Council of Europe report: Romania makes progress against detainee ill-treatment, but overcrowding persists

03 September 2026 Romania has made significant progress in preventing the ill-treatment of people held by the police and in prisons, according to a new report by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). However, the committee warned that conditions in police detention facilities remain very poor and that prisons are operating at 119.5% capacity. The report presented the findings of a 2025 visit to five police detention facilities, four prisons in Botoșani, Bucharest-Rahova, Craiova, and Iași, and two detention centres for children and young adults in Craiova and Târgu Ocna. The CPT welcomed the authorities’ “zero-tolerance policy towards ill-treatment” and noted an improvement in police conduct. Most detainees interviewed said they had been treated professiona