The main objective of the visit was to examine the treatment and conditions of detention of people in prisons and psychiatric establishments, as well as the situation of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty pursuant to immigration legislation. The visit was also an opportunity to review the measures taken by the Bulgarian authorities in response to the recommendations made by the Committee after previous visits.
In the course of the visit, the delegation held consultations with Georgi Georgiev, Minister of Justice, and other senior officials from the Ministries of Justice, the Interior and Health. The delegation also met Katia Hristova-Valtcheva, Head of Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, and staff of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) Directorate. Further, a meeting was held with representatives of non-governmental organisations.
The visit was carried out by the following members of the CPT:
- Alan Mitchell, President of the CPT (Head of delegation)
- Dovilė Juodkaitė
- Nikola Kovačević
- Aleksandar Tomčuk
- Elsa Bára Traustadóttir
- Vassilis Tzevelekos.
They were supported by Borys Wódz (Head of Division) and Dalia Žukauskienė of the CPT Secretariat, and assisted by two experts, Marzena Ksel, medical doctor, former Head of the Medical Department of the Polish Prison Service, and George Tugushi, lawyer and former Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia.
It was the Committee's ninth periodic visit to the country.
The delegation visited the following places of deprivation of liberty:
Establishments under the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior
- Special Home for Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners, Busmantsi
Establishments under the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice
- Bobov Dol Prison
- Pazardzhik Prison
- Vratsa Prison
Establishments under the responsibility of the Ministry of Health
- Karvuna State Psychiatric Hospital
- Pazardzhik State Psychiatric Hospital
- Radnevo State Psychiatric Hospital
- Tsarev Brod State Psychiatric Hospital
