CAT/C/URY/CO/3 The Committee urges the State party to take effective steps to ensure that police officers comply with the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. The State party should also ensure that all persons deprived of their liberty have the benefit, in practice and from the very beginning of their detention, of all basic legal safeguards, including those set out in paragraphs 13 and 14 of the Committee’s general comment No. 2 (2007), and in particular that detainees and persons at risk of torture and ill-treatment have judicial and other remedies available to them. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment in prisons 9. The Committee finds it regrettable that, notwithstanding the “dozens of criminal complaints of ill-treatment or failure to care for persons deprived of their liberty” submitted by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Prison System (CAT/C/URY/3, para. 539), the State party has not provided precise information on the number of allegations, investigations, trials or convictions involving cases of torture or ill-treatment during the reporting period. What little information exists mentions charges of torture being brought against two warders at the Canelones prison in 2012 and a number of complaints concerning warders at various prisons for having inflicted “personal injury” upon prisoners (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). The State party should: (a) Take appropriate steps to ensure that all allegations of torture or illtreatment are promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated and that those responsible are tried and, if found guilty, punished in accordance with the seriousness of their acts; (b) Ensure that investigations into allegations of torture or ill-treatment are carried out by an independent body that has the necessary resources at its disposal; (c) Evaluate the effectiveness of the complaints mechanisms available to persons deprived of their liberty; (d) Provide detailed information on any cases of torture or ill-treatment that occurred during the reporting period, including disaggregated information on the number of complaints, investigations, trials and judgements and on reparation granted to victims. Prison conditions 10. The Committee applauds the steps taken by the State party to improve prison conditions and eliminate overcrowding through an ambitious programme that includes the construction of a new prison and units in several other prisons. It is, however, concerned by the fact that two thirds of the prison population is awaiting trial and that the State party’s legislation still does not set a maximum length of pretrial detention. The Committee is also concerned by reports of shortcomings in terms of medical care, the water supply, sanitation and ventilation in cells. It is also concerned by reports indicating that there is not a strict separation of accused from convicted prisoners. Moreover, the Committee notes that the State party’s prison system is still under the Ministry of the Interior, which continues to present problems with regard to the suitability of the treatment of prisoners. The State party should adopt the necessary measures to continue improving prison conditions. In particular, it should: GE.14-04582 3