Torture in European prisons the focus of a PACE parliamentary hearing in Paris

22/03/2023 Legal Affairs and Human Rights

A former prisoner who leaked videos of torture in Russian prisons, as well as the founder of a Russian human rights organisation and website which published this material, were among participants at a PACE parliamentary hearing on torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in places of detention in Europe, which took place in Paris on 22 March 2023.

The hearing, streamed live in English, formed part of a report on this topic being prepared by Constantinos Efstathiou (Cyprus, SOC) for PACE’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. The head of the Council of Europe’s Anti-Torture Committee also give an overview of the situation across Europe.

Participants at the hearing included:

• Alan Mitchell, President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT)
• Vladimir Osechkin, President of the New Dissidents Foundation, founder of the Gulagu.net project
• Siarhei Savelyeu, Hotline Co-ordinator for Gulagu.net

The hearing, which began at around 15h CET on Wednesday 22 March, was streamed live in English via the Assembly’s YouTube channel, and a recording made available shortly after it ended.

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