The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) on Thursday urged the authorities in Luxembourg to put an end to the detention of children in the Luxembourg Prison Centre.
Conditions at the centre are unacceptable and unsuitable, the CPT said in a report drawn up following a visit to Luxembourg’s penitentiaries in the spring.
In its report, the Committee points in particular to the living conditions of minors, “often left to their own devices” in the capital’s prison centre, where they are monitored mainly by camera.
The socio-educational staff supervising the children is insufficient, and psycho-social support is “almost non-existent,” the report notes.
It also observes that several areas within the prison allow interaction between adult and juvenile detainees. When children are exceptionally detained in a unit within an adult prison, they must be strictly separated, the report’s authors stress.
In another establishment, the Security Unit (Unisec) located in Dreiborn, the committee deemed the building unsuitable for the reception of children and their specific needs, and noted problems in terms of security.
Children under a youth protection measure were placed in a facility that was virtually empty of all equipment and objects, made of concrete and with broken windows, the committee found. It called on Luxembourg's authorities to take immediate steps to secure the unit and significantly improve the children’s living conditions.
The committee also visited several police stations and the cells of some courts. It reported allegations of physical ill-treatment by police officers, including “blows with truncheons and fists,” threats of violence, and excessive use of force.
It recommended stepping up action to prevent and combat police abuse effectively, in particular through “regular professional training and drills” and “systematic electronic recording of high-risk arrests."
Luxembourg Justice Minister Sam Tanson told French news agency AFP that a bill banning the detention of minors at the Luxembourg Prison Centre had been tabled.
The youth ministry said that as part of this bill, the construction of a prison for minors was planned at Dreiborn, “with greater accommodation capacity than Unisec.”
The Council of Europe, which is headquartered in Strasbourg, is composed of the 46 States that have signed the European Convention on Human Rights. Several thematic committees, including the Anti-Torture Committee, monitor compliance with this Convention.
