The report (French only) follows a visit by the CPT from 19-28 March 2024, which focused on police and remand detention in four French-speaking cantons of Switzerland: Geneva, Fribourg, Valais and Vaud.

As regards the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, the CPT once again received allegations of physical ill-treatment and excessive use of force, including biting by police dogs, truncheon blows, headbutts, punches and kicks, as well as violent tackling to the ground. These allegations came from foreign nationals, particularly at the time of their apprehension by the police in the cantons of Geneva, Valais and Vaud. The volume of allegations of deliberate ill-treatment, particularly in the canton of Geneva, suggests that police violence is a “persistent practice”.

The right of access to a lawyer and a doctor, and the right to notify a relative should be granted from the very outset of deprivation of liberty by the police, the committee said. Federal legislation should be amended in this regard. In addition, the carceral zones in police establishments in the canton of Vaud continue to be used to detain remand prisoners in inadequate conditions well beyond the legal limit of 48 hours and for periods of up to several weeks. This “unacceptable practice” should be ended immediately.

In its report, the CPT also recommends that effective measures be taken to prosecute police officers implicated in acts of ill-treatment, to review police interview methods, including the generalisation of audio-visual recording, and to prevent the use of fixation in a police context.

Prison overcrowding remains a major problem in the prisons visited in French-speaking Switzerland, particularly in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud. At the time of the visit, the occupancy rate at Bois-Mermet Prison had reached 166 per cent, while that at Champ-Dollon Prison was 132 per cent. The effects of overcrowding are deplorable, affecting the conditions of detention of persons on remand and the working conditions of staff. A global strategy to reduce the prison population should be implemented, involving all actors in the penal chain.

The committee also called on all the Swiss cantonal authorities to review the rules concerning the drastic restrictions on contact with the outside world and the lack of activities for remand prisoners, who often spend up to 23 hours a day in their cells. The cantons of Fribourg, Valais and Vaud should also review the rules governing the maximum duration of disciplinary solitary confinement.

The CPT also received several allegations of physical ill-treatment or excessive use of force of persons held on remand by prison officers at Bois-Mermet, Sion and, in particular, Champ-Dollon Prisons. These allegations included kicking, punching and slapping, as well as violent tackling to the ground and anal penetration during searches.

In their response to the report, the cantonal authorities assured the CPT that they do not tolerate any ill-treatment by law enforcement officers and that all abuse is systematically reported and investigated. They informed the CPT of the measures planned to reduce prison overcrowding, with priority being given to alternative ways of serving sentences.

However, the Swiss authorities maintain that police apprehension cannot be considered a deprivation of liberty stricto sensu and that the existing legal framework is sufficient to render the procedural safeguards effective.