[prisoner-rights] Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes report on Macedonia

***Learn more about the work of the Anti-Toture Committee in HREA's study
guide on the European human rights system:
http://www.hrea.org/learn/guides/europe.html


Strasbourg, 09.09.2004 - The Council of Europe's Committee for the
Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
(CPT) published today the report on its visit to "the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia" in November 2002, together with the Government's
response.

The CPT's delegation reviewed developments concerning the treatment of
persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies, as well as
legal remedies in cases involving allegations of ill-treatment. The CPT
concluded that the problem of ill-treatment of persons in police custody
remained a serious problem, and made detailed recommendations on the
obligations of judges and prosecutors to ensure that allegations of police
ill-treatment are properly investigated and pursued.

The CPT also recommended that steps be taken as a matter of urgency to
radically improve regime activities in remand prisons throughout the
country and identified specific measures to be implemented in Skopje
(Bardovci) Psychiatric Hospital and Demir Kapija Special Institution for
mentally disabled persons.

In their response, the national authorities described the various measures
taken to implement the CPT's recommendations. They highlighted in
particular the provision of professional training to new police officers,
the adoption of a new Code of Police Ethics, efforts to surmount the
problem of inadequate staffing levels in the prison system, as well as
steps to improve the situation in the fields of mental health and social
care.

The CPT's report and the Government's response, which have been published
at the request of the national authorities, are available on the
Committee's website: http://www.cpt.coe.int