Situation during visit
(A/HRC/7/3/Add.4)
Steps taken to implement the recommendations
financial capacity, often leading to extended
detention for periods of up to several weeks in
police stations before being presented to court.
(g) All detainees should be effectively
guaranteed the ability to challenge the
lawfulness of the detention before an
independent court, e.g. through habeas corpus
proceedings
(h) Judges and prosecutors should routinely
ask persons brought from police custody how
they have been treated and, even in the absence
of a formal complaint from the defendant, order
an independent medical examination in
accordance with the Istanbul Protocol
(i) Those legally arrested should not be held in
facilities under the control of their interrogators
or investigators for more than the time required
by law to obtain a judicial warrant of pretrial
detention, which should not exceed 48 hours.
After this period they should be transferred to a
pretrial facility under a different authority, where
no further unsupervised contact with the
interrogators or investigators should be permitted
De facto the vast majority of detainees did not
have the ability to challenge the lawfulness of
their detention, due to the lack of financial
means, the overload of the entire judicial system
as well as a climate of fear.
While in principle empowered to do so, judges
and prosecutors did not ex-officio enquire about
potential torture and ill-treatment in police
custody.
(j) The maintenance of custody registers should
be scrupulously ensured, including recording of
the time and place of arrest, the identity of the
personnel, the actual place of detention, the state
of health upon arrival of the person at the
detention centre, the time at which the family
and a lawyer were contacted and visited the
The Criminal Code stipulated the keeping of
custody registers, however, in practice these
records were frequently incomplete or
inaccurate.
While legal provisions foresaw that persons
arrested or detained shall be brought before a
judge within one or two days, the majority of
suspects was deprived of their liberty for longer
periods without the required judicial oversight.
Non-governmental sources: Extended detention at
police stations was the norm. Numerous people
awaiting trial spend weeks in the police station
after their arrest, without seeing a judge despite
the constitutional guarantee to be brought before a
judge within 48 hours. Police routinely detain
suspects and witnesses prior to investigation,
including for non-serious offences and offences for
which suspects ought to be granted bail; this has
led to a situation where even family members or
witnesses can end up behind bars.
• Non-governmental sources: There is no
reliable archival and record keeping system or
database to enable effective oversight
supervision by the relevant officers
• Lagos State has implemented a new
computerized case tracking system, following
cases through from arraignment to conclusion.
A/HRC/10/44/Add.5
page 80
Recommendation
(A/HRC/7/3/Add.4)
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