CAT/OP/BEN/3 The Subcommittee reminds the State party that, in accordance with international standards, no one may be detained for a civil debt.7 76. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party reflect on whether witchcraft and charlatanism should be criminalized in its criminal justice system. With regard to civil debt, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that practice with respect to its classification as a criminal offence is consistent with the relevant international provisions. 2. Criminal justice tailored to specific groups 77. Older persons. The Subcommittee noted that the Code of Criminal Procedure does not have any specific provisions to address the vulnerability of older persons in judicial proceedings or in the enforcement of sentences handed down to them. At the Abomey prison, a number of very elderly women between the ages of 70 and 80 or more had been imprisoned for a long time, some while awaiting trial, in the very deplorable material conditions described above. 78. The Subcommittee calls on the State party to reflect on the vulnerability of older persons in judicial proceedings and on ways of customizing the serving of sentences. It recommends that the State party review, as a matter of urgency, the individual situations of older persons deprived of their liberty in Benin. 79. Minors. The Subcommittee, in a change from its previous visit, in 2008, did not encounter minors in police custody. At the Centre for the Protection of Children and Adolescents in Cotonou, the Subcommittee noted the presence of minors under the supervision of the juvenile judge. Under article 60 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, however, persons under the age of 18 may be held in police custody under the effective supervision of the State prosecutor. Minors also informed the Subcommittee that they had sometimes been held for longer than the longest period provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure. 80. The Subcommittee remains concerned that some minors had not benefited from fundamental legal safeguards, including the right to be informed of their rights and the reasons for their detention, the right to counsel and the right to a medical examination, and that some had been heard by a judge without a lawyer or a trusted adult present. The Subcommittee also noted that it is still possible, in some cases, to place minors in pretrial detention. It notes, however, that the State party has adopted provisions on juvenile justice in articles 651 to 720 of its new Code of Criminal Procedure. 81. The Subcommittee reiterates that the detention of minors should be a measure of last resort limited to exceptional cases.8 It recommends that the State party: (a) promote alternatives to the detention of minors; (b) place minors in police custody only in exceptional circumstances; (c) ensure compliance with the fundamental legal safeguards for minors in police custody; (d) ensure that no juvenile is heard or signs a record of a hearing without a lawyer, trusted adult or parent present; and (e) guarantee that a lawyer can provide assistance in all cases where minors are to be tried for criminal offences. 3. Legal aid 82. The Subcommittee observed that the State party had not fully implemented the recommendation on legal aid made in its previous report. The State party’s new Code of Criminal Procedure has provisions relating to the assistance of a lawyer at the different stages of the judicial process. The Subcommittee nonetheless found that many people did not have access to a lawyer during their time in police custody or when they were brought before a judge. It was clear from the interviews held by the Subcommittee that free legal assistance by public defenders was provided chiefly for criminal cases — those involving 7 8 GE.18-16165 Article 11 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Benin is a party, states: “No one shall be imprisoned merely on the ground of inability to fulfil a contractual obligation.” United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty, adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 45/113 of 14 December 1990, paras. 1 and 2. 13