Response of the Italian Government to the Report of 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) 33 , 19 November 2013

In its Response to the Committee’s Report, Italy communicated the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture. Regarding the lack of the offense of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Italian legislation, it is remembered that these crimes are prosecutable in Italy under various norms, which are found in the Constitution and the criminal code; a draft-bill for amending the latter to specifically prescribe the crime of torture is under examination by the Parliament. Moreover and as requested by the Committee, the Italian government gave further details on the national measures for ensuring respect for the rights of the arrested persons, on the conditions of the administrative detention in the centres for identification and expulsion of irregular migrants, and the detention in the “judiciary psychiatric hospitals” (“ospedali psichiatrici giudiziari”). Remembering the pilot-judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Torreggiani case, Italy also provided information on the steps for reducing prison overcrowding, including through alternatives penalties and by means of a complete re-organization of the prison system.