The Council of Europe's Committee for
the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CPT) criticized in a dossier published on Friday the
treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals held
at pre-removal centres (CPRs) in Italy.
The CPT's findings included "very poor material conditions, the
absence of a regime of activities, the disproportionate security
approach, the variable quality of healthcare provision and the
lack of transparency of the management of CPRs by private
contractors", "calling into question" the application of such a
model by Italy in an extra-territorial setting, such as in
Albania, the report noted.
The dossier was compiled after visits carried out by CPT
officials between April 2 and 12 this year at four out of
Italy's nine CPRs, including the pre-removal centres in Via
Corelli in Milan, Gradisca d'Isonzo, Palazzo San Gervasio in
Potenza and Ponte Galeria in Rome.
The CPT said it "found several cases of alleged physical
ill-treatment and excessive use of force by police officers of
foreign nationals detained in the CPRs visited", usually
following a "disturbance or act of vandalism in the centres".
The dossier also highlighted "the absence of any rigorous and
independent monitoring of such interventions by the police and
the lack of accurate recording of injuries sustained by detained
persons or of any assessment as to their origin".
The Committee also criticized what it described as "the
widespread practice" of administering "unprescribed psychotropic
drugs diluted in water" to migrants held at the centres that it
"documented at the Potenza CPR".
Moreover, it denounced "the practice of transporting foreign
nationals to a CPR while handcuffed in a police vehicle without
being offered food and water during journeys of several hours",
saying it "should be reviewed".
Overall, the CPT said it was "highly critical of the physical
layout and design of CPRs and in particular the carceral
environment, which could be considered as similar to those
observed by the Committee in the detention units accommodating
prisoners under special regime", citing as examples " triple
metal mesh screens on windows, and cage-like outdoor
facilities".
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