[prisoner-rights] Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee visits Bulgaria

Strasbourg, 28.09.2006 -- A delegation of the Council of Europe's
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (CPT) recently carried out a twelve-day visit to Bulgaria.
The visit, which began on 10 September 2006, was the Committee's fourth
periodic visit to Bulgaria.

During the visit, the delegation reviewed the measures taken by the
Bulgarian authorities following the recommendations made by the Committee
after its previous visits. Particular attention was paid to the treatment
of persons detained by the police and the border police, as well as to the
conditions in investigation detention facilities. The delegation also
examined in detail various issues related to prisons, including the regime
applied to life-sentenced prisoners and the situation of foreign
prisoners. In the course of visits to psychiatric institutions, it looked
into the implementation in practice of the legal safeguards related to
compulsory placement under the new Health Act. A further area explored was
the treatment of social care home residents.

In the course of the visit, the CPT's delegation held consultations with
Dimitar BONGALOV, Deputy Minister of Justice, Roumen ANDREEV, Deputy
Minister of Internal Affairs, Atanas DODOV, Deputy Minister of Health,
Ivanka HRISTOVA, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy, as well as
other senior officials from those Ministries. It also met Ginyo GANEV,
Ombudsman of Bulgaria, and Hristo MANCHEV, Deputy Prosecutor General.

Discussions were also held with the UNHCR Representation to Bulgaria and
members of non-governmental organisations active in areas of concern to
the CPT.

At the end of the visit, the delegation presented its preliminary
conclusions to the Bulgarian authorities.

The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT: 

- Silvia CASALE, President of the CPT and Head of delegation
(British) 
- Gergely FLIEGAUF (Hungarian) 
- Zdena HAJEK (Czech) 
- Vladimir ORTAKOV (citizen of "the former Yugoslav Republic of 
Macedonia") 
- Veronica PIMENOFF (Finnish). 

They were supported by Petya NESTOROVA, Head of Division, Edo KORLJAN and
Borys WADZ of the CPT's Secretariat, and assisted by two experts: Dan
DERMENGIU, Head of Forensic Medicine, "Carol Davila" Medical Faculty,
Bucharest (Romania), and Eric SVANIDZE, lawyer, former Head of Internal
Law Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Tbilisi (Georgia).

The delegation visited the following places: 

Establishments under the Ministry of Internal Affairs 

National Service Police: 
- 2nd District Police Directorate, Pleven 
- District Police Directorate, Popovo 
- 2nd District Police Directorate, Russe 
- District Police Directorate, Slivnitsa 
- 1st District Police Directorate, Sofia 
- 3rd District Police Directorate, Sofia 
- Sobering-up centre, Sofia 
- District Police Directorate, Targovishte 

National Service Border Police: 
- Regional border sector, Dragoman 
- Border crossing at Dragoman 
- Border police station, Kalotina 
- Regional border sector, Russe 

Establishments under the Ministry of Justice 

- Pleven Prison (with emphasis on life-sentenced prisoners) 
- Sliven Prison 
- Sofia Prison 

Investigation detention facilities at: 
- Pazardjik 
- Pleven 
- Plovdiv 
- Popovo 
- Russe 
- Sliven 
- Slivnitza 
- Targovishte 

Establishments under the Ministry of Health 

- Byala State Psychiatric Hospital 
- Karlukovo State Psychiatric Hospital 
- Regional Psychiatric Dispensary with inpatient wards, Russe 

Establishments under the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy 

- Home for women with intellectual retardation in the village of
Trustika, Popovo municipality (Targovishte Region).