A police ‘bug’ with a difference

The Celtic League have written to the CPT about reports of a lice infestation at one of the main police stations in N. Ireland asking them to remind the British government that prisons, police stations and other places of detention should meet the hygiene rules set in the ‘CPT Standards’:
“Mr Hugh Chetwynd
Head of Division
CPT Secretariat
Council of Europe
F67075 Strasbourg Cedex
FRANCE
6th June 2017
Dear Sir,
You will be aware that the Celtic League is an accredited UN NGO (ECOSOC) and over the years we have sent reports to the CPT and indeed provided written and oral evidence on occasion on detention facilities in all the Celtic countries.
I draw the attention of your organisation – which has the oversight responsibility from the Council of Europe for Prisons, Police Stations and other places where persons deprived of their liberty are detained – to the attached news report relating to the Custody block at Musgrave PSNI station in Belfast. N Ireland:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-40168050
Obviously the situation has come to light because the areas in which prisoners are held was infested and this then became a problem for both their legal representatives and staff involved in interviewing them.
However it seems highly likely that the source of the contamination is also present in the detention facilities generally within which prisoners are interviewed.
Can I ask if the CPT has addressed any concerns recently to the UK Kingdom government to remind it that places in which persons deprived or their liberty are housed or interviewed should meet the standards of hygiene set down in the CPT Standards and also other UN Conventions relating to prisoners rights?
Given that prisoners or those detained on remand are allegedly subject to a medical examination on or as soon as possible after admission to a detention facility it also is worrying that medical staffs were not alert to this infestation before legal professionals made it an issue.
I trust CPT will raise the issue of the requirement to meet the CPT Standards with the UK and N Ireland authorities.
Yours sincerely”
Related link:
http://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/standards
BERNARD MOFFATT
Public Relations Officer Mannin Branch
Issued by: The Mannin branch of the Celtic League.
06/06/17