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Mr. Kostis Efstathiou, in his capacity as Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the issue of allegations of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention in Europe, presented today before the Committee a report and a resolution, which were adopted by a large majority.
In his statement, Mr Efstathiou said that in many places of detention in Europe, inhuman and degrading practices persist, in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which explicitly prohibits any form of ill-treatment or punishment. It strongly criticised the fact that in some countries, such as Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, such phenomena are widespread and recurrent, making the problem systemic. The Cypriot Rapporteur underlined that tolerance, lack of accountability, inefficiency of investigations and substantiation of cases and non-compliance by the competent national authorities with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) of the Council of Europe, are the main obstacles to the eradication of these phenomena, which have a profound impact on human rights and human dignity.
The report includes recommendations of the Rapporteur to the Member States of the Council of Europe, based on the findings of the CPT, as well as recommendations of the United Nations Rapporteur on Torture, including the need to criminalise torture and related offences, ensuring that detainees have access to health services, legal assistance and contact with persons close to them, the rejection of testimonies obtained through torture or ill-treatment, the visualisation of all interrogations and the simplification of the rules for proving cases of ill-treatment, given the vulnerability of victims. In addition, Mr Efstathiou recommended the automatic publication of the CPT's reports, as well as better coordination between the Council of Europe institutions and the authorities of the member states of the Organisation, in order to ensure zero tolerance of such phenomena. Efstathiou will be submitted to the CSCE Plenary for adoption by the end of the year.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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