Council of Europe: troubling findings on Hungarian prisons

According to the latest report by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), Hungarian prisons are still overcrowded, with most inmates “having no or limited access to work, education or other out-of-cell activities.”

CPT delegation

Based on its visit to Hungarian detention facilities in May this year, the CPT said that “material conditions in police detention facilities were adequate for short periods of police custody (of up to 72 hours). However, according to the relevant legislation, persons remanded in custody may still be held in such facilities for longer periods, up to 60 days. Although it would appear that this rarely happens in practice, the conditions of detention in police holding facilities remain unsuitable for extended stays.”

The report singled out the prison in Tiszalök, in the north-east, where it said “physical ill-treatment by staff, such as slaps, punches, kicks, and truncheon blows to the head and body” appeared “particularly problematic.”

“The alleged ill-treatment took place in areas not covered by CCTV cameras, notably in the storage room on the disciplinary/security block, in the medical consultation room, in communal showers and in cells,” the report added.

Furthermore, the report said that “not only do the findings of the visit suggest that staff did not always intervene promptly, but the delegation also heard credible allegations that certain prisoners were allowed or even instructed by staff to mistreat their cellmates.”