-4I.
ACTIVITIES IN 1996
A.
Visits
1.
The CPT carried out six periodic visits during 1996, in chronological order to Switzerland (11 to 23
February), Germany (14 to 26 April), Cyprus (12 to 21 May), Poland (30 June to 12 July), Denmark (29
September to 9 October) and France (6 to 18 October). With the exception of Poland, this was the second
occasion on which the countries concerned had been visited on a periodic basis.
2.
In addition, a number of ad hoc visits were organised in the second half of the year: to Turkey (19 to
23 August and 18 to 20 September), Portugal (20 to 24 October), Greece (4 to 6 November) and Italy (25 to 28
November).
The visit to Turkey in August 1996 was organised following an invitation from the Turkish
Government, which requested that the CPT visit Eski_ehir Special Type Prison. That establishment had been
the target of much criticism in the course of the hunger strikes which affected the Turkish prison system during
the first half of 1996. It is noteworthy that this was the first occasion on which a Party to the Convention had
taken the initiative of inviting the CPT to carry out a visit.
The second ad hoc visit to Turkey, in September 1996, was organised at the Committee's own
initiative, the purpose of the visit being to obtain up-to-date information about the treatment of persons taken
into police custody.
The other ad hoc visits were targeted at places which had previously been visited by the CPT and had
been the subject of recommendations designed to improve the situation of persons deprived of their liberty:- the
Attica State Mental Hospital for Children (Greece); Milan Remand Prison - San Vittore (Italy); and Oporto
Prison (Portugal).
3.
A list of all of the places of detention visited by CPT delegations in 1996 is set out in Appendix 3.
4.
In addition to "visits" within the meaning of Article 7 of the Convention, in May 1996 the Bureau of
the CPT held talks in Turkey with the Prime Minister, other members of the Government and senior officials.
Those talks formed part of the on-going dialogue between the Turkish authorities and the Committee.
The Bureau also went to the Police Headquarters in four Turkish cities, in order to evaluate the
implementation in practice of instructions designed to prevent torture and ill-treatment which were issued by
the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior in February 1995.