5.2.4. Cage beds and net beds Cage beds comprise a cage (four sides and a ceiling) or similar structure enclosing a human being within the confines of the bed, the ceiling or one or more of the sides of which are fitted with metal or other bars, and which can only be opened from outside. Concerns about enclosed beds are not restricted to “cage beds”, but to any form of enclosure around or attached to a hospital bed, irrespective of the material used to form the enclosure, including fabric netting -“net beds”. The UN Committee on Torture noted that netted cage beds have “effects [that] are similar to those of [metal] cage-beds”.237 The UN Human Rights Committee has called for a cessation of the use of cage beds, and has stated that their use “is considered an inhuman and degrading treatment of patients confined in psychiatric and related institutions”.238 The CPT in its revised standard-setting document of 2017 concerning “means of restraint in psychiatric establishments for adults”, stated that “the use of net (or cage) beds should be prohibited under all circumstances.”239 5.2.4.1. Use of cage or net beds in CoE member States During the 2012-2017 period the UN Human Rights Committee and the CPT have highlighted the possession and/or use of cage or net beds in psychiatric hospitals in Austria240 Czech Republic241 and Slovakia.242 5.2.4.1.1. Illustrative cases Czech Republic A CPT report of its 2014 visit to the Czech Republic,243 stated that “The CPT has repeatedly expressed its serious misgivings about the use of net-beds and recommended that the Czech authorities pursue a policy of putting an end to their use in psychiatric hospitals as soon as possible. Regrettably, the findings of the 2014 visit indicate that there has been no progress in this respect.”244 The CPT report highlighted the use of net-beds at Kosmonosy Psychiatric Hospital which “give rise to particular concern” including the excessive duration of placement of certain patients in net-beds. For example, according to the registers examined by the delegation, one patient had been restrained in a net-bed for a total of almost 2,600 hours (i.e. the equivalent of 108 days) during some 180 days since 18 October 2013. Another patient was placed in a net-bed between 22 September 2013 and 4 March 2014 (163 days) for more than 1,800 hours (i.e. the equivalent of 75 days). The risks linked with the use of netbeds and the need for supervision were illustrated by the case of a 51-year old woman who 237 UN, Committee against Torture, Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture: Czech Republic, UN CAT, , Forty-eighth session, CAT/C/CZE/CO/4-5, 7 May–1 June 2012, p. 7. 238 UN, Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Slovakia, 22 August 2003, UN Doc. CCPR/CO/78/SVK, paragraph 13; UN, Human Rights Committee, Concluding Observations of the Human Rights Committee, Czech Republic, 9 August 2007, UN Doc. CCPR/C/CZE/CO/2 paragraph 13. 239 CPT, Means of restraint in psychiatric establishments for adults (Revised CPT standards), CPT/Inf(2017)6, 21 March 2017. 240 CPT, Report to the Austrian Government on the visit to Austria carried out by the CPT from 22 September to 1 October 2014, 6 November 2015. On 22 July 2014 the Federal Ministry of Health introduced a ban on the use of net beds in psychiatric and social welfare institutions which came into effect from 1 July 2015. 241 CPT, Report to the Czech Government on the visit to the Czech Republic carried out by the CPT from 1 to 10 April 2014, 31 March 2015. 242 UN, Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the fourth report of Slovakia, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, CCPR/C/SVK/CO/4, 22 November 2016, paragraph 20. 243 CPT(31 March 2015) op.cit. 244 CPT (31 March 2015) op.cit., paragraph 169. 49