CELPL - Annual report - 2023

In 2023, the CELPL continued its work to prevent ill-treatment in places of detention by carrying out several major initiatives: finalizing the follow-up report on child and adolescent psychiatry, conducting its first in-depth inspection at the Uerschterhaff Penitentiary (CPU), and contributing to the global report on women in prison. The year was also marked by enhanced dialogue with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) during its visit to Luxembourg, allowing the CELPL to address structural issues, notably access to de facto places of detention and the limits of its mandate. The 24/7 hotline also led to several significant interventions: a death in a psychiatric hospital, deaths at the CPL and CPG, a suicide attempt at the CPU, a riot at the Detention Center, as well as the placement of minors at the CPL deemed inadmissible, which led the CELPL and OKAJU to address the Minister of Justice.
 
The 2023 report highlights persistent issues, including the slow adoption of the Grand Ducal regulation governing searches and inspections in correctional facilities, gaps in the protection of minors (UNISEC, incarceration of minors), as well as legal shortcomings regarding psychiatric placements and emergency procedures for young people. The CELPL also regrets the lack of concrete progress regarding its request to expand its jurisdiction to include de facto places of deprivation of liberty, which is essential for protecting vulnerable populations such as the elderly, minors in care, people with disabilities, and asylum seekers. For 2024, the service plans to publish several reports (child and adolescent psychiatry, CPU), an opinion on the future juvenile detention center, a follow-up on UNISEC, and the continuation of its advocacy for comprehensive legislative reform.