CAT/OP/BOL/3 instructions concerning the duties and functions of police and prison personnel that are issued;5 (b) Adopt a clear and comprehensive prison policy in order to ensure that the prison disciplinary system is administered exclusively by prison staff (in accordance with Sentence Enforcement and Supervision Act No. 2298) rather than by section representatives and/or other members of the prisons’ self-governance structure; (c) Suppress the use of chemical, mechanical and physical restraints in psychiatric institutions in accordance with article 16 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; (d) Urgently conduct a nationwide audit of the material conditions in punishment cells where detainees are actually held and put in place an action plan to clean and renovate them or close them if the conditions they afford are not in line with international standards. B. Impunity 22. The Subcommittee was informed that the reasons why victims did not report the perpetrators (police officers, prison officers or members of the prisons’ self-governing hierarchy) of such abuses included their fear of being mistreated or tortured again, the risk of reprisals being taken against them or their families and the lack of effective reporting and complaint mechanisms. 23. The Subcommittee is concerned by reports of three violent deaths in Chonchocoro Prison that have not been investigated either by criminal justice or administrative authorities. 24. The Subcommittee urges the State party to open and pursue thorough investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment reportedly committed by police officers and/or prison personnel and to establish the responsibility of superior officials who instigate, encourage, consent to or acquiesce in such acts. 6 25. The Subcommittee reiterates its previous recommendation concerning the Forensic Investigation Institute and the implementation of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) and urges the State party to take measures to ensure that forensic reports are prepared in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol and in such a way as to make it possible to document suspected cases of torture.7 The Subcommittee also recommends that, in accordance with the obligations assumed by the State party under articles 12 and 16 of the Convention against Torture, a prompt and impartial investigation be conducted wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture or ill-treatment has been committed. Such investigations should be undertaken even in the absence of a formal complaint. 26. Both the Committee against Torture and the Subcommittee have concluded that the current definition of torture set forth in article 295 of the Criminal Code is inadequate. 8 The reasons for this conclusion were shared by the Subcommittee with the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the Subcommittee’s report on its first visit, which took place in 2010.9 5 6 7 8 9 6 Declaración sobre la Protección de Todas las Personas contra la Tortura y Otros Tratos o Penas Crueles, Inhumanos o Degradantes, aprobada por la Asamblea General en su resolución 3452 (XXX), de 9 de diciembre de 1975, art. 5. Observación general núm. 2 (2008) sobre la aplicación del artículo 2 por los Estados partes, párr. 26. Véase CAT/OP/BOL/R.1, párr. 56. Véase A/56/44, párr. 95, apdo. a) y CAT/C/BOL/CO/2. A saber, a) la tipificación actual no comprende la totalidad de los elementos previstos en la legislación internacional aplicable, y prevé penas que no están de acuerdo con la gravedad de los hechos; b) dicha tipificación coloca a las víctimas en una situación de total indefensión legal, y más GE.18-12272

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