CAT/OP/MEX/1/Add.2 I. Introduction 1. On 11 April 2005 the Mexican Government ratified the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Optional Protocol), which establishes a system of regular visits to places of detention undertaken by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and by national preventive mechanisms in order to prevent torture and other similar treatment. 2. The Mexican Government, recognizing the important role played by the Subcommittee in preventing and eradicating practices which violate the dignity of persons under any form of detention and appreciating the value of collaboration with that mechanism for improving the conditions of and at the country’s detention facilities, agreed to the conduct of a visit by the mechanism in August 2008. 3. During its mission to Mexico the Subcommittee visited a total of 17 places of detention (12 police stations and courthouses with jails, one military prison, two centres for juvenile offenders and two psychiatric hospitals) located in the Federal District and states of Jalisco, Mexico, Nuevo León and Oaxaca. 4. In June 2009 the Subcommittee transmitted to the Mexican Government the observations on its visit, including 122 recommendations to the State, which fall under the following headings: training of public servants; implementation of legislative reforms; formulation and implementation of public policies; strengthening of mechanisms for access to justice; improvement of conditions at places of detention; provision of and increase in resources for prison administration; promotion of cooperation between the Mexican Government and international human rights protection mechanisms; and general issues. 5. On 13 April 2009 the Mexican Government set up a working group on implementation of the Subcommittee’s recommendations arising from its visit to Mexico, comprising the state and federal authorities which had taken part in the Subcommittee’s visit, for the purpose of providing assistance in the implementation of the Subcommittee’s recommendations through an action plan involving efforts at the federal and state levels by the different government bodies. 6. The measures included in this plan are linked to the strategies and action areas of the National Human Rights Programme 2008–2012 covering the following topics: dissemination, training and development, measures of control, investigation, conditions of detention, reform of the criminal justice system and compliance with recommendations by governmental human rights agencies. 7. In March 2011 the Mexican Government submitted its first report on compliance with the Subcommittee’s recommendations. On that occasion the Government reported on specific steps taken to implement each of the Subcommittee’s recommendations, including, in particular, the following: • The adoption by the Ministry of Defence of the new form which medical personnel assigned to military prisons are required to use for new admissions and which provides for the recording of any history of recent exposure to acts of violence and for an evaluation of the consistency between a history of violence, current health status/symptoms and objective findings; • The appointment of additional administrative officers at the juvenile detention and rehabilitation centre in the state of Nuevo León in September 2009, following which a plan for restructuring the centre was put forward. This plan envisages, inter alia, an increase in the provision of guidance and support for detainees by the specialized units, the enhancement of detainees’ living conditions, the organization 4 GE.13-41196 (EXT)