20.The Subcommittee found that a disturbingly large number of persons held in police custody said that several days had passed before they had been able to notify a third party of their choice that they were under arrest. 21. The State party should take steps to ensure that persons deprived of their liberty are able to notify a person of their choice that they are under arrest and to tell that person where they are being held, or to request the corresponding authorities to do so. Notification is to be provided without delay following the initial arrest and on each occasion that a detainee is transferred from one location to another. If possible, notification is to be made by telephone, with the date and time of the call being recorded in the register along with the name of the person notified. (c)Medical examinations and medical assistance during police custody 22.Some of the detainees who were interviewed by members of the Subcommittee claimed that they had not undergone a medical examination following their arrest. Others said that they had been cursorily examined by a doctor in the presence of police personnel and that the police had been informed of the results of that examination. 23.In the federal and provincial police stations that were visited, members of the Subcommittee noted major shortcomings in terms of access to medical assistance. They also saw that members of health-care teams were unaware of basic principles set forth in the Istanbul Protocol or did not know how to apply them properly and that they lacked procedural protocols for documenting cases that could involve torture or ill-treatment in their medical and psychological reports. 24. The State party should take appropriate steps to ensure that all persons who are arrested are promptly examined by medical personnel free of charge, that doctors are allowed to work independently and that they are trained in how to examine people who may have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment and how to document such cases in accordance with the Istanbul Protocol. The records to be kept on such examinations should include the name of the examining physician and their results. The Istanbul Protocol should be used as a guide for the preparation of medical and psychological reports and as a tool for the prevention of torture. 25. The State party should put a system into place for making certain that persons in policy custody who are in need of medical treatment have rapid access to such treatment free of charge. (d)Staffing 26.Members of the Subcommittee met with staff from the Federal Police Force of Argentina and the Police Force of Buenos Aires during their visits to police stations and received complaints from members of both of these bodies about problems related to understaffing, underfunding and substandard material working conditions. 27. The State party should make certain that sufficient funds are budgeted to ensure that the federal and provincial police forces will be staffed by motivated, decently paid personnel who have received proper human rights training. Internal oversight mechanisms should be set up to ensure that the police act in accordance with international human rights standards. 2.Conditions of detention 28.The Subcommittee found that conditions were deplorable in the cells in a number of the provincial and federal police stations. For example, the cells in Federal Police Stations Nos. 3 and 15 in the City of Buenos Aires were poorly lit and poorly ventilated and either there were no bedclothes at all or they were totally unsatisfactory. In Provincial Police Station No. 9 in Lomas de Zamora, physical conditions were dreadful, and the degree of overcrowding was quite serious. In Provincial Police Station No. 5 of Lomas de Zamora, the members of the Subcommittee were told by police personnel that the station was not authorized to house detainees. Members of the Subcommittee visited the cells and saw that they were absolutely unsuitable for use as such. When they checked the records, however, they found that people had been held for hours and even days in the police station. This situation was found to exist in other police stations as well. 29.In a number of police stations, access to toilets was limited and both the ventilation and heating were insufficient. At all the police stations visited by members of the Subcommittee in which persons were being held in custody, the members heard complaints about a lack of sufficient food, lack of access to an outside yard and, in the case of persons held in police custody for lengthy periods of time, the lack of exercise or other activities. 30.In contrast to the situations described above, the members of the Subcommittee found that conditions of detention in the Roberto Pettinato de La Plata Departmental Facility were satisfactory. 31. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party conduct an audit of the material conditions in federal and provincial police facilities where persons are held in custody and that it develop an action plan for cleaning and renovating those in which conditions need to be improved. The State party should take the necessary steps to ensure that conditions of detention in police facilities conform to international standards and are such as to meet the basic needs of persons deprived of their liberty in terms of sanitation, the provision of bedclothes, food, water and exercise. The Subcommittee takes note of the provincial government’s plans to build additional detention facilities as part of a cooperation programme with the Latin American Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (ILANUD), whose scope is to extend beyond the preparation of a pilot proposal. This is expected to make it possible to phase out the use of existing police stations as places of detention and to furnish integrated services (including public defence services, medical services, etc.) that will provide people with access to justice, as well as improving physical conditions of detention. The Subcommittee commends the provincial government for undertaking this initiative, which