Council of Europe anti-torture Committee publishes report on Turkey

Strasbourg, 28.05.2009 – The Council of Europe’s Committee for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (CPT) has published today the report on its visit to Turkey, carried out in November/December 2006, together with the response of the Turkish Government. Both documents have been made public at the request of the Turkish authorities.

The main objective of the visit was to examine the situation of patients held in psychiatric hospitals, in particular as regards living conditions and treatment (including electroconvulsive therapy – ECT). The delegation also looked into the legal safeguards related to involuntary placement procedures and their implementation in practice. For the first time in Turkey, the delegation also visited two social welfare institutions.

In their response to the visit report, the Turkish authorities provide information on the measures being taken to implement the CPT’s recommendations.

The CPT’s report and the response of the Turkish Government are available on the Committee’s website (http://www.cpt.coe.int).