CAT/C/54/2 Subcommittee is aware that some people are deprived of their liberty within the criminal justice system with a de facto absence of intent on behalf of the relevant authorities to actually bring them to trial. Some authorities exploit ambiguities within national law or deliberately misuse terms in order to apply and extend periods of pretrial detention, thereby placing detainees at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Accordingly, the Subcommittee considers that it is not appropriate or useful to develop and apply its own definition; instead, in the light of its guiding principles on the concept of prevention of torture and other ill-treatment (see CAT/OP/12/6), the Subcommittee takes a country-specific approach to its mandate and considers the national legal framework and the way it is applied in each State party. For the purposes of the consideration of this issue the Subcommittee will use the terms “pretrial detention” and “pretrial detainees” as generic terms to encompass the various and diverse legal categorizations of untried detainees in the criminal justice systems that may exist among States parties. 74. The aim of the Subcommittee is not to set out standards in relation to pretrial detention, but to explain the preventive approach taken by the Subcommittee to reinforce the overall objective of the existing relevant standards in order to make them operational and realizable within States parties. B. Correlation between excessive use and misuse of pretrial detention and the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment 75. The Subcommittee has observed that at different stages of deprivation of liberty within the criminal justice context the likelihood of torture and other ill-treatment occurring may be triggered by a range of factors and local conditions. During the initial stages of a criminal investigation the incentive to obtain a “confession” and extract information can expose individuals to a particular risk of torture. Subsequent to the investigative period, pretrial detainees may be subjected to poor conditions of detention that may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, incommunicado detention, physical and psychological abuse by staff, interprisoner violence and other human rights violations. The Subcommittee is concerned that sometimes persons are held in unofficial or secret places of detention where they are particularly at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. It reiterates that all persons deprived of their liberty must be held in official places of detention and that unofficial and secret detention is a violation of international human rights law. 76. It is a recognized norm of international law that pretrial detention must be used as a last resort, for the shortest time possible, and only for the most serious offences. When it is used it must be applied with respect for the physical and mental integrity of the individual and in conformity with other international human rights standards. Yet States continue to disregard the presumption against detention, and pretrial detainees account for a significant number, sometimes a majority, of persons deprived of their liberty in the criminal justice context within States. The Subcommittee has observed that conditions in places of pretrial detention are often worse than in other places of detention, and pretrial detainees are frequently denied certain rights and safeguards that they should be accorded under the legal concept of presumption of innocence, which takes into account their special status as unconvicted detainees. In addition, some States apply the concept of “progressive treatment”, denying some detainees full access to services provided by the institution contrary to international law. In accordance with international law all persons deprived of their liberty must enjoy the full extent of the rights and opportunities they are entitled to under international human rights law and should not be discriminated against. 15