CAT/OP/TGO/1 70. The Subcommittee is concerned that the custody of arrested persons is often arbitrarily extended in police stations and gendarmeries. These extensions are carried out without official authorization, and monitoring is impossible, since the records do not indicate the date or hour of the start and expected end of the custody, nor do they bear the detainee’s signature. The Subcommittee wonders about the handling of cases in which a person is arrested on a Friday but cannot be brought before the prosecutor or the prosecution service during the weekend, with the exception of the Lomé prosecution service, which keeps weekend hours. 71. As for the length of pretrial detention, the Subcommittee learned from conversations with detainees that some had not been informed of the date of their next appearance before the courts and did not have a copy of their detention orders. The delegation checked their claims against the detention registers, in which the date of the detention, but not the date of the court ruling, had been recorded. The officers in charge of filling out the registers also told the Subcommittee that the detention order issued by the judge never contains the date of the next appearance or judgment, which is known neither by the detainees nor by the prison administration. 72. The Subcommittee reminds the State party that the legal length of custody and the procedures for extending the length of custody must be strictly observed by police officers and gendarmes and that the judicial authorities are responsible for the regular and effective monitoring of custody, as well as the prompt improvement of record-keeping. 73. The Subcommittee also reminds the State party that, in accordance with article 112 of the Togolese Code of Criminal Procedure, the use of pretrial detention must be exceptional. In this regard, the Subcommittee recommends that the State party take alternative measures in the case of minor offences and strengthen its judicial monitoring system. 74. The Subcommittee also recommends that the State party require the judicial authorities to explicitly state in the detention order the date of the next court appearance, of the trial or of the ruling and ensure that the detainee and the prison administration are systematically given access to this information. Right to a medical examination 75. In the light of the consistent lack of medical registers in the police stations and gendarmeries and the Subcommittee’s interviews with staff and persons in custody, the Subcommittee has concluded that medical examinations conducted at the request of persons in custody or of their families, as provided in article 532 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, are not carried out in practice. The conditions and means allowing such persons to request medical examinations constitute a fundamental guarantee for the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment. 76. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that a medical examination and routine care is provided for each person placed in custody. Right to be informed of one’s rights and the grounds for one’s arrest 77. The persons interviewed by the Subcommittee indicated that they had been informed of the grounds for their arrest, in conformity with article 17 of the Togolese Constitution. However, those same persons had been given no information or explanation about their rights. The Subcommittee also noted the absence of related noticeboards or informational posters in gendarmeries and police stations. Although the provisions on custody contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure do not require prisoners to be informed of their rights, such notification is one of the fundamental safeguards that the State party must provide to every detainee. 2 GE.17-06858 Code of Criminal Procedure, art. 53: “The person held in custody may receive a medical examination at his or her own request or at the request of a member of the family, following approval by the prosecution office.” 11