CAT/C/FIN/CO/5-6 Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) be introduced into the basic training curriculum for medical personnel. Conditions of detention 14. The Committee is concerned that occasional overcrowding continues to exist in some prisons and detention centres. While noting that prisoners have access to toilets during all hours of the day, the Committee is concerned at reports by the State party that 222 prison cells in three different prison facilities still lack appropriate sanitary equipment, including toilet facilities, and that the practice of “slopping out” continues to exist, a situation which is scheduled to end only in 2015 (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee recommends that the State party remedy the situation of overcrowding, including by way of redistributing prisoners, accelerating the judicial procedures and using the system of probationary liberty under supervision introduced in 2006. The Committee urges the State party to accelerate the renovation of the Mikkeli and Kuopio prisons, as well as Helsinki and Hameenlinna prisons, in addition to installing sanitary equipment in all places of detention as soon as possible. 15. The Committee is concerned that while the total number of prisoners has fallen, the number of remand, female and foreign prisoners has increased. It remains concerned about the situation of remand prisoners and preventive detention of aliens held in police and border-guard detention facilities and the length of pretrial detention. In addition, it is concerned that some 10 per cent of Roma prisoners are accommodated in closed wards. The Committee is also concerned at the reported slowness of the State party’s judicial apparatus and whether there are any members of ethnic minorities among the judiciary (arts. 11 and 16). The Committee recommends that the State party limit to the extent possible the stay of remand prisoners and aliens in preventive detention, in particular in police and border-guard detention facilities, and comply with the recommendations made in November 2010 by the working group set up by the Ministry of Justice to introduce a legislative amendment allowing for remand prisoners to be moved more quickly from police stations to regular prisons than is the case at present. It recommends that the Parliamentary Ombudsman monitor the conditions of detention of Roma prisoners, including the implementation of ethnic equality, and ensure that prison staff intervene in all incidents of discrimination against Roma brought to their attention. The Committee recommends that legislation be adopted to reduce pretrial detention and to accelerate the pending civil and criminal procedures. The Committee would appreciate receiving statistics on the number of members of ethnic minorities among the judiciary. Monitoring of places of deprivation of liberty 16. The Committee is concerned that the Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman dealing with prison matters was unable to carry out frequent and unannounced visits to places of deprivation of liberty owing to their heavy workload and processing of complaints (art. 11). The Committee recommends that the State party allocate sufficient human and financial resources to the Parliamentary Ombudsman in order to enable them to carry out frequent and unannounced visits to places of deprivation of liberty under their mandate. In this context, the Committee notes with satisfaction that the State party has signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and recommends that the State party complete the process of ratification of the Optional Protocol at the earliest 5

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