Committee for the Prevention of Torture

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment or shortly Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe. It has been described as a striking inroad into the usually well-preserved domain of sovereign states.

The CPT was founded on the basis of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987), which came into force in February 1989. It allows the CPT to visit all "places of detention" of the member states of the Council of Europe. Places of detention, as defined by the convention, are all places in which people are held against their will.In the first place, this covers police cells, jails, prisons and closed psychiatric institutions, but also old peoples homes and the like. The unannounced visits are carried out by small teams of CPT members, who usually call in additional experts. After each visit, a report about the findings and recommendations is drawn up and sent to the respective government. The findings deal not so much with individual cases of torture but with the identification of situations at risk that may lead to torture. The CPT reports are confidential and will be published only if the government so requests. But political pressure on the governments is strong to make the report public. Only in the rare case in which governments refuse to publish and the CPT has clear evidence of a practice of torture, the CPT may make a unilateral "public statement".

All 47 member states of the Council of Europe have ratified the Convention for the Prevention of Torture. Protocol No. 1 to the Convention, which entered into force on 1 March 2002, provides for non-member States of the Council of Europe to accede to the Convention, but none have been invited to do so to date.

After 20 years of experience, this European model was adapted and generalized by the United Nations through the OPCAT optional protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (2006).

Members of the CPT are independent and impartial experts from a variety of backgrounds, including law, medicine and the justice system. They are elected for a four-year term by the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Europe's decision-making body, and can be re-elected twice. One member is elected in respect of each member state.

A system of visits
The CPT visits places of detention (e.g. prisons and juvenile detention centres, police stations, holding centres for immigration detainees and psychiatric hospitals), to see how persons deprived of their liberty are treated and, if necessary, to recommend improvements to States.

Visits are carried out by delegations, usually of two or more CPT members, accompanied by members of the Committee's Secretariat and, if necessary, by experts and interpreters. The member elected in respect of the country being visited does not join the delegation.

CPT delegations visit Contracting States periodically but may organise additional "ad hoc" visits if necessary. The Committee must notify the State concerned but need not specify the period between notification and the actual visit, which, in exceptional circumstances, may be carried out immediately after notification. Governments' objections to the time or place of a visit can only be justified on grounds of national defence, public safety, serious disorder, the medical condition of a person or that an urgent interrogation relating to a serious crime is in progress. In such cases the state must immediately take steps to enable the Committee to visit as soon as possible.

Unlimited access, co-operation, and confidentiality
Under the Convention, CPT delegations have unlimited access to places of detention and the right to move inside such places without restriction. They interview persons deprived of their liberty in private and communicate freely with anyone who can provide information.

The recommendations which the CPT may formulate on the basis of facts found during the visit, are included in a report which is sent to the State concerned. This report is the starting point for an ongoing dialogue with the State concerned.

The CPT has two guiding principles: co-operation and confidentiality. Co-operation with the national authority is at the heart of the Convention, since the aim is to protect persons deprived of their liberty rather than to condemn States for abuses. The Committee therefore meets in camera and its reports are strictly confidential. Nevertheless, if a country fails to co-operate or refuses to improve the situation in the light of the Committee's recommendations, the CPT may decide to make a public statement.

Of course, the State itself may request publication of the Committee's report, together with its comments. In addition, the CPT draws up a general report on its activities every year, which is made public.

Current members (listed in order of precedence – as at 04/03/2010)

 * Mr Mauro PALMA, President, Italy, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Pétur HAUKSSON, 1st Vice-President, Iceland, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Haritini DIPLA, 2nd Vice-President, Greece, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Marc NÈVE, Belgium, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Petros MICHAELIDES, Cyprus, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Mario FELICE, Malta, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Eugenijus GEFENAS, Lithuania, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Jean-Pierre RESTELLINI, Switzerland, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Isolde KIEBER, Liechtenstein, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Lətif HÜSEYNOV, Azerbaijan, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Joan-Miquel RASCAGNERES, Andorra, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Vladimir ORTAKOV, "The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Celso José DAS NEVES MANATA, Portugal, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Jørgen Worsaae RASMUSSEN, Denmark, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Antonius Maria VAN KALMTHOUT, Netherlands, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Elena SEREDA, Russian Federation, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr George TUGUSHI, Georgia, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Wolfgang HEINZ, Germany, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Tim DALTON, Ireland, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Ivan JANKOVIĆ, Serbia, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Olivera VULIĆ, Montenegro, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Sonja KURTÉN-VARTIO, Finland, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Dan DERMENGIU, Romania, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Anna ŠABATOVÁ, Czech Republic, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Maria Rita MORGANTI, San Marino, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Ilvija PŪCE, Latvia, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Arman VARDANYAN, Armenia, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Dajena POLLO KUMBARO, Albania, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Marzena KSEL, Poland, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Ms Anna LAMPEROVÁ, Slovak Republic, term of office: 19/12/2011
 * Mr Stefan WEINBERG-KRAKOWSKI, Sweden, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Vincent THEIS, Luxembourg, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Yakin ERTÜRK, Turkey, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Georg HØYER, Norway, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Nadia POLNAREVA, Bulgaria, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr James MCMANUS, United Kingdom, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Anna MOLNÁR, Hungary, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Marika VÄLI, Estonia, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Branka ZOBEC HRASTAR, Slovenia, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Ms Julia KOZMA, Austria, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Mykola GNATOVSKYY, Ukraine, term of office: 19/12/2013
 * Mr Régis BERGONZI, Monaco, term of office: 19/12/2013