Report to the Italian Government on the visit to Italy carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 13 to 25 May 2012 , CPT/Inf (2013) 32, 19 November 2013

The Report followed the tenth periodic visit carried out in Italy by the Committee for the Prevention of Torture, in pursuance of Article 7 of the European Convention. The Committee urged Italy to introduce the specific offense of torture, as soon as possible, into the penal code and to ensure that it will be prosecutable ex officio and never subject to statutory limitations. The Committee also expressed concern on the chronic overcrowding of the Italian prisons. It further addressed to Italy a number of recommendations and requests for information, concerning, among others, the material conditions of the detention in certain law enforcement establishments, prisons, psychiatric establishments or identification and expulsion centres for migrants. Two further issues were the treatment of persons subjected to the “41 bis” regime and, regarding mothers in prison, the adoption of measures for implementing the legislative initiatives aimed at eliminating the presence in prison of children of less than six years.