Portugal: Continuing human rights concerns must be addressed

Comunicado da AI sobre Portugal (08/08/2003): "As the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) issues its Concluding Observations on Portugal's third periodic report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Amnesty International today reiterates its concerns about serious human rights violations in the country. Amnesty International's concerns include:
- possible unlawful fatal police shootings;
- deaths in police and prison custody in disputed circumstances, including self-inflicted deaths;
- the prison authorities' failure to prevent inter-prisoner violence, including that resulting in killings;
- the failure of the Portuguese authorities to prevent ill-treatment by law enforcement officials;
- detention conditions in some prisons amounting to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, including as a result of the prison authorities' failure to ensure access to adequate sanitary facilities;
- inadequate and ineffective mechanisms to address prisoners' complaints alleging human rights violations;
- allegations of discriminatory policing practices, including racist abuse;
- the slow pace of the administration of justice, including the failure to bring alleged perpetrators of human rights violations to justice promptly; and
- the authorities' failure to ensure the separation between people in pre-trial detention and convicted criminals." [comunicado completo]