CAT/OP/PRT/1
cell rang for 20 minutes without response as all the guards were taking a lunch break. The
delegation eventually managed to call a guard. When the guard opened the cell at the
delegation’s request, they found an inmate who was barely conscious and needed
immediate medical attention.
57.
Disciplinary cells in the Porto Prison were extremely overcrowded. The
Subcommittee visited a cell with 12 inmates that had less than 3 m2 floor space per person,
not subtracting the space occupied by their beds and a table to eat on, as the inmates had to
take all their meals in the cell. There was virtually no space to move around, and the
inmates were confined in the cell up to 23 hours per day on weekdays and 24 hours a day
on weekends, some of them for months and some for years. Prisoners who smoked were
smoking in this cell, affecting the non-smokers. Inmates in this prison reported regular
beatings by the guards. One case reported to the delegation concerned an inmate who had
been severely beaten during a cell search and had died without receiving medical assistance.
Another case, which happened about a month prior to the visit, concerned a wheelchair user
who was ordered by a guard to stand up and was then beaten because he could not do so.
The delegation saw the documentation and the pictures of the individual in question,
heavily bruised. The guard who inflicted the injuries was still working in the prison and no
proceedings had been initiated to investigate the allegations.
58.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure to persons alleging
ill-treatment a confidential and accessible way of filing a complaint with an
independent investigative mechanism, that such allegations are investigated in a
prompt and effective manner, that those responsible for ill-treatment are punished
accordingly and that the complainant receives a response within a reasonable amount
of time. The Subcommittee emphasizes that the transfer of persons found to have
perpetrated torture or ill-treatment to another prison cannot be considered a
sufficient penalty.
59.
The Subcommittee further recommends that the State party urgently review
the situation in Porto Prison to ensure adequate staffing, material conditions and
medical care and to prevent further ill-treatment.
C.
Psychiatric care
60.
The Subcommittee is concerned that a doctor can prescribe physical restraint at one
point in time and that this authorization is never re-evaluated or is not re-evaluated for years.
This was the case, for example, of a woman in the psychiatric clinic of São José who had
been put in a five-point restraint. In this clinic it also appeared that restraints were not used
as a last resort, as prescribed, inter alia, by the guidelines on restraint No. 021/2011 issued
on 6 June 2011 by the Ministry of Health, but were implemented due to understaffing, as
there were not enough staff to adequately supervise some of the patients if they remained
unrestrained.
61.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party take measures to ensure
that physical restraint is used only as a last resort and that its authorization in each
individual case is re-evaluated on a periodic basis. The Subcommittee wishes to be
kept informed about changes in the legal system coming into force and refers to the
Means of Restraint in Psychiatric Establishments for Adults (revised CPT standards)
(CPT/Inf(2017)6)) of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
V. Police practice and procedure
A.
Fundamental safeguards during the initial stage of detention
62.
The Subcommittee delegation noted that the detention time in police stations, which
by law can last up to 48 hours, in practice was very short and usually lasted only the few
hours necessary to process the arrest documentation. The exception were weekends, when
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