The Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has published today the report on its fourth periodic visit to Moldova in September 2007, together with the response of the Moldovan authorities. These documents have been made public at the request of the Moldovan Government, Info-Prim Neo has learnt from a communique by the CPT. In the light of the information gathered during the 2007 visit, the CPT concluded that, despite clear efforts made by the Moldovan authorities in recent years, the phenomenon of ill-treatment by the police remained of serious proportions. The Committee has called upon the authorities to continue to deliver, from the highest level, a strong message of “zero tolerance” of ill-treatment. The CPT has also asked the authorities to carry out an inquiry into allegations of ill-treatment by staff at the temporary detention facility (IDP) of the General Police Inspectorate in Chisinau. Conditions of detention in IDPs continued to render them unsuitable for holding remand prisoners for prolonged periods of time. The CPT has called upon the authorities to give the highest priority to the implementation of the decision to transfer the responsibility for persons remanded in custody to the Ministry of Justice. As regards the prisons visited in 2007, no allegations of recent physical ill-treatment of inmates by staff were received, with the exception of Penitentiary establishment No. 18 in Branesti. At Penitentiary establishment No. 13 in Chisinau, the CPT’s delegation focused on the manner in which a mass disobedience by inmates on 6 September 2007 had been handled, and expressed concern about the proportionality of the force used by staff. Prison overcrowding remained a problem, there being on average only 2 m? of living space per prisoner in the establishments visited. In their response, the Moldovan authorities provide information on the measures being taken to address the issues raised in the CPT’s report. For example, the authorities have drawn up guidelines for prosecutors on the carrying out of investigations into cases of ill-treatment. Further, prison ethics committees have been set up, with a view to fostering a culture among prison staff where it is regarded as unacceptable to have resort to ill-treatment.