Cyprus Central Prisons Overcrowding Forces Inmates to Sleep on Floors

Overcrowding at Cyprus’s central prisons has forced inmates to sleep on the floor, a situation highlighted by Administration Commissioner Maria Stylianou Lottides during her annual report to the House institutions committee. Lottides warned that the worsening conditions increase the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment and called for building new prisons and expanding alternatives such as electronic monitoring. Her office visits prisons every fortnight to review complaints about healthcare, food, living conditions and inmate treatment. The report noted 4,655 complaints, with 2,709 examined, 1,783 resolved through intervention, and 762 outside jurisdiction. Compliance rates were 91 % for non‑formal interventions and 55 % for formal reports. MPs urged stronger enforcement of the commissioner’s recommendations, citing persistent administrative failures and delays in social assistance applications.