In a report published on Tuesday 27 January, the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) calls on all authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina to show “zero tolerance” towards torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees, to provide training for police forces, to record interrogations and to better regulate the use of force.
This report is based on a visit made in September 2024 to prisons and social care homes.
Allegations were made of physical mistreatment (beatings, solitary confinement in straitjackets in padded cells, etc.) as well as serious shortcomings in terms of cleanliness and hygiene in social homes where residents, sometimes naked, sleep on soiled sheets without pillows or blankets.
The CPT also denounces the detention conditions for foreign nationals placed in a prefabricated container at Sarajevo airport.
In its response, Bosnia and Herzegovina highlights progress in police training and provides information on the establishment of a torture prevention mechanism within the Ombudsman’s office.
Link to the CPT report: https://aeur.eu/f/kfw (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)