42
C.
Safeguards during detention
30.
Immigration detainees should - in the same way as other categories of persons
deprived of their liberty - be entitled, as from the outset of their detention, to inform a person of
their choice of their situation and to have access to a lawyer and a doctor. Further, they should be
expressly informed, without delay and in a language they understand, of all their rights and of
the procedure applicable to them.
The CPT has observed that these requirements are met in some countries, but not in
others. In particular, visiting delegations have on many occasions met immigration detainees
who manifestly had not been fully informed in a language they understood of their legal
position. In order to overcome such difficulties, immigration detainees should be systematically
provided with a document explaining the procedure applicable to them and setting out their
rights. This document should be available in the languages most commonly spoken by those
concerned and, if necessary, recourse should be had to the services of an interpreter.
31.
The right of access to a lawyer should apply throughout the detention period and
include both the right to speak with the lawyer in private and to have him present during
interviews with the authorities concerned.
All detention facilities for immigration detainees should provide access to medical
care. Particular attention should be paid to the physical and psychological state of asylum
seekers, some of whom may have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated in the countries from
which they have come. The right of access to a doctor should include the right - if a detainee so
wishes - to be examined by a doctor of his choice; however, the detainee might be expected to
cover the cost of such a second examination.
More generally, immigration detainees should be entitled to maintain contact with the
outside world during their detention, and in particular to have access to a telephone and to
receive visits from relatives and representatives of relevant organisations.
D.
Risk of ill-treatment after expulsion
32.
The prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
englobes the obligation not to send a person to a country where there are substantial grounds for
believing that he would run a real risk of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment. Whether
Parties to the Convention are fulfilling this obligation is obviously a matter of considerable
interest to the CPT. What is the precise role that the Committee should seek to play in relation to
that question?
33.
Any communications addressed to the CPT in Strasbourg by persons alleging that they
are to be sent to a country where they run a risk of being subjected to torture or ill-treatment are
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