6 6. The application of the measure of surgical castration to persons sentenced to “protective treatment” was the main focus of attention during the ad hoc visit to the Czech Republic in March/April 2008. In its report on the 2006 periodic visit to the Czech Republic, the CPT had expressed serious reservations about the intervention of surgical castration as applied to certain sex offenders; the subsequent response of the Czech authorities did not reassure the Committee (the report on the 2006 visit and the authorities’ response are available on the CPT’s website). The CPT decided that it should obtain a more complete picture of the application of the measure of surgical castration in the Czech Republic, and of the procedures and safeguards surrounding each measure. The findings made during the 2008 visit have only reinforced the Committee’s fundamental objections to the use of surgical castration as a means of treatment of sex offenders. A follow-up visit was also carried out to Section E of Valdíce Prison, which accommodates persons sentenced to life imprisonment as well as “dangerous” or “troublesome” high security prisoners. The CPT wished to examine the action taken to implement the recommendations made after the 2006 visit concerning the treatment and conditions of detention of these prisoners. 7. The purpose of the ad hoc visit to the Russian Federation in September 2007 was to examine recent developments in the Russian penitentiary system. At the outset of the visit, the delegation held detailed discussions with the Director of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments (FSIN) about the implementation of previous recommendations made by the CPT on prison-related matters. The delegation then examined the treatment and conditions of detention of prisoners at two strict-regime penitentiary establishments in the Chelyabinsk Region. The delegation also visited the Special Purpose Unit (“Spetsnaz”) of the FSIN in that Region, in order to take stock of the Unit’s operating procedures and the training received by its members. CPT: 18TH GENERAL REPORT In March/April 2008, the CPT organised its tenth ad hoc visit to the North Caucasian region. The Committee’s delegation reviewed the situation in the Republic of Ingushetia, in the light of the recommendations made after previous visits in 2004 and 2006. Further, the treatment and conditions of detention of persons deprived of their liberty in the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria were examined for the first time by the CPT; the Committee had received reports concerning that Republic alleging both illtreatment of detained persons and a lack of effective action to bring those responsible to justice. 8. The ad hoc visits to “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” in October 2007 and June/July 2008 were of a follow-up nature, aimed at examining the steps taken by the national authorities to implement recommendations made by the CPT after earlier visits. The Committee’s delegations focussed on the treatment and conditions of detention of sentenced and remand prisoners and assessed, among other things, developments in relation to prison healthcare services and the use of means of restraint in prisons. Particular attention was also paid to the issue of safeguards against ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty by law enforcement officials. 9. The situation of foreign nationals detained under aliens legislation was the focus of the ad hoc visit to Ukraine in December 2007. The CPT’s delegation reviewed progress made in this area following its previous visit to Ukraine in 2005 and, in particular, returned to the State Border Service’s Temporary Holding Centre in Pavshino; the Committee had expressed serious concerns about conditions of detention in that centre in the report on the 2005 visit (that report is available on the CPT’s website).