CAT/OP/ROU/1 special needs or treatment necessities. 15 In police custody, first offenders were not separated from repeat offenders and children were at times held together with adults. 47. In the prisons visited, accused persons were kept with convicted prisoners and those with infectious or contagious diseases were not separated from healthy detainees in quarantine; this was also sometimes the case in the pretrial detention regime. In addition, the delegation observed that smokers were detained with non-smokers. It also noted with concern that, for the allocation of prisoners to different regimes, due account had not been taken of the gravity of the offence and the vulnerability of the detainees, for instance of young prisoners or of those suffering from psychosocial disorders or mental disabilities. 48. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure the effective separation of all persons below 18 years of age from adult detainees, of male detainees from female detainees and of pretrial detainees from convicted prisoners and that detainees are separated according to the gravity of the offence. 16 In addition, due account should be taken of the special requirements of the treatment and medical needs of persons affected by infectious or contagious diseases, and smokers should be separated from non-smokers. Measures should also be taken to protect vulnerable persons deprived of their liberty, including children, young prisoners, persons with psychosocial disorders or mental and physical disabilities, minorities and marginalized persons. E. Torture and ill-treatment 49. In the police stations visited, the vast majority of detainees with whom the delegation met declared that they had not been subjected to ill-treatment. The delegation has not received any allegations and has not found any evidence of ill-treatment inflicted by security staff in the preventive arrest and detention centres visited. 50. The delegation, however, received an allegation of physical ill-treatment (kicks to the head) allegedly committed in the course of an arrest by the Special Forces of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism. Medical evidence consistent with the testimony had been documented in the medical file of the detainee. 51. In some of the prisons visited, the delegation received several concurring testimonies of physical, mental and sexual ill-treatment inflicted on inmates by security personnel, in particular members of special intervention units, or by other detainees, sometimes allegedly with the complicity of prison staff. In Iasi prison in particular, the delegation noted with great concern a culture of fear and violence, where vulnerable persons, especially children, young adults, those who were poor, those without family, those who were illiterate and those belonging to marginalized or minority groups were routinely beaten and abused, physically and sexually, in cells, hallways and stairs that were not monitored by surveillance cameras. The Subcommittee observes that this may be a control strategy used to compensate for understaffing and a lack of monitoring. However, it is not acceptable. 52. The delegation met young inmates that engaged in self-harm by cutting deeply into the skin of their arms or other body parts in order to avoid being beaten by members of the special intervention units. 53. In addition, the delegation observed appalling overcrowding and material conditions in several penitentiary institutions visited, which it considers to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 54. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party: (a) Ensure that allegations of all forms of violence, torture and ill-treatment are promptly and impartially investigated and that perpetrators are prosecuted for 15 16 10 Nelson Mandela Rules, rule 11. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 10, Nelson Mandela Rules, rule 11.