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Doc. 9374
18 February 2002
European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT): working methods
Recommendation 1517(2001)
Reply from the Committee of Ministers
adopted at the 782nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (6 February 2002)
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully studied Recommendation 1517 (2001) on the working methods of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). Before replying to the recommendation, the Committee of Ministers sought the opinion of the CPT. This opinion was submitted to it in a letter from the President of the CPT sent on 13 November 2001 (see appendix). The Committee of Ministers generally agrees with this opinion. Nevertheless, the following additional comments are required.
2. With regard to resources, the Committee of Ministers has taken note of the concerns expressed by both the Parliamentary Assembly and the CPT, concerning the provision of human and financial resources necessary in order to enable the Committee to perform its duties properly. The Committee of Ministers is aware that the enlargement of the Council of Europe over the past ten years and the consequent growing number of States Parties to the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (which has already increased from 15 at the outset of the CPT's activities to 41, and can be expected to increase further) obliges the CPT to increase the number of visit days per year and that it therefore requires more staff.
3. The Committee of Ministers draws attention to the fact that when the President of the CPT addressed the Deputies on 4 October 2001, she said she was grateful for the substantial progress made recently to increase the CPT’s resources. However, the Committee of Ministers is determined to continue its efforts in the future to enable the CPT to carry out effectively the task entrusted to it.
4. The Committee of Ministers also notes the suggestion that non-member states which in the future it intends to invite to adhere to the Convention (under the power granted by Protocol No.1) could perhaps be required to contribute to the costs inherent in applying the Convention’s control mechanism.
5. The Committee of Ministers is pleased to note the willingness of the CPT to make the most effective use of its resources, particularly by having its working methods reviewed by a specific working group. It also welcomes the CPT’s firm intention to develop its capacity to react rapidly to events by organising ad hoc visits pursuant to Article 7, paragraph 1, of the Convention, when emergency situations arise. It therefore fully encourages the CPT to revise the organisation of its visits so that more of them are shorter and more targeted.
6. The Committee of Ministers takes note of the CPT’s opinion on the advantages of the confidentiality rule, which facilitates direct, fruitful dialogue with States on highly sensitive issues. It shares the CPT’s reservations with regard to the possible amendment of the Convention on this matter.
Nevertheless, the great majority of the CPT's visit reports are, sooner or later, placed in the public domain, with the agreement of the state concerned. The Committee of Ministers welcomes this practice and encourages all Parties to the Convention to authorise publication, at the earliest opportunity, of all CPT visit reports and of their responses. The Committee of Ministers also invites Parties to the Convention to consider the possibility of publishing written observations forwarded to them by CPT visiting delegations after a visit, together with any comments they wish to make in response.
7. Finally, the Committee of Ministers wishes to record its appreciation of the Parliamentary Assembly's continuing interest in the functioning of the machinery established under the Anti-Torture Convention, which constitutes a key part of the Council of Europe's human rights protection system. The Committee of Ministers greatly welcomes the Assembly's decision to hold periodic debates in future on the CPT's work, and will itself continue to follow its activities closely.
Appendix I
Strasbourg, 13 November 2001
Sir,
Subject : Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1517 (2001) on the working methods of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
At their 756th meeting (12 to 14 June 2001), the Ministers' Deputies invited the CPT to express its views on Assembly Recommendation 1517. This matter was examined at the CPT's 46th meeting, held from 6 to 9 November 2001.
The Assembly firstly recommends that the Committee of Ministers increase the CPT's human and budgetary resources so that it may adequately perform the duties required of it.
In the 12 years of its existence, the CPT has seen the number of Parties to the European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment grow from 15 to 41, and this process is still not completed. The number of Parties can certainly be expected to reach 45 in the near future, as a result of ratifications or accessions by Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
As long ago as 1996, the CPT defined the resources which would be required for the Committee to cope effectively with the workload generated by up to 45 Parties to the Convention. A gradual increase in the number of visits days to 200 days per year was foreseen, as well as the restructuring and progressive reinforcement of the Committee's Secretariat. The CPT has on several occasions in recent years, in particular in its General Reports, expressed concern that its effectiveness was being undermined by a failure to match the vast expansion of its field of operations by a corresponding increase in the Committee's resources. However, as was emphasised in the CPT's last (11th) General Report, considerable progress has been made of late towards strengthening the Committee's resources. The number of visit days and the Secretariat resources are now getting quite close to the necessary levels identified some five years ago by the Committee. The CPT is very grateful to both the Secretary General and the Ministers' Deputies for having made this possible.
The CPT understands that appropriations will be provided to enable the Committee to increase the number of visit days to 180 in 2002 (as compared to 165 in 2001), and the Committee hopes that the target of 200 visits days per year can be reached in 2003. This volume of visit days should make it possible to guarantee that, with a group of 45 Parties, each State receives a periodic visit on average every four years, and at the same time give sufficient scope for the different types of ad hoc visits (urgent; follow-up; upon a State's invitation, etc.) required in the circumstances.
As regards Secretariat resources, an additional three staff members are needed to complete the teams of the operational units, namely 1 A2/A3 official for Unit 3 and 1 B4 official for each of Units 2 and 3 (cf. the appended Secretariat organigramme). Priority should be given to bringing Unit 3 up to full strength as regards A grade staff; the CPT hopes that this will be possible in the course of 2002.
The CPT is confident that with the reinforcement of its resources indicated above, the Committee will be in a position to carry out effectively the task entrusted to it by the Convention vis-ŕ-vis the previously-mentioned group of 45 States.
There remains the question of the use which will be made of Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, which enters into force on 1 March 2002 and empowers the Committee of Ministers to invite non-member States to accede to the Convention. It is clear that an expansion of the CPT's field of operations beyond the boundaries of the Council of Europe will have resource implications. However, non-member States invited to adhere to the Convention could perhaps be required to make a contribution to the costs inherent in applying the Convention's control mechanism vis-ŕ-vis their countries.
Mr Rokas BERNOTAS
Chairman of the Ministers' Deputies
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the Council of Europe
The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers encourage the CPT to review its working methods, in particular by conducting a greater number of shorter, more targeted visits and reducing the size of delegations.
The CPT has always kept a critical eye on its working methods, with a view to making the most effective use of the available resources. One good example is the introduction some years ago of an expedited procedure for the examination and adoption of visit reports. The success of that procedure made it possible to reduce the number of plenary sessions to three per year, notwithstanding the increasing number of visit reports to be adopted. This in turn allowed more resources - both financial and human - to be devoted to the task of actually carrying out visits.
Subsequently, the period of time during which the full Committee meets during a plenary session has been reduced to four days, freeing up more time for work by visiting delegations and various other sub-groups of the Committee within the framework of a "plenary session."
Most recently, the CPT has established a specific working group entrusted with carrying out a comprehensive review of all aspects of the Committee's working methods.
The CPT is fully in favour of increasing the number of shorter, more targeted visits carried out by small delegations. There have been numerous examples of such visits in the course of 2001. More specifically, the CPT has every intention of enhancing its capacity to react rapidly to events as they happen, ensuring a physical presence on the spot when emergency situations arise.
The periodic visits explicitly foreseen by the Convention should certainly remain an important feature of the CPT's activities. They provide the opportunity to establish a solid basis for cooperation between the CPT and national authorities on a range of matters falling within the Committee's mandate. However, the current length of such visits will most probably be reduced somewhat in the future, especially as regards countries which have already received several periodic visits. The CPT's overall aim is to achieve a better balance between the different types of visits it organises; dividing the number of visit days in a given year evenly between periodic and ad hoc visits might be taken as the goal.
Finally, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite State Parties to the Convention to allow the CPT more openness and less strict confidentiality in relation to its work.
The principle of the confidential nature of the CPT's activities is formally established in Article 11 of the Convention. Without such a rule, it is unlikely that States could have conceived of granting to the CPT the unparalleled right of access to places of detention set out in the Convention.
The confidentiality rule has its advantages and disadvantages. Certainly, it can facilitate a direct and fruitful dialogue between the CPT and State authorities on matters which frequently are highly sensitive. Speaking frankly behind closed doors may often be the most effective method in terms of strengthening protection against ill-treatment. Nevertheless, there is also no denying the drawbacks associated with the rule of confidentiality which are highlighted in the preamble to the Assembly's Recommendation.
The CPT doubts whether it would be wise to contemplate any amendment to the Convention on this matter. However, in practice there is no reason why the situation should not evolve in the direction advocated by the Assembly. It is already the case that the great majority of the CPT's visit reports are, sooner or later, placed in the public domain, with the agreement of the State concerned. Obviously, this both increases publicity about (and hence the impact of) the CPT's work and enables the Committee to participate directly in public debate on the issues involved. The Committee of Ministers might formally invite all Parties to the Convention to authorise publication, at the earliest opportunity, of all CPT visit reports.
Similarly, the Committee of Ministers could encourage Parties to the Convention to publish the written preliminary observations made by CPT visiting delegations. Unlike the subsequent visit report, these preliminary observations are forwarded to the State concerned immediately after a visit. Timely publication of the observations would in particular do much to reduce the risk highlighted by the Assembly of the CPT being seen as an accomplice of Governments if nothing is said after a visit when very serious situations are involved.
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The CPT hopes that these remarks will be of assistance to the Ministers' Deputies and remains at their disposal if they would like to receive additional comments on a particular point.
Yours faithfully,
Silvia CASALE
Secretariat of the CPT (as at 1 September 2001)
Mr Trevor STEVENS Executive Secretary Ms Genevičve MAYER Deputy Executive Secretary Secretariat: Ms Janey MASLEN Ms Antonella NASTASIE |
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Central section |
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Ms Florence CALLOT Mr Michael KELLETT * (*) Advisor on police matters Mr Patrick MÜLLER Ms Mireille MONTI |
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Units responsible for visits |
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Unit 1 |
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Ms Genevičve MAYER, Head of Unit Mr Jan MALINOWSKI, Coordinator of operational activities Ms Hanne JUNCHER Mr Cyrille ORIZET Ms Linda McQUE-MICHAEL Secretariat: Ms Antonella NASTASIE |
• Andorra • Cyprus • Denmark • France • Greece • Ireland • Moldova |
• Norway • Portugal • Romania • Spain • Sweden • Turkey • Ukraine • United Kingdom | |
Unit 2 |
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Mr Fabrice KELLENS, Head of Unit Mr Edo KORLJAN Ms Bojana URUMOVA Mr Michael NEURAUTER Secretariat: Ms Nadine SCHAEFFER |
• Albania • Belgium • Croatia • Czech Republic • Estonia • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania • Luxembourg |
• Malta • Netherlands • San Marino • Slovak Republic • Switzerland • "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" | |
Unit 3 |
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Mr Wolfgang RAU, Head of Unit Ms Petya NESTOROVA Mr Borys WÓDZ Secretariat: Ms Maia MAMULASHVILI |
• (Armenia) • Austria • (Azerbaijan) • Bulgaria • Finland • Georgia • Germany |
• Hungary • Iceland • Liechtenstein • Poland • Russian Federation • Slovenia |
* British police officer seconded to the CPT's Secretariat until 1 July 2002.