THE COUNCIL of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture has published a report in which it revealed that the treatment of detainees in Slovak prisons does not fulfil the required standards. The committee asked Slovakia to put things in order, the Sme daily reported.
The Justice Ministry, according to the daily, has thrown doubts at the report even though some of the practices described in the report, such as forcing prisoners to undress, turn to the wall and do knee-bends while dogs were barking at them, have been stopped since the visit of the committee’s inspectors.
“The criticism is based on unverified information from those with life sentences for the most serious crimes,” said the ministry’s spokesperson, Michal Jurči.
The inspectors focused mainly on areas holding prisoners with life sentences in Ilava and Leopoldov prisons. The report said treatment of prisoners had improved since the last inspection in 2005 but that there were still several systemic shortcomings. The committee criticised small cells, the use of violence during interrogations, medical examinations conducted in the presence of guards, bad conditions for mentally ill prisoners, the way in which dogs were used, and several other practices.
