42.At the federal level, the Subcommittee was informed about the periodic assessments carried out to assign inmates a classification by “category” (an assessment of their potential for reinsertion in society). This assessment, together with behaviour in prison, is used to assign a quarterly classification to each inmate, and this has an impact both on their status in prison and on the possibility of release through conditional or assisted release. The Subcommittee is concerned about the classification by “category”, because it entails legal consequences based on assessments of the person’s future behaviour. 43. The Subcommittee considers that the classification of prison inmates should be based on their conduct and not on a notion of “category”. The Subcommittee calls on the State party to analyse the compatibility of this criminological practice with protection of the human rights of persons deprived of their liberty. (c)Pretrial detention 44.A large proportion of prison inmates are in pretrial detention, although the situation may vary considerably from one facility to another. For example, at the Olmos prison, on the day of the Subcommittee’s visit there were 1,865 prisoners on remand and 202 convicted prisoners, whereas in Unit 30, there were 1,065 convicted prisoners and 335 remand prisoners. According to official statistics, 55 per cent of inmates in federal prisons have not received a definitive sentence. The Subcommittee observed that prisoners on remand and convicted prisoners usually share the same premises. 45.Both the provincial and the federal authorities acknowledged the excessive use of pretrial detention as well as serious shortcomings in penal procedure as regards processing cases within the time limits and in the manner laid down by law, despite the measures taken in recent years to ease the backlog of the courts. The excessive length of pretrial detention leads to situations in which detainees spend as long or even longer in pretrial detention than the sentence finally handed down. 46. The Subcommittee endorses the recommendation made by the Human Rights Committee that the State party should take measures, without delay, to reduce the number of persons held in pretrial detention and the length of pretrial detention by taking steps such as wider recourse to precautionary measures or greater use of bail or of electronic bracelets. The Subcommittee recommends that an evaluation be made of the use of pretrial detention and of its duration, with a view to reorienting the practice of the courts towards the elimination of subjective assessments based on “category” or dangerousness. 47. The State party should ensure that prisoners on remand are separated from convicted prisoners, in conformity with the requirements of the relevant international instruments. (d)Health services 48.The Subcommittee noted with concern the inadequacy of medical services in both federal and provincial prison facilities. The lack of health services was manifest, for example, at Unit 28, Judicial Detention Centre (U28 of the Federal Prison Service), as was the lack of medical staff at U46, where not even emergency medical care appeared to be assured. One detainee at the Olmos facility, whom the Subcommittee interviewed, had undergone a colostomy one year previously and had been waiting months for an operation. Since his arrival in the Unit several weeks earlier, his requests to be examined by a doctor had been ignored and the conditions of hygiene in his cell were deplorable. 49.At No. 1 penal facility in Ezeiza, the Subcommittee received complaints from inmates about the lack of respect for their privacy, as examinations on admission were conducted in the presence of persons other than medical staff. The Subcommittee noted that neither inmates nor their lawyers received copies of any medical examinations made of injuries and that the forms provide no space for the physician to make comments. 50. The State should guarantee effective round-the-clock medical assistance in all prisons, seven days a week. Any medical examination, including examinations on admission to prison, should strictly observe the right to privacy and confidentiality. Medical reports should include a reference to the possible cause of any injury reported by the person deprived of liberty. 51.The Subcommittee is concerned about the lack of adequate medical services for women. At U46 and U3, for example, there was no proper gynaecological unit and inmates complained that examinations were conducted in the corridors, in a humiliating manner. Nor did the children of inmates who lived with them receive regular medical care. 52. The State should adopt measures to ensure that all women, and in particular pregnant women, have regular access to confidential medical care from qualified health professionals. It should guarantee that children living in prisons with their mothers have access to health-care services and that their development is monitored by specialists. 53.The Subcommittee observed that despite progress towards ensuring the independence of the medical service by separating it from the prison service, it is still under the authority of the Ministry of Justice and Security and works in close collaboration with the Prison Service. This seems to restrict the capacity of health professionals independently to record possible signs of torture and ill-treatment on any detainees they are called on to examine. 54. The Subcommittee recommends that medical services be provided directly by the Ministry of Health at both the federal and provincial levels. It also recommends that the State party establish a system of independent examinations, in conformity with the Istanbul Protocol, by virtue of which qualified forensic physicians and psychologists carry out exhaustive examinations whenever there are any signs that a detainee may have been subjected to torture or illtreatment. 55.The Subcommittee takes note of the information provided by the State that following its visit, the Buenos Aires Prison Service