CAT/C/BEN/CO/3 Conditions of detention 22. The Committee finds the unsanitary conditions typically found in police and gendarmerie stations regrettable. With regard to places of detention, overcrowding remains a serious concern in spite of alleviating measures such as the construction of new prisons, extension of existing prisons and establishment of the Prisons Agency. The Committee is also concerned about: (a) the lack of hygiene and bedding; (b) the inadequate quality and insufficient quantity of food; (c) the lack of medical personnel, health care and medical treatment; (d) the lack of segregation between persons detained without charge, remand detainees and convicted prisoners; and (e) the insufficient number of prison officers. The situation of former death row prisoners who have had their sentence commuted to life imprisonment is a further source of concern. Lastly, while it notes the recent efforts made to address corruption, the Committee remains concerned about the corruption within the prison administration that has given rise to acts of extortion and the granting of privileges in prison facilities (arts. 11 and 16). 23. The State party should: (a) Improve material conditions in all places of detention, ensuring that prisoners receive the medical care and medicines necessary for their health in a timely manner and without charge, have access to nutritional and sufficient food, and enjoy adequate sanitary conditions and sufficient bedding; (b) Take measures to end prison overcrowding by making greater use of alternatives to detention; (c) Maintain a strict separation between detainees according to their status; (d) Increase staffing levels in the prison service; (e) Continue efforts to combat corruption in prison facilities; (f) Offer prisoners serving life sentences some prospect of release or a reduction in their sentence after a reasonable period of time and establish an independent judicial mechanism to periodically review their situation, in order to grant them some prospect of hope. Monitoring of detention facilities 24. While welcoming the fact that various institutions in the State party have the possibility of visiting places of detention, the Committee is concerned that the monitoring committee system, which should have been rolled out in every prison, is not effectively operational. It is also concerned about the administrative restrictions and obstacles that hamper non-governmental organizations’ ability to conduct visits, which are conditional upon their holding a permit issued by the Directorate of Prison Administration that has a validity period of only three months (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 25. The State party should: (a) Immediately establish monitoring committees in every prison, ensure that they are open-ended and include all stakeholders, and provide them with the resources and powers necessary to process complaints and investigate any conduct on the part of law enforcement officers and prison staff that might be contrary to the Convention; (b) Take appropriate measures to grant all accredited non-governmental organizations ongoing access to detention facilities. Impunity: complaints mechanism, investigations and amnesties 26. While welcoming the fact that, pursuant to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Chief Public Prosecutor is under an obligation to initiate an investigation ex officio whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture has been committed, the Committee regrets that there is no independent complaints mechanism empowered to receive and address complaints that is accessible to all victims of torture or ill-treatment, including those deprived of their liberty. The Committee also regrets the lack of a 6 GE.19-08899