Strasbourg, 17 June 2009 CommDH(2009)14 Original: French REPORT BY THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, THOMAS HAMMARBERG, on his visit to Belgium 15-19 December 2008 For the attention of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly CommDH(2009)14 Executive summary ..........................................................................................................................................3 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................4 I. National system for protecting human rights........................................................................................5 1. Accession to European and international human rights conventions.....................................................5 2. Constitution and Belgian judicial system................................................................................................5 3. National human rights structures and national co-ordination of human rights issues ............................7 4. Police......................................................................................................................................................8 a. Police and human rights ....................................................................................................................8 b. Protection of arrested persons' rights during police questioning .......................................................9 II. Prison system ...........................................................................................................................................9 1. Prison overcrowding...............................................................................................................................9 2. Dilapidated state of some prisons ........................................................................................................11 3. Health conditions in prisons .................................................................................................................12 4. Protection of prisoners’ rights...............................................................................................................12 5. Prison staff ...........................................................................................................................................13 6. Action taken by the authorities to improve the situation in prisons ......................................................13 III. Immigration and asylum ........................................................................................................................14 1. Right of asylum.....................................................................................................................................14 2. Deprivation of migrants’ liberty/migrants’ detention conditions ............................................................15 a. Administrative detention of asylum seekers and irregular migrants.................................................15 b. Material detention conditions ...........................................................................................................17 c. Solitary confinement, special regimes and complaints procedure ...................................................18 d. Access to translation, information and legal aid...............................................................................19 3. Effective avenues of appeal against detention or deportation .............................................................20 4. Open facilities for families with children and separated minors............................................................20 5. Regularisation ......................................................................................................................................22 IV. Measures against discrimination, racism and violence against women ......................................22 1. Legislative framework and equality bodies...........................................................................................22 2. Gender discrimination and violence against women............................................................................24 3. Discrimination based on language .......................................................................................................25 V. Protection of children’s rights ..............................................................................................................27 1. Youth justice.........................................................................................................................................27 a. Anti-social behaviour........................................................................................................................27 b. Detention..........................................................................................................................................28 c. Relinquishment of jurisdiction ..........................................................................................................29 2. Corporal punishment............................................................................................................................30 VI. Anti-terrorism measures....................................................................................................................30 VII. Recommendations .............................................................................................................................32 APPENDIX I: List of authorities and organisations met or consulted during the visit and the places visited...............................................................................................................................................................35 APPENDIX II: Comments by the Belgian authorities [in French only] .......................................................37 2 CommDH(2009)14 Executive summary Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg and his delegation visited Belgium from 15 to 19 December 2008. In the course of his visit, the Commissioner held discussions with federal, regional and community authorities, parliamentarians, members of the judiciary, independent human rights structures, and representatives of civil society. Several institutions were also visited. I. National system for protecting human rights. Human rights are enshrined in the Constitution and Belgium has ratified a large number of Council of Europe and United Nations treaties related to human rights. Nevertheless, human rights protection could be strengthened especially by the ratification of Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR and the Framework Convention for the protection of national minorities. Efforts have been undertaken to improve the functioning of the judicial system although proceedings of excessive length persist. There is a great number of complaints bodies and human rights structures in Belgium. The Commissioner notes that a national human rights action plan could also be adopted and that the independence and transparency of the mechanism for monitoring police activities could be further strengthened. The Commissioner considers that the fundamental rights of persons held in police custody should be guaranteed as from the time they are placed in custody. II. Prison system. The Commissioner ascertained unacceptable overcrowding and inhumane detention conditions in a number of prisons. He welcomed the recent adoption of an ambitious construction and renovation programme for the prison estate. However, he urged the authorities to swiftly improve the prisoners’ situation in terms of hygiene, lack of privacy and safety, and to close cells which are not fit for detention. Alternatives to imprisonment should be developed in order to reduce overcrowding. Untried, convicted and psychiatric detainees should be detained separately. The Commissioner calls for the setting up of an effective and independent mechanism to deal with prisoners’ complaints. III. Asylum. The asylum procedure has recently been improved and speeded up. The Commissioner considers nevertheless that it could be made more transparent and accessible in terms of available information. He calls for an end to the systematic detention of certain categories of asylum seekers and the special treatment of asylum claims made at the border. IV. Detention of migrants. Living conditions and access to health care should be improved in the closed centres for aliens and in particular in 127 and INAD Centres. The Commissioner considers that frontline legal advice services should be created to advice and inform migrants detained in these centres of their rights. He calls for a review of the practice of special regimes in closed centres. The deadline to appeal against deportation decisions should be extended to at least five days. The Commissioner welcomes the new policy not to detain most irregular migrant families and considers the new housing system a substantial improvement. However, he regrets that in certain cases children and their parents continue to be detained and calls for an appropriate solution also for these cases. The commitments made to establish a procedure to regularise certain irregular migrants should be clarified. V. Action to combat discrimination, racism and violence against women. Belgium has recently adopted a number of important laws and measures in this field. Efforts should be pursued to achieve effective gender