CAT/C/EST/CO/5
The State party should:
(a)
Ensure that all persons seeking asylum in the State party, including at its
border-crossing points, enjoy all procedural guarantees, including the right of appeal
against negative decisions, as well as access to legal assistance and interpreters;
(b)
Ensure that decisions concerning asylum, including under the
accelerated procedure, are taken by the Police and Border Guard Board (formerly the
Citizenship and Migration Board) or a determining authority which meets relevant
international criteria;
(c)
Take immediate steps to improve conditions at the Harku Expulsion
Centre so that they conform to international standards, and provide training and
instruction to prison personnel regarding the use of force and the prohibition of
verbal abuse.
Training
16.
The Committee is concerned that no specific methodologies exist to evaluate the
efficiency of training or educational programmes for law enforcement and medical
personnel, judges and prosecutors, as well as persons working with migrants and asylum
seekers on the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment (art. 10).
The State party should:
(a)
Develop specific methodologies to evaluate the training and educational
programmes provided on the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment to law
enforcement and medical personnel, judges and prosecutors, as well as persons
working with migrants and asylum seekers;
(b)
Ensure that the Istanbul Protocol is made a mandatory part of the
training for all medical professionals involved in the documentation and investigation
of allegations of torture and ill-treatment in order to permit, inter alia, the proper
diagnosis of signs of torture.
Conditions of detention
17.
The Committee is concerned by information suggesting that conditions in some
prisons and police arrest houses do not meet international standards, including with regard
to infrastructure, hygiene and sanitary conditions, hot water, heating, windows, ventilation,
lighting, furniture and living space. It is concerned that unsatisfactory conditions have also
been reported by the Chancellor of Justice in some new or renovated facilities. The
Committee is particularly concerned by the use of cells with unsuitable conditions in some
police stations. It is also concerned by the failure of the prison authorities to ensure the right
of prisoners to have their complaints about the conditions of detention heard (arts. 2, 11, 12,
13 and 16).
The State party should:
(a)
Take immediate steps to improve the material conditions in all prisons
and police arrest houses, including newly built and renovated ones, with a view to
improving the infrastructure, hygiene and sanitary conditions, hot water, heating,
ventilation, lighting and furniture, and repairing broken windows, in accordance with
international standards;
(b)
Take steps to ensure minimum international standards of at least four
square meters of living space for each detainee;
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