Activities during the period 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2009 27. During the ad hoc visit to Italy in July 2009, the CPT’s delegation examined various aspects of the Italian authorities’ recently introduced policy of intercepting at sea irregular migrants approaching Italy’s southern Mediterranean border and returning them to north or north-west Africa. Particular attention was given to the safeguards in place to ensure that no one is sent to a country where there are substantial grounds for believing that he/she would run a real risk of being subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. 28. The ad hoc visit to Moldova in July 2009 was very much a consequence of the events which took place in Chişinău shortly after the parliamentary elections of 5 April 2009. The main purpose of the visit was to assess the manner in which investigations were being carried out into cases possibly involving ill-treatment by members of police forces in the context of those events. The visit was also timed so as to coincide with the fresh elections that were held on 29 July. 29. In April 2009 the CPT organised its eleventh visit to the North Caucasian region of the Russian Federation, focusing on the Chechen Republic and the Republic of Ingushetia. The CPT had last visited the Chechen Republic in September 2006. The Committee considered that the time had come to examine whether progress had been made in tackling the serious issues raised in its previous visit reports and public statements. The Republic of Ingushetia had most recently been visited by the CPT in March/ April 2008. After that visit, the Committee had continued to receive alarming reports about a deteriorating security situation and serious human rights abuses. Consequently, the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by the law enforcement agencies and security forces in Ingushetia was another focus of the April 2009 visit. The CPT’s delegation also reviewed progress towards providing this Republic with its own pre-trial penitentiary establishment (SIZO); the entry into service of such an establishment is essential for the proper functioning of the criminal justice system in Ingushetia and for the benefit of the community as a whole. 17