Prison Torture in Europe Boosts Terrorism – Council of Europe Head

Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland said that ill-treatment of inmates across prisons in Europe increases the terrorism threat, and must be eliminated.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Ill-treatment of inmates across prisons in Europe increases the terrorism threat, and must be eliminated, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland said Tuesday.

"It is now well known that a number of European states were complicit in the abuses conducted by the CIA in the hunt for al-Qaeda after 9/11. Less understood is current ill-treatment at the hands of European police and prison officers," Jagland wrote in an opinion piece for the Guardian.

The Council of Europe head noted a number of examples of brutality against detainees — often conducted to get a confession — including electric shock treatment, asphyxiation by plastic bag, and stringing up of suspects by their hands.

"We know this still goes on," he wrote.

Jagland urged "all European states to recommit to erasing torture from our continent," noting that "torture in our cells will only feed terror on our streets".

The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture is unique in its unlimited access to detention facilities, police stations and psychiatric hospitals in Europe.

The Committee pens confidential reports and recommendations to states regarding possible abuses in such places, as well annual general reports.