“The observations of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) are a roadmap for correcting conditions at the Central Prisons, which will be renamed a correctional institution, and we will work closely to implement the necessary changes,” Justice and Public Order Minister Costas Fytiris said on Friday.
Speaking on the sidelines of an awards ceremony at the Police Academy, Fytiris said the CPT chair and members are in Cyprus to take part in a roundtable discussion presenting the Committee’s report as part of Cyprus’s EU Council Presidency. He added that bilateral meetings with the delegation are also scheduled during their visit.
Regarding plans for new prison facilities, the Minister said a site has been identified and that discussions with the Council of Europe Development Bank about possible financing took place recently. “Our aim is to start works as soon as possible, once studies for the new complex in the Mathiatis area are completed,” he said, noting a master plan should be ready by September or early October for community presentation.
Responding to a question about problems in the prisons, Fytiris said he has visited the facilities seven to eight times since taking office to assess conditions firsthand. He said issues have been mapped and immediate measures were launched in January, including recruitment of a Director, hiring 90 prison officers, improving conditions and upgrading technology to detect incidents such as drone-borne drugs, which was intercepted recently.
The Minister conceded conditions are not yet satisfactory and cautioned against presenting an idealised picture, but stressed that measures are being expedited to address urgent needs in existing prisons. ‘While current facilities cannot be made fully modern, our goal in the meantime is to improve conditions for both staff and inmates until the new prisons are completed,’ he said.