clear and direct prohibition to subject a person to torture or cruel or degrading treatment upon the execution of detention. However, the Committee remains concerned at reports of prolonged pretrial detention and administrative detention of both minors and adults and the high risk of ill-treatment which it entails, and regrets the lack of use of alternatives to imprisonment (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The State party should take appropriate measures to further reduce the duration of detention in custody and detention before charges are brought, and develop and implement alternatives to deprivation of liberty, including probation, mediation, community service or suspended sentences. Conditions of detention (12) The Committee is concerned that notwithstanding the measures taken by the State party to improve conditions of detention, including in the context of the 2004 Programme of Renovation of Detention Facilities and Improvement of Conditions for Persons Held in Detention, there is continuing overcrowding in places of detention, in particular in Pretrial Wards and the Hospital of Imprisonment Institutions. While noting that conditions of detention have improved considerably in recent years, the Committee is concerned at the overall conditions in some prisons and Pretrial Wards, including unsuitable infrastructures and unhygienic living conditions. Furthermore, while noting the implementation of violence prevention programmes in places of imprisonment, the Committee is concerned at the occurrence of inter-prisoner violence and lack of statistical data that may provide breakdown by relevant indicators to facilitate the determination of root causes and the design of strategies to prevent and reduce such occurrences (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee recommends that the State party: (a) Continue its efforts to alleviate the overcrowding of penitentiary institutions, including Pretrial Wards and the Hospital of Imprisonment Institutions, including through the application of alternative measures to imprisonment and the increase of budgetary allocations to develop and renovate the infrastructure of prisons and other detention facilities; (b) Take effective measures to further improve living conditions in the detention facilities, including prisons and Pretrial Wards; (c) Take effective steps to systematically and effectively monitor all places of detention; and (d) Monitor and document incidents of inter-prisoner violence with a view to revealing root causes and designing appropriate prevention strategies, and provide the Committee with data thereon, disaggregated by relevant indicators. Excessive use of force and ill-treatment (13) The Committee expresses its concern at the number of allegations of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, and the low number of convictions in such cases. In addition, the Committee regrets the lack of statistical data on complaints, prosecutions and sentences in respect of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials (arts. 4, 12 and 16). The State party should take effective measures to send a clear and unambiguous message to all levels of the police force hierarchy that torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of force are unacceptable, including through the enforcement of the 2004 Code of Ethics for Lithuanian Police Officials, and ensure that law enforcement officials only use force when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duties. Referring to article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention, the Committee underlines that the State party should apply sanctions that are proportional with the offences, and the State party is encouraged to initiate the collection of statistics on disciplinary penalties imposed. 54