A/HRC/31/57/Add.4 rival criminal factions that had often attacked each other in recent times. Nevertheless, conditions in Pedrinhas remain explosive. The units are very overcrowded,5 and security is barely enforced by keeping inmates in their collective cells for 22 or 23 hours per day. Family visits take place under conditions of humiliating searches. Food and medical services are sorely inadequate. Members of the security staff are heavily armed inside the prison, which can lead to a new round of deadly riots that affect inmates, relatives and prison personnel alike. Privatized facilities 46. The Special Rapporteur visited a number of facilities that outsource certain services, such as food distribution, to private contractors, as well as one that is wholly managed by a private company under contract with the state. This private company is responsible for all services provided to the inmates and for internal discipline, except for perimeter security, which is the responsibility of the heavily armed police. 47. In sharp contrast to other facilities visited, this facility was not overcrowded, conditions overall were decent, and both doctors and nurses were available round-the-clock. 48. The contract between states and these private companies stipulates that the prison cannot be forced to receive inmates beyond its capacity plus 10 per cent. Under such terms, privately run facilities will never be severely overcrowded; yet, it stands to reason that such an arrangement will be an additional factor in aggravating overpopulation in publicly run prisons in the same state. 49. The Special Rapporteur is sceptical in general about privately run jails. He notes that similar arrangements in other countries have resulted in serious violations of the rights of persons deprived of freedom. He expresses concern that the lines of accountability for misconduct by non-state agents may be blurred, and that essential services to inmates may suffer under the pressure to maximize corporate profits. Under international law, the Government remains responsible for the well-being and security of all persons subject to its jurisdiction. B. Torture and ill-treatment Acts of torture and ill-treatment 50. Numerous credible testimonies from inmates — women, men, girls and boys — chosen at random, in various detention facilities, pointed to the frequent use of torture and ill-treatment, varying in methods and the severity of the pain and suffering inflicted. This occurs in the context of arrest and interrogation by police and treatment by prison personnel. 51. Severe kicking, beating (sometimes with sticks and truncheons), suffocation, the administration of electrical shocks with taser guns, the use of pepper spray, tear gas, noise bombs and rubber bullets, and profuse amounts verbal abuse and threats are reported as the most frequent methods used by police and prison personnel, not as a means of legitimate crowd control or of breaking up disturbances that merit some use of force, but rather in the context of excessive use of force and/or punishment. 5 10 Official overpopulation in Maranhao prisons is 111 per cent (Infopen, 2014). However, the figure is misleading because capacity is estimated at levels that are already overcrowded. Conditions observed in all cells visited confirmed that assessment.