Post by depletedreasons on Apr 16, 2008 3:43:23 GMT -5
Rights Watchdog: Detainee Beaten, Chained In Cyprus Cell-AFP
STRASBOURG (AFP)--A detainee was stripped and beaten then chained by the ankles and wrists in a Cyprus cell, the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe said Tuesday in a highly-critical report.
The investigation by the anti-torture committee of the rights watchdog said this example was just the worst from many disturbing episodes of police malpractice on the Mediterranean island to come to light.
The government in Cyprus rejected the allegations, saying the man in question had later been convicted to life imprisonment for murder.
The report said the man, a foreigner whose country of origin wasn't identified, had been beaten twice on one day in a police cell in Nicosia in 2004, first while dressed, then stripped naked, and finally chained standing up.
After hospital treatment he had written a nine-page confession admitting to charges laid against him by police.
In a response to the criticism the Cypriot government said a tribunal had ruled that the detainee's accusations of police brutality were without foundation. The man had later been sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in murder and arson.
The committee had investigated frequent reports of alleged mistreatment by Cypriot police of foreigners found without proper residence qualifications or arrested on suspicion of a felony.
The report published at Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg said it had found Cypriot police behaviour generally remained "problematic."
The committee was also greatly concerned by the lengthy periods of sometimes up to 40 months during which foreign detainees were held in custody.
The report was written following an investigative visit by committee members to the island.
The Cypriot authorities in their response had also stressed that intensive further training had improved police behaviour and reduced the identified cases of alleged mistreatment. Only four were recorded in 2005 compared with 32 in 2003.
www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080415%5CACQDJON200804151240DOWJONESDJONLINE000571.htm&&mypage=
newsheadlines&title=Rights%20Watchdog:%20Detainee%20Beaten,%20Chained%20In%20Cyprus%20Cell-AFP
STRASBOURG (AFP)--A detainee was stripped and beaten then chained by the ankles and wrists in a Cyprus cell, the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe said Tuesday in a highly-critical report.
The investigation by the anti-torture committee of the rights watchdog said this example was just the worst from many disturbing episodes of police malpractice on the Mediterranean island to come to light.
The government in Cyprus rejected the allegations, saying the man in question had later been convicted to life imprisonment for murder.
The report said the man, a foreigner whose country of origin wasn't identified, had been beaten twice on one day in a police cell in Nicosia in 2004, first while dressed, then stripped naked, and finally chained standing up.
After hospital treatment he had written a nine-page confession admitting to charges laid against him by police.
In a response to the criticism the Cypriot government said a tribunal had ruled that the detainee's accusations of police brutality were without foundation. The man had later been sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in murder and arson.
The committee had investigated frequent reports of alleged mistreatment by Cypriot police of foreigners found without proper residence qualifications or arrested on suspicion of a felony.
The report published at Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg said it had found Cypriot police behaviour generally remained "problematic."
The committee was also greatly concerned by the lengthy periods of sometimes up to 40 months during which foreign detainees were held in custody.
The report was written following an investigative visit by committee members to the island.
The Cypriot authorities in their response had also stressed that intensive further training had improved police behaviour and reduced the identified cases of alleged mistreatment. Only four were recorded in 2005 compared with 32 in 2003.
www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080415%5CACQDJON200804151240DOWJONESDJONLINE000571.htm&&mypage=
newsheadlines&title=Rights%20Watchdog:%20Detainee%20Beaten,%20Chained%20In%20Cyprus%20Cell-AFP