8 7. In March 2006, the CPT carried out its third ad hoc visit to the Transnistrian region of Moldova (a region which unilaterally declared itself an independent republic in 1991). One of the main goals of the visit was to examine the situation of prisoners in the region suffering from tuberculosis; in this context, the Committee’s delegation assessed the results of a Council of Europe financed project, implemented by Caritas Luxembourg, to improve the living conditions of such prisoners. Further, it looked into the treatment of other categories of prisoners, particularly those placed under strict or special detention regimes. The precarious situation at Prison No. 8 in Bender, an establishment located in the Transnistrian region but which forms part of the prison system of the Republic of Moldova, was also re-examined. Due to decisions by the Bender municipal authorities, the prison had been deprived of running water and electricity since mid-2003, and had been disconnected from the city’s sewage disposal system since 2005. 8. The ad hoc visit to the North Caucasian region of Russia in April/May 2006 was the eighth organised by the CPT to that part of the Federation since 2000. This is a reflection of the Committee’s continuing concern about the treatment received by persons when detained by members of law enforcement agencies and security forces in that region, in particular the Chechen Republic. In addition to returning to the Chechen and Ingush Republics, the Committee’s delegation examined for the first time the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the Republic of Dagestan. On 1 May 2006, the CPT’s delegation took the exceptional measure of interrupting the visit, following a denial of access to Tsentoroy (Khosi-Yurt), a village in the Chechen Republic situated south-east of Gudermes. However, in the light of assurances received from the President of the Chechen Republic, the delegation decided to resume the visit and it gained access to Tsentoroy during the afternoon of the following day. The delegation wished to visit the village as it had grounds for believing that one or more facilities that could be used as unofficial places of detention were located there. CPT: 16TH GENERAL REPORT 9. The ad hoc visit to Spain in December 2005 addressed the situation of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement agencies. Particular attention was paid to effective access to a lawyer as from the very outset of deprivation of liberty, an issue which had repeatedly been the subject of recommendations in reports on previous visits to Spain. The CPT’s delegation also explored the role of the judiciary in protecting persons in the custody of law enforcement agencies from ill-treatment. These matters were pursued through both on-site visits and discussions with senior officials, including the Minister of the Interior and the President of the Audiencia Nacional. Further, following reports of concerted attempts to breach border fences on the North African coast, the CPT’s delegation decided to examine the procedures for the interception and the treatment of foreign nationals by the Civil Guard at Spain’s border with Morocco in Melilla. This included accompanying the night patrols of the border fence. 10. During the ad hoc visit to Turkey in December 2005, the CPT’s delegation reviewed the situation in practice as regards the treatment of persons held by the law enforcement agencies and assessed the day-to-day operation of the legal safeguards against illtreatment currently in force. Attention was also given to developments in F-type (high security) prisons, in particular with regard to communal activities for inmates and the regime applied to prisoners serving a sentence of “aggravated life imprisonment”. A third objective of the visit was to examine procedures for the administration of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in psychiatric establishments.