The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has praised the efforts of Croatian authorities to reduce prison overcrowding in their report released on Wednesday.

The report published findings from CPT’s periodic visit to Croatia in March 2017.

“The CPT notes positively the considerable efforts invested by the Croatian authorities to eradicate prison overcrowding, which have yielded significant results in recent years, in particular by limiting the duration of investigative detention and establishing a nationwide probation system,” the report said.

During their stay in Croatia, the CPT delegation visited county prisons in Zagreb, Split, and Osijek, and the Zagreb Prison Hospital, as well as the the Turopolje juvenile centre. They also visited three psychiatric institutions, all in Zagreb – the Psychiatric Hospital for Children and Adolescents, the Vrapce Psychiatric Hospital, and the psychiatric ward of the University Hospital Centre Zagreb.

The report said that “most prisoners met by the CPT stated that they had been treated properly by staff… However, some allegations of physical ill-treatment were received, notably related to the placement of inmates in padded cells for prolonged periods of time.”

The report also referred to frequent cases of prisoner-on-prisoner violence, resulting sometimes in serious physical injuries, as still being a persistent problem.

The report urged Croatian authorities to “adopt a national strategy to counter this phenomenon, including through more accurate risk assessment of inmates upon admission to prison.”

“With regard to the problem of prison overcrowding, improvements were observed by the delegation; however, cases of living spaces smaller than the minimum of 4 square metres per inmate could still be observed. It is necessary for the authorities to remain vigilant in this respect, in particular by reviewing the official capacity of certain prison establishments,” the CPT said.

Referring to the Turopolje facility, the report noted that juveniles held there were generally well treated and offered a good range of educational, vocational and recreational activities.

As for the three psychiatric institutions visited, lack of living space and access to the courtyard for patients two of the three institutions inspected were a particular concern of the CPT. The report also criticised the prescription of medication, the administration of electroconvulsive therapy in front of other patients, and the absence of records on the use of restraints.

In terms of psychiatric treatment, the CPT’s delegation found no indication of overmedication in any of the establishments visited.

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