Anti-Torture Committee announces its annual report

Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee announces its annual report

10 Nov 2011 - Strasbourg. Fuad Gulubeyli – APA. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment announced its annual report for 2011.

APA’s European bureau reports that in its report, the committee urges the states to minimize the use of solitary confinement of prisoners. This measure should be applied only in exceptional circumstances and for the shortest possible period of time.

In most countries courts can order that a person remanded in custody be held for a certain period in solitary confinement in the interests of a criminal investigation. These decisions should be made in open court, through a fully reasoned judgment, be separately appealable and be reviewed on a frequent basis. The CPT considers that solitary confinement should never be imposed as part of a court’s sentence, which is still possible in some countries. Solitary confinement can also be used as a disciplinary sanction. The trend in Europe is towards lowering the maximum period for which it can be imposed for this purpose. The CPT considers that the maximum possible period of solitary confinement as a punishment should be no higher than 14 days, and preferably lower. read more>>>

APA Anti-Torture Report