CPT: 18TH GENERAL REPORT 7 10. The main objective of the ad hoc visit to the United Kingdom in December 2007 was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of two persons convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), who are serving their sentences at Frankland and Shotts Prisons. This specific monitoring activity of the CPT flows from an exchange of letters between the ICTY and the CPT dated 7 and 24 November 2000 as well as the Agreement between the United Nations and the United Kingdom Government on the Enforcement of Sentences of the ICTY concluded on 11 March 2004 (see also paragraph 17 below). 12. In mid-April 2008, the CPT notified the Georgian authorities of the Committee’s intention to carry out an ad hoc visit to the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The CPT had been considering for some time the possibility of a visit to these regions of Georgia, which the Georgian authorities had themselves in the past requested the Committee to organise. Unfortunately, the notification of the visit coincided with a heightening of tension in relation to the above-mentioned regions, and the Georgian authorities invoked Article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention establishing the CPT and requested the Committee to postpone the visit. Further, in the course of a return visit to Paddington Green High Security Police Station in London and during discussions with the United Kingdom authorities, the CPT’s delegation reexamined the safeguards afforded to persons detained by the police under the Terrorism Act 2000 as well as the conditions of detention of such persons. The above-mentioned request was accepted by the CPT. At the same time, and in pursuance of Article 9, paragraph 2, of the Convention, the Committee and the Georgian authorities entered into consultations in order to clarify the situation and seek agreement on arrangements to enable the Committee to exercise its functions expeditiously. In this context, high-level talks were held in Tbilisi on 24 July. Despite the armed conflict which broke out on 7 August, the CPT remains committed to visiting the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the near future. In preparation of the periodic visit to the United Kingdom planned for 2008, the CPT’s delegation also held discussions with the State Minister of Justice and other senior officials on a number of other matters falling within the scope of the Committee’s mandate, notably the practice of diplomatic assurances and related Memoranda of Understanding in the context of deportation procedures, the use of force and means of restraint during deportation procedures, the use of means of restraint on children in detention, and overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales. 11. Reference should also be made to the completion of the CPT’s work on its ad hoc visit to Turkey in May 2007, to re-examine the treatment and conditions of detention of Abdullah Öcalan, through the drawing up of an Addendum to the visit report addressing the allegations that had been made of heavy metal poisoning. The visit report (including the Addendum) and the Government’s response were subsequently placed in the public domain, at the request of the Turkish authorities. The findings of the experts appointed by the CPT indicate that this prisoner has not been the subject of heavy metal poisoning. However, as will be seen from the published material, the CPT remains very concerned by various aspects of his conditions of detention. This matter is the subject of a continuous dialogue between the Committee and the Turkish authorities.