CAT/C/URY/CO/3
(a)
Ensure that the basic needs of persons deprived of their liberty are met
in respect of medical care, access to drinking water and sanitation, and adequate
ventilation in buildings, in accordance with the Convention and the Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, bearing in mind that the Standard
Minimum Rules are currently under review;
(b)
Redouble its efforts to make use of alternative measures to deprivation
of liberty in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Noncustodial Measures (Tokyo Rules) and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of
Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok
Rules);
(c)
Set a maximum limit on the length of time that a person can be held in
pretrial detention, in accordance with international standards, as part of the reform of
the Code of Criminal Procedure;
(d)
Ensure that different categories of prisoners are kept in separate
institutions or wings based on their sex, age, criminal record, the legal reason for their
detention and the type of detention concerned;
(e)
Prioritize the transfer of the prison system from the Ministry of the
Interior to another administrative department.
Deaths in custody
11.
The Committee finds it regrettable that the State party has not provided full
statistical information on deaths of detainees during the reporting period. According to the
scant data available, there were 46 deaths in the prison population between 2010 and 2012;
of these deaths, 19 were a result of fires in detention centres and the remainder were caused
by electrocution or violence among prisoners. The Committee takes note of the information
provided by the delegation on the deaths of prisoners in the fires of 24 August 2009, at the
Santiago Vázquez prison complex (COMCAR) and of 8 July 2010, at Rocha prison,
according to which both the related criminal cases were shelved at the prosecution’s
request. The Committee also finds it regrettable that information is lacking on
investigations into the deaths that occurred in custody during the reporting period and on
the steps taken to prevent any recurrence of such cases.
The State party should provide comprehensive statistics on the number of persons
who have died in custody during the reporting period, disaggregated by place of
detention, sex, age, ethnic origin or nationality and cause of death. It should also
provide detailed information on the outcome of investigations into those deaths and on
steps taken to prevent any recurrence of such cases.
The Committee urges the State party to promptly undertake thorough, impartial
investigations into all deaths of persons held in custody and to carry out the
corresponding autopsies. The State party should also assess any possibility that prison
officers or other staff might bear responsibility for such deaths and, if this proves to
be the case, to punish those responsible appropriately and to provide compensation to
the victims’ families.
Juvenile justice
12.
The Committee is concerned about the call for a referendum on 26 October 2014 on
the proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 16 and try young
people in conflict with the law as adults in cases involving serious crimes, as a means of
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