CAT/OP/ARG/1/Add.1 35. Cadets currently prepare a degree in correctional treatment at the National Prison Service Training College, in courses given by teachers from the National University of Lomas de Zamora, to which they belong. This affords the opportunity to take part in training for the community. 36. Civil governance of the Federal Prison Service: The Federal Prison Service has its own democratic civil governance system. According to State prison policy, candidates applying for prison governorships must demonstrate previous commitment to fully respecting the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty, while prison management must similarly implement policies designed to build citizenship, improve social integration and re-establish family bonds. 37. In order to implement these commitments to management, institutional modernization and cultural change, the Federal Government decided six years ago to put civilians, chosen for their background and their dedication to fundamental values and human rights, in charge of the Federal Prison Service. In line with government polices, the Federal Prison Service comes under the authority of the Under-Secretariat for Prison Management, which is attached to the Ministry of Justice and consequently the Minister of Justice and Human Rights. In that regard, the following appointments were made: • Alejandro Marambio Avaria, by Decision No. 740 of 13 July 2007 of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights; • Víctor Eduardo Hortel, by Decision No. 435 of 1 April 2011 of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights; • Alejandro Marambio Avaria, by Decision No. 1427 of 25 August 2013 of the Ministry of Justice, Security and Human Rights. 1. Assignment of detainees to prisons 38. The National Directorate of the Federal Prison Service reports that preference is usually given for persons deprived of their liberty to be held near their family home, in order to maintain and strengthen family bonds and prevent any sense of uprooting. Sometimes, however, this is not possible, since detainees must be housed in accordance with an objective classification, depending on their legal status and phase and duration of treatment, in a unit that offers appropriate facilities, so that every effort is made to maintain detainees’ contacts with family and/or friends in the event of their being transferred away from the area. 39. Prisons of the Federal Prison Service in Argentina are located according to such factors as the orders of different federal courts, population density and the family residence of persons deprived of their liberty. 40. In order to mitigate the effects of the distance which sometimes separates detainees from their families, technological advances are used at the federal level as an effective tool to facilitate communication, with the installation of an electronic messaging system, including a videoconferencing facility using digital cameras at either end of a network, allowing for text, vocal and visual exchanges (chat, video calls and voice). 41. While the aim of the messaging system is to strengthen primary affective ties, prevent social and psychological uprooting, maintain family relationships and thus improve conditions of detention, other provisions contained in Act No. 24660 are also designed to strengthen affective ties between persons deprived of their liberty and their families. The social services of the prisons can assist persons deprived of their liberty on request to obtain transfers closer to home if they are held in facilities located more than 300 kilometres away from their family home (article 44 of the Communications Regulations for Inmates, Decree No. 1136/97). 10 GE.14-40297