CAT/OP/BEN/3 Mandela Rules, solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure or punishment refers to the confinement of prisoners without meaningful human contact for 22 hours or more a day, which can extend for no more than 15 days, and should be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review, and only pursuant to the authorization by a competent authority. The Subcommittee also reminds the State party that the lack of due process exposes prisoners to the risk of an arbitrary decision to place them in solitary confinement. 56. The Subcommittee therefore asked the warden of the prison, who, in a welcome development, complied with the request, to regularize the situation of the prisoner in solitary confinement. 57. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party’s prison authorities turn to solitary confinement only where necessary and as a last resort, for as short a time as possible, in accordance with the Nelson Mandela Rules. Any solitary confinement decisions should be subject to due process, so that the facts can be established and the prisoner has a chance to defend himself or herself at an independent review. To this end, the Subcommittee recommends the adoption of rules, known to prisoners, on the basis of which all decisions on placement in solitary confinement are made. The rules should be fully in line with international standards and the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Subcommittee also invites the State party to ensure that the solitary confinement cells in the Cotonou prison are reconfigured so as to have light, suitable temperatures, toilets and access to water. 5. Torture and ill-treatment 58. The Subcommittee noted and was informed of but few allegations of ill-treatment in the interviews it held. It is nonetheless concerned about allegations from minors detained at the Abomey prison that they could be beaten as punishment when they misbehaved and from an adult inmate at the same prison, who told the Subcommittee that he had been beaten with a lash and a hosepipe by the yard boss in block 8. Interviews also made it clear that prisoners at the Abomey prison were shackled, sometimes all night, as a form of punishment. 59. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party continue to raise awareness among members of prison staff in order to prevent any ill-treatment of prisoners and facilitate the submission of complaints by prisoners. C. Access to health care, hygiene, water and sanitation 1. Prison health care 60. At the prisons visited by the Subcommittee, with the exception of the Abomey prison, prisoners underwent a medical examination routinely on arrival. The Subcommittee finds it regrettable that this examination is not performed by a doctor and that health-care teams are made up solely of nurses. The Subcommittee is concerned that the sanitary conditions of the infirmaries were not always optimal and that the infirmaries themselves were understaffed. The health-care system in prisons still had shortcomings that would need to be overcome for it to be in full compliance with the Nelson Mandela Rules. 6 61. In particular, the Subcommittee noted with concern: (a) the shortage of medicines and medical equipment at the infirmaries, especially since 2014 — the infirmary at the Abomey prison, for instance, had only paracetamol; (b) the decrease, caused by the lack of medication, in the number of consultations by inmates; (c) the absence of personalized medical records and of specific treatment for pregnant women, children, minors and older persons, particularly in the Cotonou and Abomey prisons; (d) the lack of specialists and the fact that psychologists and psychiatrists appeared only as expert witnesses in court cases; (e) the lack of vehicles for medical transfers; and (f) the lack of a genuine prison health policy. 6 10 Nelson Mandela Rules, rules 24 to 35. GE.18-16165