Irish Times: CPT - what it says about Irish prisons

11th February 2011

Across three articles, The Irish Times reports on the findings of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Punishment or Treatment (CPT).

Noting that the prison population had increased by 30% in the three three years since its last visit, the CPT commented on how the number of people being sent to jail for short sentences of six months or less had jumped from 3,000 in 2005 to 5,000 in 2008. "This needed to be addressed by following the example of other EU states that had replaced short prison terms with community-based sanctions."

Significantly, The Irish Times reports on the CPT's “serious misgivings” about Thornton Hall as a solution to overcrowding: such jails prove “difficult to manage”.

Read more:

• The Irish Times: 'Prison conditions 'inhumane', says European committee' (10th Feb 2011)
• The Irish Times: 'Report alleges assaults of inmates by prison officers' (10th Feb 2011)
• The Irish Times: 'Prison chaplains say report echoes their warnings' (11th Feb 2011)