296.The Subcommittee recommends that the State party should allocate sufficient budget resources to provide food for detainees and ensure, through the necessary oversight mechanisms, that the food purchased is nutritious, effectively distributed to all inmates, and prepared and served in a decent manner. The Subcommittee also recommends that persons deprived of liberty should systematically be given at least two litres of drinking water a day, free of charge. 297.The Subcommittee recalls that, in line with international human rights standards, detained persons must receive free medical care and treatment whenever necessary. The Subcommittee recommends that, unless police staff has the medical training necessary to diagnose detainees’ ailments, they should immediately authorize any request from a detainee to see a doctor. C.Situation of persons deprived of their liberty in prisons 298.The Subcommittee recommends that effective measures be taken to comply with the decisions handed down by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court with reference to the improvement of living conditions for all persons held in the country’s prisons. 299.The Subcommittee recommends that the necessary measures be taken to resolve the problem of overcrowding in prisons, including reducing the length of pretrial detention, finding alternatives to prison sentences, and improving the infrastructure of the prisons. In particular, the State party should ensure the right of all prisoners to have a separate bed and sufficient bedding. 300.The Subcommittee notes that the lack of separation between convicted prisoners and prisoners awaiting trial constitutes a violation of article 10 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and recommends that the Honduran authorities take measures to ensure that these categories of prisoners are held in separate facilities or in separate sections of the same facility. 301.The Subcommittee recommends the establishment in prisons of a uniform system for recording admissions, in the form of a bound book with numbered pages, in which the identity of the persons held, the reasons for their arrest and the authority which ordered it, as well as the date and time of admission and release, should be clearly indicated. Prison staff should receive instructions on how to use the record books, so that they do not leave blank spaces between entries. The Subcommittee further recommends the establishment of a uniform system for recording disciplinary actions, in which the identity of the offender, the penalty imposed, its duration and the officer who ordered it should be indicated. 302.With regard to prison management, the Subcommittee recommends: (a)Adopting a prison policy that sets out a comprehensive plan with goals, objectives and phases, for the establishment of an autonomous structure, independent of the police and capable of carrying out the duties and tasks that are vital to its purposes; (b)Increasing the number of prison guards to an appropriate level to ensure respect for the safety of all prisoners; (c)Replacing police with specialist prison staff, properly selected and trained, and with supervisory and administrative officers who are identifiable to prisoners and prison staff; (d)Training prison personnel, including guards and managers, and paying them adequate salaries. The Subcommittee recommends that the State consider the possibility of establishing a higher-level course for prison officers as a means of raising professional standards among prison staff. The Prison System Act, currently going through Congress, may prove to be a valuable tool for organizing the prison system within a framework of legality and effectiveness, and the Subcommittee therefore recommends its prompt adoption and implementation; (e)Ensuring respect for the principle of equal treatment, whereby the prison regime must be the same for all prisoners, without differences in treatment or discrimination against individuals for financial or any other reasons; (f)Ensuring that the prison authorities are responsible for the assignment of cells and beds, so that all inmates have a decent place to sleep, sufficient food, recreation, sanitary facilities and other amenities that safeguard the right to decent treatment, without having to pay for them. Prison authorities should assume responsibility for guaranteeing this right; (g)Adopting measures to promote access by civil society and representatives of the media as a means of ensuring public oversight; (h)Banning staff from carrying money within the facility, and overseeing the enforcement of the ban; and (i)Recording in the inmates’ personal files the wings to which they are assigned and the reasons for that assignment. 303.The Subcommittee recommends that medical practitioners examine all inmates on admission to prison. The examination must be carried out in accordance with a standard questionnaire which, in addition to general health questions, should include an account of any recent acts of violence against them. The medical practitioner should also conduct a complete medical check-up, including a full body examination. If a patient shows signs of having been subjected to acts of violence, the doctor must assess whether their account is consistent with the results of the medical examination. Any doctor who has reason to believe that torture or ill-treatment has taken place must inform the competent authorities. 304.The Subcommittee recommends the adoption of a systematic and comprehensive medical record system. It emphasizes that the right of prisoners to consult a doctor at any time free of charge must be respected, and recommends that steps be taken to give effect to this right. Prisoners should be able to consult medical practitioners in confidence without having their requests blocked or screened by guards or other inmates. 305.The Subcommittee further recommends that the authorities increase the length of the doctor’s working day and establish a