ROME (AP) – The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee released a report Friday condemning How Italy treated migrants in local detention centers, citing cases of physical abuse, excessive force and the use of psychotropic drugs on detainees.
The report is by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) after a visit in April to four migrant detention and return centers in Milan, Gradisca, Potenza and Rome.
Under Italian law, these centers aim to host migrants who try to enter the country without a visa, who do not have the right to apply for asylum and who are deemed “socially dangerous” by law enforcement.
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The report details “interventions” in the detention facilities, known as CPRs, and identifies shortcomings including “the absence of rigorous and independent monitoring of such interventions -incidents and lack of proper recording of injuries” suffered by detainees.
In the past Italy has defended the role of these centers as a deterrent to illegal migration, noting that certain “prison elements” are necessary to prevent escape from these resources.
The far-right government led by Giorgia Meloni has also tried to export the Italian model abroad, sealing a controversial agreement with Albania to build and run two migrant detention centers in the eastern part of the country.
The agreement, however, has faced legal obstacles and canceled by early Italian masters.
In its report on Friday, the CPT also criticized the “widespread practice” of giving non-prescription psychotropic drugs to detainees in Potenza, one of the four centers visited.
The report also highlights “prolonged handcuffing of people caught on the land” when they were transferred to (detention facility).
In its report, the anti-torture watchdog recommended that Italy remove the “carceral elements” from the centers and ensure that they are properly maintained, especially the sanitary facilities.
He also pointed to the critical lack of activities offered to migrants held in the centers, with few attempts to “offer them some recreational activities.”
The report concludes that the committee's findings, “especially regarding the very poor material conditions, the lack of a regime of activities, the uneven security approach, the variable quality of health care provision and the lack of transparency in management CPRs with private contractors,” raising the question of the use of such a model by Italy in a situation outside the country, such as in Albania.
February the death of a young prisoner at the Ponte Galeria complex in Rome it brought renewed attention to the harsh conditions inside these de facto prisons for migrants, which have been criticized by lawyers and activists as “black holes” of human rights violations.
From 2019 to 2024, at least 13 people died – five by suicide – inside Italian detention centers, according to activists and aid groups. Hundreds of suicide attempts and self-harm incidents have also been reported.
The Italian government believes that the detention centers, established in 1999, are necessary to deal with the number of migrants who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea and the Region to reach Europe.
In 2023, the government extended the maximum detention period from 90 days to 18 months.
In response to Friday's report, Italian authorities pointed out that the cases of physical abuse described “were not under criminal investigation and that several investigations were carried out by the health authorities at Potenza CPR regarding the alleged use.” widespread over-medication for detainees.”
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