Medical Associations: ‘Extend the fact-finding inquiry into the prison system to the CPRs’
The proposal comes in the wake of reports of an investigation into forged certificates used to claim that detention in the centres is incompatible with their circumstances
Key points
“To extend to the Repatriation Centres thefact-finding inquiry into the conditions of the prison system recently launched by the Chamber of Deputies’ Justice Committee, with a specific focus on the health conditions of those detained in the CPRs’. This is the proposal put forward by the president of the National Federation of Orders of Surgeons and Dentists (Fnomceo), Filippo Anelli. “When a person is deprived of their personal liberty,” says Anelli, “it is the State’s duty to ensure the conditions in which they live and to fully guarantee their fundamental rights, starting with their health. For this reason, we believe it is important that the fact-finding inquiry launched by the Justice Committee be extended to include the Temporary Detention Centres for return’.
The survey on prison conditions
The Chamber of Deputies’ Justice Committee has decided to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the conditions of the prison system, which is due to be completed within six months, the Fnomceo notes in a statement. The programme includes, amongst other things, hearings with the relevant health authorities and the National Ombudsman for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Liberty, as well as visits to prisons to assess on the ground the conditions of prisoners and staff. As reaffirmed in several judgements by the Constitutional Court, most recently in judgement 96/2025, detention in CPRs, whilst not constituting a punishment, is a measure depriving a person of their liberty. The Court has, in fact, expressly classified the detention of foreign nationals as falling within the scope of protection afforded by Article 13 of the Constitution, with the guarantees that follow from it.
Health checks on people held in CPR centres
For this reason, “we believe it is necessary to ascertain the state of health of those detained in the CPRs, to verify what healthcare is actually available and how continuity of care and the protection of human dignity are guaranteed”, says Anelli. “Extending the inquiry,” he emphasises, “would enable Parliament to gather objective evidence and verify the situation first-hand.” “The protection of health knows no boundaries or distinctions and must be guaranteed to every person,” warns the president of the doctors’ association. “All the more so when that person is in the care of the state and is not free to look after their own health needs independently.” For Anelli, “understanding the conditions in detention centres means fully exercising this responsibility.”
The review of the CPRs requested in July by the Council of State
Last July, the Council of State had granted the Ministry of the Interior six months to carry out ‘a detailed assessment of the current situation in the CPRs, with particular reference to health and psychological care, the training of staff, and an analysis of the critical incidents that have occurred most frequently over the last five years’. Palazzo Spada had set the deadline in the judgement upholding an appeal in which the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI) urged the judges to order the Ministry to comply with a previous decision dating back to October of last year. In order to carry out the required preliminary investigation, there must be cooperation with the Ministry of Health and with the National Guarantor for the rights of persons deprived of their personal liberty; and upon completion, the Administration must adopt a reasoned final decision, setting out the reasons for the choices made.
The Ravenna Public Prosecutor’s Office’s investigation into forged certificates
The proposal from the Medical Association comes in the wake of reports regarding the investigation, launched by the Ravenna Public Prosecutor’s Office, which has implicated and searched the premises of 23 doctors across Italia. The charge is that they signed ‘false’ certificates to declare that migrants were unfit for detention in CPR centres and, therefore, to prevent their repatriation. This accusation has been flatly rejected by medical associations and activists, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Mediterranea, who are defending the healthcare professionals, denouncing that the CPR centres detain in an inhumane manner people suffering from extremely serious psychiatric conditions who should not be there.
