8.7 On the 23rd October, 2015, the Chairman, Andre Camilleri and the Member and
Secretary, Michael Buttigieg, attended a seminar organised by the Malta Association of
Family Therapy and Systemic Practice. The topic of the Seminar was 'Working with
Migrants, Asylum Seekers and refugees: A Psychosocial Family Perspective.' The
opening presentation was delivered by Minister Carmelo Abela and the main speakers
were Professor Renos Papadopoulos and Ms Nina Papadopoulos.
9· Correspondence and Contacts
As in previous years, the Board was in contact with representatives of various
authorities and non-government organisations on issues concerning individual detained
persons or on general issues regarding detention.
In January the Board completed a questionnaire for the Association for the Prevention
of Torture, regarding the treatment of LGBTI persons in detention in Malta.
On the 25th February, the Chairperson held a phone interview with the Ludwig
Boltzmann Institute regarding Human Rights and Detained Persons.
In May the Board submitted a checklist and additional information to the Council of
Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (CPT), regarding the state of detention in Malta. This
information was in preparation for the Committee's visit to Malta which took place in
September, 2015.
10.
Complaints by Detained Persons
The Board of Visitors for Detained Persons Regulations provide that detainees shall be
asked if they have any complaints to make with regard to their treatment in the
detention centre. Any detainee wishing to make a complaint shall be heard in such part
of the Centre as the Board may deem fit.
Board members met the vast majority of persons being detained at the Safi Centre
throughout 2015, whether individually or in groups. The persons being detained were
informed of the Board's functions at law, and they were invited to advise Board
members of any matter which they considered unacceptable. The majority of complaints
made by detained persons concerned the length of their detention, the quality of the
food being provided at the Centre and clothing in the colder months.
The Board is informed that a public tendering procedure for the selection of a caterer
was suspended during the year but, as at the end of December 2015, the Board members
had not been informed why the tendering process had been suspended, and whether it
would be resumed.
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