Press Release
Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on
Bulgaria
Strasbourg, 15.03.2012 – The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention
of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) today
published the report on its visit to Bulgaria
in October 2010, and the response of the
Bulgarian authorities.
The majority of the persons interviewed by the CPT's delegation said that they
had been correctly treated by the police. Nevertheless, a considerable number of
persons alleged physical ill-treatment at the time of their apprehension. In a
few isolated cases, the delegation heard allegations of the infliction of
electric shocks.
The CPT welcomed an instruction aiming at setting up special police rooms
equipped for making full electronic recording of questioning. However, the
Committee also recommended that police officers are trained in acceptable
interviewing techniques and that a code of conduct of police interviews be drawn
up. It also reiterated the need to improve the screening for injuries and their
reporting to the competent authorities.
The Committee’ delegation received no allegations of recent physical
ill-treatment of detained foreign nationals by police staff working at the
Special Home for Temporary Placement of Foreign Nationals in Busmantsi, which is
an improvement compared to the situation in 2008. However, there were no signs
of improvement as to material conditions.
The CPT noted an increase in the number of persons held in investigation
detention facilities since 2008. Further, the positive trend observed in 2006
and 2008 of a reduction in the proportion of persons held in them for long
periods of time had not been maintained.
At Plovdiv Prison, the CPT's delegation received a number of allegations of
physical ill-treatment of prisoners by staff, and at Varna Prison some
allegations of staff assaulting prisoners who were disruptive or disobeyed
orders. Inter-prisoner violence was rife at both prisons; the CPT considered
this to be the result of the combination of overcrowding with reduced prison
staffing, and recommended vigorous action to combat this phenomenon.
The Committee heard no allegations of deliberate physical ill-treatment of
patients by staff at Karvuna State Psychiatric Hospital. However, at the
forensic ward of Lovech State Psychiatric Hospital there were several
allegations of physical ill-treatment of patients, and of rude behaviour and the
use of insulting language by certain orderlies. In their response, the Bulgarian
authorities informed the CPT that an internal investigation had been carried
out, which had led to the dismissal of one orderly and a warning to a security
officer.
Inter-patient violence also occasionally occurred at the hospitals visited. The
CPT noted that this stemmed from an insufficient staff presence, as well as a
lack of alternative therapeutic approaches. The CPT recommended measures to
ensure an adequate staff presence and supervision, as well as proper training of
staff in handling challenging situations.
Despite certain improvements since the previous visit, the Committee concluded
that at the Home for men with psychiatric disorders in Pastra, living conditions
for half of its residents, namely those in Building 3, remained unacceptable. In
their response, the Bulgarian authorities informed the CPT that the residents
accommodated in Building 3 had been moved to other premises.
The CPT’s visit report and the
response of the Bulgarian Government, which
have been made public at the request of the Bulgarian authorities, are available
in English on the CPT’s website:
http://www.cpt.coe.int.
- A "CPT Video-kit" is available for the audiovisual press. For more details
please access our page "For the press".
