CAT/OP/PER/1 authorities should keep a record of all complaints received and any action taken as a result. 68. The Subcommittee urges the State party to guarantee effective compliance with article 15 of the Optional Protocol, which prohibits sanctions or reprisals against persons for having communicated information to the Subcommittee. 5. Prison regimes and informal disciplinary mechanisms 69. In prisons and prison blocks with an ordinary regime, persons deprived of their liberty can generally move about between cells and courtyards from 7 a.m. to 4 or 6 p.m. Under special regimes, however, persons deprived of their liberty spend most of their time in their cells, with between one and four hours in the yard and greater visiting restrictions. 70. The Subcommittee observed that the application of a special regime for women detained in the Chorrillos annex, whereby prisoners are in some cases kept in their cells for 23 hours a day with barely an hour outside in the yard, has a serious psychological impact on those affected, as evidenced by cases of suicide and attempted suicide and the widespread use of psychopharmacological substances. 71. The Subcommittee also observed arbitrariness and a lack of due process in the imposition of disciplinary sanctions — which normally consist of confinement in punishment cells — as well as inconsistencies in the recording of these sanctions. In some prisons, the corresponding administrative files showed that persons deprived of their liberty sometimes spent several days in these cells as a “preventive” measure before their hearing with the Technical Board, the body authorized to impose such sanctions. The Subcommittee did not find any cases in which a punishment was overturned in the administrative procedure. 72. The material conditions in all the punishment cells visited by the Subcommittee in the various prisons were inhuman and degrading. For instance, in Chiclayo and Trujillo, the cells were foul-smelling and fly-infested, with rotting matter and stagnant water and no sanitation. In the Chorrillos annex, the punishment cells have no ventilation or light. In some prisons, persons confined to punishment cells claimed to have been there for more than 30 days. 73. In Huacariz, the two punishment cells measured approximately 2 m x 3 m each, were foul-smelling, damp and dark and had no window, electric light or water. At the time of the visit, one of the cells had been occupied for 37 days by 11 persons deprived of their liberty who had been transferred from Chiclayo. All the members of that group who were interviewed individually claimed to have been beaten by prison staff on arrival at the prison. Three weeks later they were beaten again for refusing to eat, which is considered a serious offence, and placed in the punishment cell. They only leave the cell for between 30 minutes and an hour a day to stock up on water. 74. In general, the Subcommittee observed that the use of special regimes, punishment regimes and transfers is an informal and arbitrary method of discipline, not subject to external control. 75. The Subcommittee urges the State party to ensure that the principle of due process is guaranteed in all actions related to disciplinary sanctions. Solitary confinement as a punishment should be exceptional and should be subject to judicial supervision. Conditions in solitary confinement cells should be such as to respect the physical integrity and dignity of persons. The rules governing disciplinary sanctions should be clear, known to both staff and persons deprived of their liberty, implemented in a transparent manner and duly recorded in a register. The person being punished should have the right to be heard and to appeal. There should also be clear rules, known to staff and persons deprived of their liberty, governing transfers, in order to prevent the improper use of transfers. 6. Particular situation of women deprived of their liberty 76. During its visit to the Chorrillos I and Chorrillos annex prisons, the Subcommittee was informed that some women who had asked to have their children under the age of 3 GE.17-13638 11