CAT/C/LVA/CO/6 (e) Inmates in many detention facilities do not have access to a meaningful regime of activities or to sufficient outdoor exercise; (f) The number of medical staff is reduced and there are significant gaps in the provision of appropriate medication to prisoners (arts. 11 and 16). 15. The State party should: (a) Continue to take steps to improve conditions in all prisons and police detention centres with regard to the material conditions of detention, including hygiene, sanitation, humidity, ventilation and access to natural light, with a view to bringing them into line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules); (b) Consider closing additional detention facilities where conditions are particularly substandard, including the Griva section of Daugavgriva prison, which has the status of historic monument; ensure that the construction of Liepaja prison begins in 2020 and is completed on schedule by 2023; and adapt and renovate outdated prison infrastructure in order to reduce the number of cells that can hold large numbers of prisoners in order to reduce and prevent inter-prisoner violence and eradicate the criminal subculture; (c) Continue to renovate all places of detention in need of repair with a view to improving their infrastructure and material conditions, and ensure that they are adapted to the needs of persons with disabilities, especially those with reduced mobility; (d) Strengthen the effectiveness of complaints mechanisms for reporting cases of violence; examine, record and investigate all injuries and deaths resulting from inter-prisoner or other violence, prosecute those responsible and prevent such incidents from recurring in the future by taking appropriate measures based on dynamic security principles; provide persons deprived of their liberty with adequate health care and medication; increase the number and remuneration of medical staff, including psychiatrists, and transfer the competence of penitentiary medical staff to the authority of the Ministry of Health; (e) Improve the remuneration and working conditions and increase the number of custodial staff, in particular in Daugavgriva, Jelgava and Riga Central prisons, provide them with training on the management of inmates, and strengthen the monitoring and management of vulnerable prisoners and other prisoners at risk; (f) Ensure that all inmates, including prisoners serving life sentences, have access to a meaningful regime of activities and sufficient outdoor exercise, and take further steps to integrate inmates serving life sentences into the general prison population. Solitary confinement 16. Based on the explanations of the delegation, regarding the imposition of disciplinary sanctions on prisoners, that under no circumstances is isolation used for extended periods and that minors are rarely placed in solitary confinement, the Committee remains concerned that solitary confinement continues to be applied to persons deprived of their liberty not only as a punishment but also for holding persons with behavioural problems for protection purposes for prolonged, and at times consecutive, periods (arts. 11 and 16). 17. The State party should ensure that solitary confinement is used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, for as short a time as possible (no more than 15 consecutive days) and subject to independent review, and only pursuant to the authorization by a competent authority, in accordance with rules 43 to 46 of the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Committee wishes to draw the State party’s attention to rule 45 (2) of the Nelson Mandela Rules, under which solitary confinement should be prohibited in the case of prisoners with intellectual, psychosocial or physical disabilities when their conditions would be exacerbated by such measures. It also draws the State party’s attention to rule 22 of the United Nations Rules for the 6