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Reply to Recommendation | Doc. 14445 | 30 November 2017
25 years of the CPT: achievements and areas for improvement
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully considered Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 2100 (2017) on “25 years of the CPT: achievements and areas for
improvement”, which it has communicated to the Steering Committee
for Human Rights (CDDH) and to the European Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
for information and possible comments. The Committee of Ministers
takes this opportunity once again to underline the importance which
it attaches to the work of the CPT.
2. In Recommendation
2100 (2017), the Assembly refers to its earlier Recommendation 1968 (2011), where it invited the Committee of Ministers to place
on its agenda and discuss as a matter of urgency any public statement
adopted by the CPT under Article 10 of the European Convention for
the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (the Convention). In this connection, the Committee of Ministers
refers to its reply to Recommendation
1968 (2011), adopted on 15 February 2012, in which it agreed that
when a public statement is made under Article 10, the exceptional
character of this measure should merit its being placed on the agenda
and discussed as a matter of urgency, but in which it also noted
that a public statement should above all be thoroughly examined
by the national authorities concerned.
3. Since Recommendation
1968 (2011) and the Committee of Ministers’ reply, the CPT has issued
two public statements under Article 10 of the Convention. In the
first, published on 26 March 2015, the CPT drew attention to the
failure of the Bulgarian authorities to address fundamental shortcomings
in the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived
of their liberty in Bulgaria. This public statement was discussed
at the 1253rd meeting of the Ministers’
Deputies on 13 April 2016, during the annual exchange of views with
the President of the CPT. As was acknowledged by the President of
the CPT on that occasion, the Bulgarian authorities had responded
rapidly and positively to the statement. Several issues raised by
it are, moreover, under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers
in the context of the execution of a related pilot judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights, and this case was included in the
agendas of the Committee’s Human Rights (DH) meetings in September
2015, March 2016 and March 2017.
4. The second public statement made by the CPT since Recommendation 1968 (2011) was on 13 July 2017 and concerned the ongoing failure
of the Belgian authorities to put in place a minimum level of service
to guarantee the rights of inmates during periods of industrial
action by prison staff. The Committee of Ministers notes with satisfaction
that the Belgian authorities have welcomed the CPT’s public statement
and are preparing measures to address the problem. The CPT in its
public statement drew particular attention to the vulnerable position
of persons under a psychiatric detention measure in prison. The
position of this category of inmates is under the supervision of
the Committee of Ministers in the context of the execution of the L.B. group of cases against Belgium,
and was last examined at the DH meeting in March 2017.
5. In conclusion, the two public statements will be taken into
account by the Committee of Ministers in the context of its examination
of the progress of execution in the groups of cases concerned, which
are both under enhanced supervision. As appropriate, discussions
on the follow-up to the public statements may also be held by it
in other settings. More generally, in March 2018 it intends to hold
a thematic discussion on the issue of conditions of detention as
it relates to the execution of a number of judgments under its supervision.
In these circumstances, the Committee of Ministers considers that
appropriate action has been taken, and continues to be taken, with
regard to the important matters raised by the CPT. In this context,
the Committee of Ministers also encourages States which have not
done so to request in advance the automatic publication of future
CPT visit reports and related government responses.
6. The Committee of Ministers recalls that the Secretariat of
the CPT has for a number of years been among the priority services
which have received increased budgetary resources. It takes note
of the concerns expressed by both the Parliamentary Assembly and
the CPT concerning the need for sufficient stability amongst staff
members in the CPT Secretariat. The Secretary General keeps the
contractual policy under close review in order to evaluate its effects
in terms of the balance between stable and flexible resources, and recruitment
and retention of the best quality staff. In particular, stability
of fixed-term contracts is sought in areas of activities where this
is appropriate. The Committee of Ministers will keep the Parliamentary
Assembly informed on this matter.