319.The SPT recommends that: (a)The provision in law of a maximum of 48 hours in initial custody before presentation before a court be matched by a system of court sessions enabling this legal time limit to be respected in practice; (b)The police and gendarmeries throughout Benin develop a standardised and unified record for registering contemporaneously and comprehensively all key information about every individual’s deprivation of liberty, and that staff be trained to use this appropriately and consistently; (c)The standardised and unified record should include the reasons for the deprivation of liberty, the exact time and date when it started, how long it lasted, who was responsible for its authorisation and the identity of the law enforcement officials concerned, precise information about where the person was during the period, and when the person first appeared before a judicial or other authority; (d)All entries in the registers be monitored and countersigned by the directors of each of the establishments; (e)The authorities take immediate steps to ensure that there is an official record of the details of deprivation of liberty of all persons, regardless of their status in law, who are obliged to remain with the law enforcement agencies; (f)The legislation be amended to spell out the rights of persons deprived of liberty, as well as the right of such persons to be notified of their rights as from the moment of deprivation of liberty; (g)Law enforcement staff be trained to inform persons deprived of their liberty of their rights, including orally in the languages usually spoken by such persons, and to assist in the exercise of all such rights as from the very outset of deprivation of liberty; (h)No pressure be exerted to make detainees confess to an offence; (i)Detainees are able to know and understand what is in a statement before signing it, for example by being provided with the statement to read or by having it read to them; (j)The authorities consider reviewing the legislation to guarantee the right to silence; (k)The authorities review the legislation regarding confessions with a view to eliminating the possibility for convictions based solely on confession; (l)Police training in investigative methods emphasise the need to proceed from the evidence to the suspect rather than the reverse; (m)The right to notify family or other relevant person outside of the fact of one’s deprivation of liberty be enshrined in law; (n)The right of notification of custody be included in the standard notice of rights of persons deprived of liberty and such persons be informed about the right and asked to indicate the person they wish to notify. Police and gendarmerie personnel should be trained to properly inform detainees of this right and to carry out the notification; (o)The authorities ensure that all persons enjoy equal access to defence counsel not only in law but also in practice. Necessary steps should be taken to extend the right to public defence counsel to the initial stage of the deprivation of liberty; (p)The authorities, as an interim measure, grant detainees the right to have a trusted third party present during questioning in initial custody, in the absence of a sufficient number of certified lawyers and of a fully fledged legal aid system covering all stages of deprivation of liberty; (q)All persons deprived of their liberty by the police are systematically informed, as from the outset of such deprivation, about their right of access to a lawyer or other trusted third party, and are provided with the means necessary to consult in private with a lawyer or other trusted third party; (r)The authorities review the law on and system for providing legal assistance to suspects and defendants in the criminal justice process with a view to providing legal aid to persons held in initial police and gendarmerie custody; (s)The authorities introduce systematic medical examination of all detainees held by the police and the gendarmerie, upon arrival, and that the history of each detainee and any signs of ill-health or injuries be recorded; (t)Medical examinations be conducted in accordance with the principle of medical confidentiality; non-medical persons, other than the patient, should not be present. The results, and any notes, of the medical examination are also to be kept confidential by the examining doctor, and are not to be disclosed to those holding the patient in garde à vue. In circumstances where the doctor recommends transfer to a clinic or hospital for treatment, only the minimum necessary information regarding the reason for transfer need be disclosed to the authorities; (u)The doctor carrying out systematic screening of people deprived of liberty by the police and the gendarmerie record all essential information relevant to the medical examination, including (a) medical history, (b) an account by the person examined of any violence, (c) the result of the physical examination, including a description of any injuries and an indication as to whether the whole body was examined, and (d) the doctor’s conclusion as to consistency between the three first items; (v)Resources be provided for the transportation of detainees, including transportation to hospitals, and that resources be allocated for medication and treatment of detainees;