CAT/C/TUN/CO/3 Military courts 25. The Committee notes with concern that under Act No. 82-70 of 1982, the Statute of the Internal Security Forces Act, military courts are competent to hear cases involving acts carried out by members of those forces against civilians during the performance of their duties (art. 12). 26. The State should amend Act No. 82-70 of 1982 and the Code of Military Justice to preclude the possibility that military courts could have jurisdiction over cases involving human rights violations or offences allegedly committed against civilians by military personnel or members of the internal security forces. Conditions of detention 27. Despite the efforts made by the State party to improve conditions of detention (see paras. 5 (e) and 6 (b) above), the Committee remains concerned about prison overcrowding, which according to the information it has received is at 150 per cent at some facilities. According to various reports, this situation is in part due to the insufficient availability and dilapidated state of prisons and the high proportion of persons in pretrial detention (55 per cent, as against 45 per cent who are convicted prisoners), as well as the high incarceration rate, even for minor offences such as drug use. The Committee also remains concerned about reports of deplorable sanitary conditions and poor nutrition and the failure to effectively separate convicts from suspects and adults from minors at all facilities. The Committee notes with concern the low numbers of prison staff and medical personnel available at prisons. It is also concerned about reports that, in practice, periods of solitary confinement exceed the limit of 10 days set by the law (arts. 11 and 16). 28. The State party should increase its efforts to improve conditions of detention, including by: (a) Significantly reducing overcrowding in prisons by making more use of alternatives to incarceration such as suspended sentences for first offenders or for certain minor offences and of alternatives to pretrial detention; (b) Ensuring absolute compliance with the maximum length of pretrial detention and ensuring that persons in detention are brought to trial without excessive delay; (c) Continuing its efforts to improve and expand prison facilities in order to remodel those facilities that do not meet international standards, and allocating the resources required to improve conditions of detention and strengthen reintegration and rehabilitation activities; (d) Putting in place the measures required to ensure the strict separation of accused persons from convicts and adults from minors, and appropriate treatment for them; (e) Increasing the number of qualified staff working with prisoners; (f) Ensuring the availability of medical services in all prison facilities; (g) Ensuring that solitary confinement is used only as a last resort, for as short a time as possible, under strict supervision and with the possibility of judicial review, in accordance with international standards. Deaths in custody 29. The Committee is concerned about several cases in which people have died in detention in suspicious circumstances and which have still not been elucidated by the GE.16-09569 7