CPT: 13TH GENERAL REPORT Unfortunately, in spite of the CPT’s sustained efforts in recent years, the information gathered by the Committee demonstrates clearly that the Russian authorities have failed to tackle effectively major problems related to the Committee’s mandate. There is continued resort to torture and other forms of illtreatment by members of the law enforcement agencies and federal forces operating in the Chechen Republic. Further, the action taken to bring to justice those responsible is slow and – in many cases – ultimately ineffective. In its public statement concerning the Chechen Republic made on 10 July 2003 (cf. Appendix 7), the CPT acknowledges the extreme difficulties confronting the federal and republican authorities in their efforts to restore the rule of law and achieve a lasting reconciliation in this part of the Russian Federation. However, the Committee also insists that the response to those difficulties must never degenerate into acts of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. The CPT identifies measures which need to be taken by the Russian authorities. The CPT is determined to pursue its cooperation with the Russian authorities in order to assist them to abide, both in the Chechen Republic and elsewhere in the Russian Federation, by the fundamental principle that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Failure to comply with that principle will render it impossible to create the climate of confidence which is an essential prerequisite for rebuilding civil society in the Chechen Republic. 6. Over the last two years, the Turkish authorities have been engaged in a vast programme of legislative reform. This programme has included numerous positive changes in areas related to the CPT’s mandate, in particular as regards custody by law enforcement agencies. The main purpose of the Committee’s ad hoc visits to Turkey in March and September 2002 was to examine the implementation in practice of these reforms. The CPT’s report on those visits and the Turkish authorities’ response were published in June 2003; these documents make clear both what has been achieved and what remains to be done. 9 Most of the legislative and regulatory framework necessary to combat effectively torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials has been put in place. As was rightly pointed out by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Abdülkadir AKSU, in a circular of 16 January 2003, the challenge now is to make sure that all of the above-mentioned provisions are given full effect in practice. This issue was at the centre of high-level talks held between the Turkish authorities and CPT representatives in Ankara on 8 July 2003; it will be pursued during further visits to be organised by the Committee in the months ahead. 7. In the course of the March 2002 ad hoc visit to Turkey, the CPT’s delegation also reviewed once again the development of communal activities for inmates in the new F-type prisons. This issue is closely connected with the long-running hunger strike campaign related to reform of the prison system, which tragically has claimed so many lives. The Committee’s findings were discussed at high-level talks in Ankara on 20 September 2002, which focussed on the recentlyintroduced additional activity of regular association (“conversation”) periods for up to ten prisoners. At the time of the March 2002 visit, it remained the case that only those prisoners who took part in another communal activity (education, sport, vocational training, etc.) were able to participate in the association periods. At the September talks, the CPT’s representatives stressed that this precondition might well be acting as a brake on the development of communal activities in F-type prisons and requested that it be dropped. The Committee was pleased to note that thanks to a circular issued by the Minister of Justice on 10 October 2002, prisoners in F-type prisons can now participate in the regular association periods for groups of up to ten prisoners, irrespective of whether they take part in any other communal activity. All prisoners in F-type prisons now have at their disposal a range of communal activities involving both structured and unstructured opportunities for human contact outside their living units. The CPT very much hopes that they will make use of those opportunities. The Committee is closely following developments in this area, in order to ensure that the full potential of communal activity programmes in Ftype prisons is realised.