The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) devotes a chapter in its 2020 report, published on Thursday 6 May, to the basic requirements for ensuring a decent life for prisoners. Failure to respond would expose them to “inhuman or degrading treatment”, it said.
During its visits, the CPT observed that the budgetary crisis affecting prison administrations has resulted in significant cuts in the quality of life of prisoners, particularly in terms of food, heating, showers, opportunities for activities, access to employment and time spent out of cells.
“A threshold of decency should be respected in prisons at all times”, said CPT President Alan Mitchell, stressing the importance of certain economic and social rights in relation to the fundamental right to be treated humanely.
The long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to exacerbate these shortcomings, the Committee warns, recalling its “Statement of principles relating to the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the context of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease pandemic” issued in July 2020 (see EUROPE 12525/31).
At this stage, the criteria for a threshold of decency defined here for prison environments may be considered relevant in other places of deprivation of liberty, the CPT points out.
Link to the report: https://bit.ly/2RwHrb9
Link to the Pandemic Declaration: https://bit.ly/3b7I6Xs (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)