A/66/44 The Committee urges the State party to take immediate and effective measures to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture, and to ensure that torture is not used by law enforcement personnel, including by unambiguously reaffirming the absolute prohibition of torture and publicly condemning practices of torture, especially by the police and prison officers, and issuing a clear warning that anyone committing such acts or otherwise complicit or participating in torture will be held personally responsible before the law for such acts and will be subject to criminal prosecution and appropriate penalties. Conditions of detention (16) The Committee takes note of the information provided by the State party on steps taken to deal with the problems of overcrowding and prolonged pretrial detention, notably by the construction of a new penitentiary at Ankaful, and the introduction of the Justice for All programme in 2007. The Committee is nevertheless concerned at the high levels of occupancy recorded in most detention centres, which are described in the State party’s report as “in very deplorable state” and “not suitable for habitation”. It further notes with particular concern persistent reports of the lack of staff, poor health and hygiene conditions, inadequate health-care services, shortage of bedding and food. In this regard, the Committee notes that inmates are fed by the State only once a day because the stipend for their upkeep is below US$ 1. The Committee also expresses concern at reports about the limited number of remand homes for juvenile offenders, and the poor conditions in such institutions. The Committee takes positive note of the marked decrease in the number of deaths in prison (from 118 in 2008 to 55 in 2010), but regrets the lack of information on the causes of these deaths. It also regrets the lack of information on the conditions of detention for migrants with irregular administrative status (art. 11). The State party should: (a) Ensure that conditions of detention in the country’s prisons are compatible with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; (b) Increase its efforts to remedy prison overcrowding, in particular by instituting alternatives to custodial sentences; (c) Continue to put into effect plans to improve and expand the prison infrastructure and the remand centres, including those for juvenile offenders; (d) Take steps to increase the number of prison officials; (e) Examine the adequacy of health-care resources available in penitentiary institutions, and ensure that the medical assistance given to detainees is of high quality; (f) Review all legal provisions which authorize the practice of caning or flogging with a view to abolishing them as a matter of priority. The State party should include in its next periodic report statistical data regarding reported deaths in custody, disaggregated by location of detention, sex, age, ethnicity of the deceased and cause of death. Psychiatric facilities (17) The Committee is concerned at reports about the inadequate treatment of mental health patients and poor living conditions in psychiatric institutions, in particular at Accra Psychiatric Hospital. The Committee notes with concern the reports of severe overcrowding, lack of qualified staff and poor material and hygienic conditions in this psychiatric facility. It is also deeply concerned at the situation of persons admitted by reason of a court order, who have allegedly been abandoned for years. In this regard, the GE.11-45568 85