This was the first visit by the NPM, which operates under the Ombudsman's Office, on 24 November 2023, to Lisbon Airport's Temporary Installation Centre (EECIF) since the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) was extinguished. The EECIF in Lisbon was the scene, in March 2020, of the death of Ukrainian passenger and immigrant Ihor Homeniuk, who was the victim of an assault by three SEF inspectors.

According to the report, the EECIT-Lisbon, which is now the responsibility of the PSP, is "very close to maximum capacity, being insufficient to accommodate all citizens refused entry and held in the international zone", which is why several foreign citizens had spent the night outside the EECIT-Lisbon "without accommodation and in breach of the legally established conditions".

During this visit in November 2023, the NPM also pointed out as risk factors the "lack of video surveillance in some of the rooms used for conducting initial interviews" and the "lack of privacy in the use of showers".

The "use of the second line and the international zone for the installation of foreign citizens over several days", the "lack of a socio-cultural mediator" and the "lack of a Wi-Fi network" were other risk factors indicated by the NPM.

As positive aspects, the NPM indicates the "operability of the emergency buttons in the rooms", the "cooperation of the PSP with the NPM" and the "complimentary reports from detainees about the PSP's treatment".

The NPM also released today the reports of visits to several prisons and police stations, having detected and pointed out as risk factors during the visit to the Vale de Judeus Prison Establishment (PE) in the municipality of Alcoentre (Lisbon) "plagues of rats in the accommodation", "kitchen in unsanitary conditions" and "degraded material conditions of the bathrooms and toilets in Wings C and D", among other points.

During the visit to the Alcoentre Prison Establishment, the NPM detected as the main risk factors "overcrowding in the pavilions intended for serving sentences under the ordinary regime (at 122.5% of their accommodation capacity) and the "alarming state of unhealthiness of the kitchen and the Central Block Pantry" of the prison.

It also warns of the "significant shortage of surveillance, with serious repercussions on the safety of inmates" and the "lack of emergency call buttons in the accommodation".

In the Santa Cruz do Bispo Prison Establishment (Female), in Matosinhos, the NPM found as risk factors "persistent infiltrations in various divisions of the PE, including cells", "failure of the heating system in the cells", "lack of emergency call buttons in the cells" and "lack of a female psychiatric unit in the prison system".

In turn, during the visit to the 22nd PSP Police Station in Rato, the NPM found as risk factors the "lack of a video surveillance system" and "failure to distribute an information leaflet to the detainee with their rights during detention", among other aspects. As a positive point, it pointed out the "conditions for the privacy of detainees and complainants".

The National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment made public the summaries of the reports of visits carried out in 2023 to places of deprivation of liberty.

According to the NPM, the "transparent operation of places of deprivation of liberty is essential for compliance with the rules that regulate the activity of these spaces, as well as for their scrutiny".

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