THE COUNCIL of Europe’s special committee on torture has wrapped up its visit to Cyprus following a meeting with the ministers of justice and interior yesterday.
After the meeting, the Justice Minister said he had received plenty of recommendations from the committee while the Interior Minister voiced confidence that all problems would be overcome with new laws and upgrades in the island’s detention centres.
The Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) comes to Cyprus every few years to check up on the treatment and living conditions of those deprived of their liberty, mainly prisoners and detainees.
The last time the CPT was in town, 2004, they recorded complaints of ill-treatment of detainees in police custody, mainly foreign nationals. They reported afterwards that in some cases, “the ill-treatment alleged was of such a severity that it could be considered as amounting to torture”.
Head of this year’s delegation, Mario Felice, told the Cyprus Mail that the team carried out visits “around the clock during the eight days”.
“We have been to the Central Prison, the psychiatric unit in Athalassa, many police stations and interviewed detainees and prisoners in private,” said Felice.
Concluding the visit, the delegation met the ministers of justice and interior to give their “first impressions” and findings on issues of urgency.
The CPT will adopt the findings in November, after which they will be submitted to the Council of Europe for approval.
Justice Minister Kypros Chrysostomides said the CPT had made many proposals to the government, noting that its findings would be examined in detail by the services involved, so that they could not be repeated.
“From its first day, the government has stressed its respect for human rights and that repression or any form of inhuman treatment of detainees or other citizens is not acceptable,” he said.
The minister said all necessary measures would be taken to ensure the respect of human rights of all citizens and visitors to Cyprus, whether in custody or not.
Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis also reiterated that the government’s basic philosophy was the “respect of human rights of all foreigners regardless of whether they are illegal or in the process of being deported”.
Sylikiotis said he clarified to the CPT that no one was being held long-term any more in detention centres.
“There were cases and are cases where they have no travel documents, though in these cases, there is a decision to release them, and give them a one-year permit to stay and find work. Of course, there is a discussion underway with Iran to solve the problem of issuing travel documents,” he said.
The minister also noted that asylum seekers were not restricted in one place. “There is a reception centre in Kofinou for people who want to be there.”
“With changes to the law on aliens and migration, and with policies and projects we are adopting now with the co-operation of the Justice Ministry, all problems we have today will be overcome,” he added.
The most obvious criticism likely to be made by the CPT will be the long-term overcrowding of the Nicosia Central Prison. The prison’s capacity remains 340, while the population often surpasses the 500 figure and at times, even doubles its capacity.
