CAT/C/GIN/CO/1
(d)
Taking preventive measures to avoid the spread of infectious disease
caused by uncleanliness in places of detention and ensuring that detainees have
prompt access to qualified medical personnel;
(e)
Ensuring that prison staff are trained and that their wages are paid by
the State or the penal facilities, and not by prisoners or members of their families, and
taking all necessary measures to combat widespread corruption in the prison
environment.
Pending its ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture
and the implementation of the national preventive mechanism, the State party should
also establish a national monitoring system for all places of detention, and cooperate
with non-governmental organizations for this purpose, in particular by giving them
access to facilities for the deprivation of liberty.
Secret detention facilities
15.
The Committee takes note of the information provided by the delegation to the effect
that there are no longer any secret detention facilities in the State party. It is nevertheless
concerned at reports that some persons are still being held in unofficial detention centres,
including the military prison on Kassa Island, which was supposed to have been officially
closed in January 2010. The Committee is also concerned by the case of 33 persons arrested
on 24 and 25 September 2013 in Conakry who were transferred and secretly detained at the
Soronkony military camp for more than a week. These detainees were subjected to
numerous acts of torture, and one of them died. Despite the compensation of 50 million
Guinean francs paid to the victims, the Committee deplores that the application made by the
Prosecutor’s Office to the Dixinn Court of first instance is still awaiting the opening of
judicial proceedings against the perpetrators (arts. 2, 11 and 12).
The State party should:
(a)
Close, as a matter of urgency, the secret detention facilities and ensure
that the persons detained there enjoy all legal guarantees, particularly as regards the
right to be brought before a judge within a maximum of 48 hours after being arrested
or detained, the right to consult a lawyer of their choice and the right to be examined
by a doctor, preferably of their choice;
(b)
Investigate and ensure that no person is detained in secret or unofficial
detention facilities, prevent any type of unlawful detention on its territory and
investigate any allegations relating to such incidents;
(c)
Ensure that detention takes place in an official detention facility and that
the identity of the detainee and the place of detention are recorded in a central
register that may be consulted by the persons concerned.
Violence against women
16.
The Committee is extremely concerned at reports of widespread violence affecting
more than 90 per cent of women and girls. It deplores that prompt and effective
investigations are conducted only rarely because of, inter alia, the difficulties that victims of
sexual violence or domestic violence have in gaining access to justice and the lack of
shelters where they can take refuge. The Committee is extremely concerned that articles
321 and 322 of the Criminal Code classify rape and sexual abuse, which are extremely
widespread, as “immoral acts” and “indecent assault”, respectively, and not as crimes
against the person, particularly given the impunity that prevails in this area, whether they
are committed by law enforcement officers or by private individuals (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16).
GE.14-05766
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