Report to the Italian Government on the Visit to Italy Carried out by The
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CPT/Inf (2017) 23 Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 8 to 21 April 2016 The Italian Government has requested the publication of this report and of its response. The Government’s response is set out in document CPT/Inf (2017) 24. Strasbourg, 8 September 2017 - 2 - CONTENTS Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT’s report............................................................................4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................5 I. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................9 A. Dates of the visit and composition of the delegation ..............................................................9 B. Establishments visited.............................................................................................................10 C. Consultations held by the delegation and co-operation encountered.................................11 D. Immediate observations under Article 8, paragraph 5, of the Convention .......................11 E. Introduction of the crime of torture in the Penal Code.......................................................11 F. National Preventive Mechanism ............................................................................................12 II. FACTS FOUND DURING THE VISIT AND ACTION PROPOSED ..............................12 A. Law enforcement agencies......................................................................................................13 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................13 2. Ill-treatment .....................................................................................................................13 3. Safeguards against ill-treatment ......................................................................................16 4. Conditions of detention ...................................................................................................18 B. Prison establishments .............................................................................................................19 1. Preliminary remarks on the fight against prison overcrowding ......................................20 2. Ill-treatment .....................................................................................................................22 3. Conditions of detention ...................................................................................................25 a. material conditions .................................................................................................25 b. regime.....................................................................................................................28 4. Prisoners subjected to the “41-bis” regime......................................................................30 5. Health-care services.........................................................................................................35 a. introduction ............................................................................................................35 b. health-care facilities ...............................................................................................35 c. health-care staff......................................................................................................35 d. primary health care.................................................................................................36 - 3 - e. psychiatric care.......................................................................................................37 f. medical screening...................................................................................................38 g. medical confidentiality...........................................................................................39 h. medical seclusion rooms ........................................................................................40 6. Other issues......................................................................................................................41 a. prison staff..............................................................................................................41 b. contact with the outside world ...............................................................................42 c. women prisoners with children ..............................................................................42 d. discipline ................................................................................................................43 e. judicial isolation – “isolamento diurno” ...............................................................44 f. complaints and inspection procedures ...................................................................45 C. Psychiatric institutions ...........................................................................................................47 1. Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................47 2. Adult forensic psychiatry.................................................................................................48 a. ill-treatment ............................................................................................................51 b. patients’ living conditions ......................................................................................51 c. treatment.................................................................................................................53 d. staff.........................................................................................................................55 e. use of means of restraint ........................................................................................56 f. safeguards...............................................................................................................60 g. other issues .............................................................................................................64 3. Adult general psychiatry..................................................................................................65 APPENDIX: List of the national and regional authorities, non-governmental organisations and persons with whom the delegation held consultations .................................................68 - 4 - Copy of the letter transmitting the CPT’s report Mr Fabrizio Petri Minister Plenipotentiary President of the Interministerial Committee for Human Rights Ministry of Foreign Affairs Piazzale della Farnesina 1 00135 Rome Italy Strasbourg, 5 December 2016 Dear Minister, In pursuance of Article 10, paragraph 1, of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, I enclose herewith the report to the Italian Government drawn up by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) following its visit to Italy from 8 to 21 April 2016. The report was adopted by the CPT at its 91st meeting, held from 7 to 11 November 2016. The various recommendations, comments and requests for information formulated by the CPT are highlighted in bold in the body of the report. As regards more particularly the CPT’s recommendations, having regard to Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the Committee requests the Italian authorities to provide within six months a response giving a full account of action taken to implement them. The CPT trusts that it will also be possible for the Italian authorities to provide, in the above- mentioned response, reactions to the comments and requests for information formulated in this report. The Committee would ask, in the event of the response being forwarded in Italian, that it be accompanied by an English or French translation. I am at your entire disposal if you have any questions concerning either the CPT’s report or the future procedure. Yours sincerely, Mykola Gnatovskyy President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment - 5 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In the course of the 2016 periodic visit, the CPT’s delegation examined the broad prison reform measures taken by the Italian authorities to reduce prison overcrowding and the ongoing reform of forensic psychiatry. In addition, the situation of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement officials and of those placed involuntarily in psychiatric care pursuant to civil legislation was also reviewed. The cooperation received during the visit was, with two exceptions, generally excellent. At the outset, Committee reiterates its concern that after more than 20 years the penal code still does not contain a specific provision on the crime of torture. It takes note of the recent establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism under the OPCAT. Law enforcement agencies The great majority of detained persons met by the CPT’s delegation indicated that they had been treated correctly by law enforcement officials. However, a number of allegations of physical ill- treatment and excessive use of force, particularly by members of the State Police and Carabinieri, were received. These consisted of slaps, punches, kicks