Motion for a resolution | Doc. 12921 | 26 April 2012

Promoting the human rights of prisoners in Council of Europe member States

Signatories: Mr Luca VOLONTÈ, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Pedro AGRAMUNT, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Deborah BERGAMINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Brian BINLEY, United Kingdom, EDG ; Lord Tim BOSWELL, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Márton BRAUN, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Mr Georges COLOMBIER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Agustín CONDE, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Jeffrey DONALDSON, United Kingdom, EDG ; Baroness Diana ECCLES, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Renato FARINA, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Hans FRANKEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr György FRUNDA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EDG ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Norbert HAUPERT, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Mr Oliver HEALD, United Kingdom, EDG ; Ms Olha HERASYM'YUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr Ferenc KALMÁR, Hungary, EPP/CD ; Ms Stella KYRIAKIDES, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Terry LEYDEN, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Anvar MAKHMUTOV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Frano MATUŠIĆ, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr João Bosco MOTA AMARAL, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Alejandro MUÑOZ-ALONSO, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Gebhard NEGELE, Liechtenstein, EPP/CD ; Ms Elena NIKOLAEVA, Russian Federation, EDG ; Ms Elsa PAPADIMITRIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta de POURBAIX-LUNDIN, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Carmen QUINTANILLA, Spain, EPP/CD ; Mr Giacomo SANTINI, Italy, EPP/CD ; Mr Yury SHAMKOV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Yury SOLONIN, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Alexander TER-AVANESOV, Russian Federation, EDG ; Mr Petré TSISKARISHVILI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Johann WADEPHUL, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Vladimir ZHIDKIKH, Russian Federation, EDG

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

The Parliamentary Assembly is concerned by the frequent reports in the media of many Council of Europe member States on the dramatic conditions of detainees in prisons.

The Assembly should acknowledge the urgent need to address this question by means of a comprehensive analysis and report possibly leading to recommendations to protect the rights of prisoners and foster an exchange of good practices between member States.

The latest reports of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture highlight an increase in prison overcrowding, the growing number of foreign young and very young prisoners, and a sharp increase in prisoners awaiting final sentencing and in suicide among prisoners.

The Assembly, in the light of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 5), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 7), the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (ETS No. 126), the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 3), and several resolutions adopted by the Assembly in recent years, which have not been fully implemented, should consider, as a matter of urgency, revisiting the idea of a European Prisons Charter (Doc. 10097(2004)).

The Assembly should address the issue of whether the minimum conditions are in place to ensure that the sentence becomes, in accordance with European standards, a means of personal salvation and whether prisons and alternative facilities promote the reintegration of prisoners into society.