49. Further, the CPT expresses its misgivings about the fact that all foreign nationals
seeking international protection, including families with children and unaccompanied
minors from 14 to 18 years of age, were compelled to stay in the transit zones at
Röszke and Tompa while their asylum claims were being processed. The Committee
recommends that the authorities fundamentally revise their policy regarding the
holding of foreigners in transit zones. As a matter of priority, an end should be put
to the accommodation of unaccompanied minors therein.
On a positive note, the Committee finds that the Hungarian authorities made efforts
to provide decent material conditions in the transit zones and to maintain the premises in a good state of repair and hygiene. That said, the overall design of the transit
zones was far too carceral.
50. In their response, the Hungarian authorities deny the CPT’s findings. Further, the
authorities underline that Hungarian police officers do not escort foreign nationals
to Serbia but to the other side of the border fence, to an area which is still Hungarian
territory and from where they may reach the transit zones.
51. The subsequent periodic visit carried out to Hungary in November 2018 provided an opportunity to discuss with the authorities the key issues raised in this
report. In addition, the CPT delegation carried out a follow-up visit to Csongrád
County Border Police Division (Szeged, Moscow street) in order to examine whether
certain recommendations set out in the report on the CPT’s 2017 visit to Hungary
had been implemented.
Report and response published in September 2018
(CPT/Inf(2018)42 and CPT/Inf(2018)43)
Report on the ad hoc visit to the Republic of Moldova
in June 2018
(prison hierarchy and inter-prisoner violence; conditions of detention in prisons)
52. The purpose of the visit was to assess progress made in implementing the
CPT’s previous recommendations concerning the situation in prisons, in particular
as regards the phenomenon of an informal prison hierarchy and the related problem
of inter-prisoner violence and intimidation, as well as the conditions of detention of
adult male prisoners.
During the visit, the authorities, at both central and local level, acknowledged that
the system of informal prisoner hierarchies still existed. The delegation noted that
attempts were made in the establishments visited, with varying degrees of success,
to address this deep-rooted problem. At Goian Prison for Juveniles in particular,
genuine efforts were being undertaken to develop positive relationships between
staff and juveniles and to ensure that no prisoner was in a position to exercise
power over other inmates. However, the visit brought to light that, at Chișinău and
Soroca Prisons, the root causes of the problem were far from being addressed and
that these establishments still largely failed to provide for the most basic requirement of prisoners: a safe environment. Acts of inter-prisoner violence, intimidation
Page 24 ►General Report of the CPT, 2018
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