisoners serving life sentences, Novozero
Inter-regional hospital (LPU) No 10, Vologda
Prison No 1, Vologda
Establishments under the authority of the Ministry of Health
Special psychiatric hospital with intensive supervision, St. Petersburg
Forensic psychiatric ward of the Territorial Psychiatric Board No 2, St. Petersburg