CAT/C/LTU/CO/3
Training
18.
The Committee is concerned at the absence of specific methodologies to evaluate
the effectiveness, including the impact on the number of cases of torture and ill-treatment,
of the training and educational programmes on provisions of the Convention for law
enforcement personnel, prison staff, border guards, medical personnel, prosecutors and
judges. It is also concerned that training on the Manual on the Effective Investigation and
Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol) is not provided to all medical professionals dealing with
persons deprived of liberty and asylum seekers. (art. 10)
The State party should:
(a)
Further develop and strengthen training programmes to ensure that all
public officials, including law enforcement, prison and immigration officers, as well as
judges, are aware of the provisions of the Convention;
(b)
Provide training on the Istanbul Protocol for medical personnel and
other officials who deal with detainees and asylum seekers and who are involved in the
investigation and documentation of cases of torture;
(c)
Develop methodologies to assess the effectiveness and impact of training
programmes on the prevention and absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment.
Conditions of detention in police arrest houses
19.
The Committee is concerned that material conditions, such as hygiene, access to
natural and artificial light, ventilation, the partitioning of sanitary facilities and clean
mattresses and bedding, in police arrest houses, as well as the regimen offered to detained
persons in terms of daily outdoor exercise in certain police facilities, are not in conformity
with international standards. The Committee is also concerned that administrative detainees
can be held in such cells for several months. It is particularly concerned at the conditions in
the Vilnius City Police Headquarters Arrest House, especially with regard to a number of
cells with no access to natural light or ventilation that are also used for lengthy
administrative detention. (arts. 11, 13 and 16)
The State party should:
(a)
Continue to take steps to improve conditions in police detention facilities
with regard to material conditions, including infrastructure, hygiene, access to natural
and artificial light, ventilation, the partitioning of sanitary facilities, and clean
mattresses and bedding, as well as with regard to the regimen of outdoor activities, in
accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
(b)
Ensure that the renovation of existing police detention facilities and the
building of new ones continues according to schedule, and ensure that police arrest
houses are properly equipped to hold administrative detainees;
(c)
Comply with the Programme for the Optimization of the Operations of
Police Detention Facilities 2009–2015 and with the hygiene norms entitled “Police
detention facilities: general health safety requirements”.
Conditions of detention in prison facilities and inter-prisoner violence
20.
The Committee is concerned at the high number of prisoners in the penitentiary
system, which results in serious overcrowding in some prison facilities and gives rise to
inter-prisoner violence, mostly a result of inadequate management and staffing. It is also
concerned that the infrastructure and poor material conditions in a number of prisons,
especially in the Lukiskes and Siauliai prisons, including living space per prisoner, are not
in conformity with international standards and that prisoners are not provided with a
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