CAT/OP/MNG/1 C. Material conditions of detention at police stations 57. The Subcommittee was gravely concerned at the physical conditions in most of the temporary detention and sobering-up units visited. Many were located underground with a high level of humidity, poor ventilation and limited access to natural light. Although no overcrowding was observed, detention cells appeared to be very old and have inadequate bedding. Hygienic and sanitary conditions were uniformly poor. Food and water did not appear to be provided. 58. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party take immediate measures to improve the physical conditions of temporary detention facilities and sobering-up units, with a view to bringing them into compliance with international standards, including concerning ventilation, natural light and sanitation. Food and water should be provided to all those detained, on an appropriate basis. D. Health-care system 59. The Subcommittee is concerned that health-care assistance is virtually absent at police stations. 60. The Subcommittee recommends that access to, and medical examination by, an independent doctor be guaranteed, conducted as soon as possible after initial detention and properly recorded. Medical records should be made available to detainees and/or their legal representatives upon detainees’ request. All forensic medical staff should undergo training on the Istanbul Protocol, which is an indispensable tool for detecting, documenting and deterring torture and ill-treatment. VI. Places of deprivation of liberty: pretrial and sentenced A. Pretrial detention: general concerns 61. The Subcommittee welcomes the considerable decrease in the number of detainees held in pretrial detention, brought about by the new laws that entered into force on 1 July 2017, which, among other things, reduced the maximum period of pretrial detention from 24 to 18 months. Legal regime 62. The Subcommittee is concerned that decisions to extend periods of pretrial detention are often communicated to detainees through the prosecutor and are not considered at a court hearing in the presence of detainees and their lawyers. The Subcommittee received information about one such case, in which a detainee was held in pretrial detention for 15 months without being brought before a judge. Such hearings are an important safeguard against torture or ill-treatment, since, during such hearings, detainees or their lawyers should be able to raise any concerns and the judge should be able to order an immediate independent and effective investigation if there is prima facie evidence of ill-treatment. 63. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party ensure that decisions to hold a person in pretrial detention and to extend periods of pretrial detention should be made by a judge who has heard from the detainee. Outside activity and contact with outside world 64. The Subcommittee is very concerned that detainees held in pretrial detention have almost no out-of-cell time. Pretrial detainees were only allowed out of their cells once or twice per week for periods of between 15 and 30 minutes, which falls far short of the internationally recognized standard of a minimum of one hour of out-of-cell time per day. Moreover, during those short periods, detainees were confined in what are best described as open-air cages, which were too small to allow for any physical exercise; indeed, some 12