CAT/C/CYP/CO/5
imposed on the perpetrators of the torture, ill-treatment or negligence that caused the
death or the injuries.
Training
36.
While welcoming the training modules that have been offered to police, security and
immigration personnel, the Committee urges the State party to develop modules based on
the provisions of the Convention and the Istanbul Protocol and on non-coercive
investigation techniques and integrate those modules in the periodic and compulsory
training programmes for all law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors and prison and
immigration officers and others.
37.
The State party should:
(a)
Give clear instructions on the absolute prohibition of torture and illtreatment to all agents and personnel working in places of detention;
(b)
Develop modules on the provisions of the Convention and integrate them
in the periodic and compulsory training programmes for all law enforcement officials,
judges, prosecutors and prison and immigration officers and others;
(c)
Provide regular training on the Istanbul Protocol, emphasizing that
torture and ill-treatment often have racist motives, to forensic doctors, medical
personnel and other officials involved in dealing with detainees and asylum seekers in
the investigation and documentation of cases of torture, and continue to regularly
carry out training on non-coercive investigative techniques;
(d)
Develop and apply a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of
educational and training programmes relating to the Convention and the Istanbul
Protocol;
(e)
Develop a national strategy to ensure that different ethnic and national
minorities are better represented at all levels in law enforcement, in particular the
police.
Psychiatric facilities
38.
The Committee welcomes: section 10 (1) (g) of the psychiatric care law of 1997,
which allows courts to hear the patient or their representative, along with a psychiatrist,
before the issuance of any court order for involuntary psychiatric placement; the
establishment of the new supportive living homes, which offer support for persons with
severe psychosocial disabilities; and the fact that involuntary detention of persons with
severe psychiatric disabilities is contingent on an order by a judge. The Committee is
concerned, however, at reports about the detention of persons with psychological or
psychosocial disabilities with elderly detainees and about the use of chemical and physical
restraints. While welcoming the renovations to the Athalassa psychiatric hospital, including
the addition of four wings to reduce the crowded conditions, the Committee is concerned
that the new law on the management of psychiatric hospitals, which is prima facie
undergoing legal vetting, has still not been passed and implemented (arts. 2, 11, 13 and 16).
39.
The State party should:
(a)
Compile annual data on therapeutic, occupational and rehabilitative
treatments offered at the Athalassa psychiatric hospital as a safeguard against torture
and ill-treatment;
(b)
Ensure that laws are in place to regulate psychiatric facilities as regards
their use of physical, mechanical and chemical restraints and isolated psychiatric care,
collect data on the use of such measures, and update the Committee on any plans to
create a central register on the use of restraint measures;
(c)
Ensure that persons with psychosocial disabilities are not detained with
other individuals, such as the elderly, to protect individuals from situations in which
the former may cause harm to others or themselves;
10