discussed, as well as the implementation of the forthcoming national strategy on development of the penitentiary system. Further, talks were held
with the Deputy Minister of Health,
Jovica Andovski, on the treatment of
patients in psychiatric institutions and
the transfer of the responsibility for
prison health care to this ministry. The
situation of irregular migrants, notably
those detained at the Reception
Centre for Foreigners, was discussed
with officials from the Border Affairs
and Migration Sector of the Ministry
of the Interior. Moreover, the state of
co-operation between the CPT and
the national authorities was the focus
of discussions with the State Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, Elena Kuzmanovska.
17. The President of the CPT met the
Minister of Justice and the Deputy
Minister of the Interior of Bulgaria in
Sofia on 26 November to discuss followup to the public statement issued earlier
in the year (see paragraph 12), including
the “Action Plan for the execution of the
recommendations of the Committee
for the Prevention of Torture and the
final judgments of the European Court
of Human Rights in the cases of Velikova
group, Neshkov and Others, Harakchiev
and Tolumov, Kehayov group”.
18. Several high-level talks with national
authorities were held in order to discuss
issues related to recent country visits,
in particular, with Koen Geens, Minister
of Justice of Belgium, on 2 March in
Strasbourg (in the margins of the CPT’s
25th anniversary conference), as well as
with Maxim Travnikov and Alu Alkhanov,
Deputy Ministers of Justice of the Russian
Federation, on 24 April in Moscow.
19. On 27 October, a Council of Europe
delegation led by the CPT’s Secretariat
held discussions in Athens (Greece) with
the Secretary General for Crime Policy,
the Director General of Correctional
Policy and other senior Ministry and
prison officials, at the invitation of the
Ministry of Justice, Transparency and
Human Rights. A senior adviser to the
Minister of Health also attended the
meeting. The three themes discussed
related to areas where the CPT had
made recommendations for action in
its most recent visit reports, notably
prison health care and the operation of
Korydallos Prison Hospital, prison staff
training, and the complaints systems in
prisons. The importance of developing
a strategic plan for the recovery of the
prisons into which the other elements
could be inserted was also stressed. This
activity represented a more hands-on
connection between the monitoring
work of the CPT and the development
of possible Council of Europe prisonrelated co-operation programmes to
address the areas identified by the CPT
as requiring improvement. The CPT
considers it important to be proactive in
facilitating support for member states’
efforts to implement its recommendations and, where appropriate, to draw
on the Council of Europe’s expertise in
providing support for prison reform.
Plenary meetings and
activities of subgroups
20. The CPT held three one-week
plenary meetings (in March, June/July
and November), in the course of which
a total of 17 visit reports were adopted.
21. During the June/July plenary meet
ing, the CPT held an exchange of views
with representatives of the Co-operation
Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit
Trafficking in Drugs (Pompidou Group)
of the Council of Europe. Various issues
relevant to the CPT’s work were discussed, such as drug treatment and HIV
prevention in prisons.
Activities during the period 1 January to 31 December 2015 ► Page 9