CAT/OP/CRI/CSPRO/1 106. The National Special Detention Centre employs a full-time clinical psychologist (Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.). Medical care, including consultations for patients with chronic illnesses and outpatient and emergency care, is provided by the medical centre in the west wing. Specialist assistance, including psychiatric assistance, is currently provided by nearby hospitals. 107. Persons requiring psychiatric care receive assistance by virtue of an agreement with the Costa Rican Social Security Fund. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, a remote consultation system has been established for persons deprived of liberty who have been placed in quarantine. 108. Pursuant to the Subcommittee’s recommendation, a joint initiative is under way to develop an effective complaints procedure to facilitate the prompt investigation of potential crimes. 109. The administration is required to process all complaints expeditiously and effectively. As mentioned above, work is under way on an inter-institutional complaints protocol to facilitate the complaints procedure. Disciplinary practices (paras. 73 and 76) 110. The prison regulations of the Ministry of Justice and Peace prohibit all forms of collective punishment. 111. The Ministry of Justice and Peace provides water wells to ensure that detainees have access to potable water, in keeping with their rights to health and personal hygiene. 112. However, these wells are operated by a pumping system powered by an electromechanical mechanism, which often has to be repaired as a result of external factors (for example, leaks and power cuts) and which requires preventive and corrective maintenance. 113. Whenever preventive or corrective maintenance has to be performed on these systems, prior planning and coordination is undertaken in conjunction with the directors of the prisons concerned so that they can take the necessary steps to ensure that all prisoners affected continue to have access to potable water. 114. Every space in the prisons of the Ministry of Justice and Peace complies with the Costa Rican Building Regulations and the Manual of General Technical Provisions on Human Security and Fire Safety, which has a chapter on prisons. Due consideration is also paid to international minimum standards, such as the Nelson Mandela Rules, the recommendations of the Conference of Ministers of Justice of the Ibero-American Countries, the International Committee of the Red Cross guidance on water, sanitation, hygiene and habitat in prisons, and the United Nations Office for Project Services Technical Guidelines for Prison Planning, as well as other current design standards. 115. Solitary confinement is duly regulated. It may be ordered for two reasons: (1) As a precautionary measure when a person’s life is in danger or for reasons of prison security: In such cases, in accordance with established procedure, a request for authorization must be submitted to the sentence enforcement court, detailing the circumstances and conditions of the confinement and explaining why it is necessary to protect the life of the person in question or to ensure prison security. (2) For health reasons, for example, in the event of an outbreak of tuberculosis, hepatitis or another infectious disease, or in the form of preventive isolation based on medical advice, for example, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to which persons deprived of liberty may be placed in isolation for a period not exceeding 14 days on medical advice and subsequently reintegrated into the prison population following a medical examination. 116. Nonetheless, pursuant to the Subcommittee’s recommendation, a reminder will be sent out to prison staff and prison directors reiterating the rules described above. 14 GE.20-17766