A/HRC/13/39/Add.2 arrest and detention of a minor within two hours;59 a maximum period of police custody of 12 hours; and a mandatory medical examination before any transfer.60 While in principle the safeguards were respected, the Special Rapporteur was very concerned about consistent allegations received from the majority of minors interviewed that they were subjected to beatings and other ill-treatment by the police after their medical examinations were performed. 58. The Observer Committee for Adolescents Deprived of their Liberty was established through article 211 CNA to monitor the situation and conditions of the detention facilities for adolescents. 59. In the 1930s, the Government of Uruguay established the juvenile detention and educational facilities Colonia Berro, located in a rural area about 50 kilometres outside Montevideo. Colonia Berro comprises various buildings spread over a large area, with various detention regimes ranging between minimum and maximum security. The detention centres are administrated by the Uruguayan Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU), under the authority of the Ministry of Social Development. Male and female social workers supervise the juveniles in the detention centres, whereas the police are responsible for outside security and only intervene in case of riots and rebellions. 60. The juveniles detained in maximum security facilities in Colonia Berro61 or in the closed regime of the transfer centre Las Puertas,62 located in Montevideo, are held in extremely poor conditions. The system of detention is based on a punitive approach. For the most part, juveniles have no opportunities for education, work or any other rehabilitative activity, and the boys are locked up for up to 22 hours a day in their cells. In Las Puertas, the patio for the closed wing was covered by a roof, limiting their access to sunlight. The sanitary conditions in these centres are also very poor. There are no toilets in the cells, sometimes forcing the detainees to wait for hours for a social worker to let them go to the toilet. At the Piedras Home, the detainees have to relieve themselves in bottles and plastic bags, which they throw out of the window, resulting in a repulsive smell around the building. A few of the minors interviewed stated that they had to kick the doors and “bark like dogs” in order to get any attention from the guards. One positive aspect is that those detainees who behave well are allowed to have a television in their cell. 61. At least half of the detainees are drug users. In addition, most detainees are given anti-anxiety (sedative) medication and sleeping pills, based on a 10-minute psychiatric evaluation. Sedatives are often used as substitution therapy. At Las Puertas, the Special Rapporteur noticed pieces of fabric hanging from the bars above the door. When he asked what they were, he was told that several detainees had tried to hang themselves using pieces of fabric, and the fabric that remained tied to the bars indicated the number of juveniles who had tried to commit suicide in each cell. The majority of the juveniles in detention had their arms and chests covered with marks of cuts which were self-inflicted in order to get attention from social workers and medical staff. 62. The Special Rapporteur was informed that whenever there are riots or rebellions in the juvenile detention facilities, the guards leave the premises and the Special Operations Police Group (GEO) enters the institution in order to quell the violence. This practice is worrying, as the Special Rapporteur received numerous, consistent allegations of beatings, shooting with rubber bullets and collective punishments as a result. For the most part, those juveniles who were able to escape after the riots or rebellions were re-apprehended in a 59 60 61 62 14 Article 46 (1) (A) (b) CNA. Article 46 (1) (A) (f) and (g) CNA. See appendix, paras. 4–24. See appendix, paras. 5–39. GE.09-17655