(STRASBOURG) - Slovenia, the former Yugoslav republic and current president of the European Union, has "unacceptable" conditions in some of its prisons, a European rights group said in a report Friday.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, a Council of Europe body, said that prisoners were sometimes held in the "banana position" -- when handcuffs and ankle cuffs are chained together behind the back.

"Several allegations were received of detained persons being placed in a cell for several hours in the so-called 'banana' position ... apparently to 'calm them down'," the report said.

"The Committee would like to stress that the practice is unacceptable," it said.

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