[prisoner-rights] Council of Europe Anti-Torture Committee publishes reports on Portugal

Strasbourg, 25.01.2007 -- The Council of Europe's Committee for the
prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
(CPT) has published today its reports on the ad hoc visit to Portugal in
2002 and the 4th periodic visit to Portugal in 2003, together with the
authorities' responses. These documents have been made public at the
request of the Portuguese Government.

The 2002 ad hoc visit focused on the situation at Oporto Central Prison.
In previous visits to this establishment, the CPT had found the prison
overcrowded, prisoners' living areas unhygienic, a high level of
inter-prisoner intimidation/violence, a wide availability of drugs and
inadequate staffing levels. The report on the 2002 visit highlighted that
while some improvements had been made, there remained significant
challenges.

In the course of the 4th periodic visit to Portugal in 2003 the CPT's
delegation examined the treatment of persons detained by law enforcement
agencies and the fundamental safeguards against ill-treatment offered to
such persons. It also reviewed the conditions of detention in prisons,
including at Oporto Central Prison, and examined for the first time the
treatment of patients in a penitentiary psychiatric hospital.

The CPT's visit reports and the responses of the Portuguese authorities
are available on the Committee's website at http://www.cpt.coe.int