CAT/OP/ESP/1 22. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party, in keeping with rules 47 and 48 of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), ensure that coercive measures are used only on an exceptional basis, as a last resort and only when there are no alternatives or lesser means available and in a manner that respects the fundamental rights of persons deprived of their liberty. In addition, the Subcommittee urges the State party to take the necessary steps to ensure that daily medical supervision is provided on an ongoing basis for as long as the coercive measures are in place and that such measures are used for the shortest amount of time possible. The Subcommittee also recommends that the State party ensure that mechanical restraints are not used as a punishment for persons deprived of their liberty who are at risk of committing suicide. 23. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party pursue its efforts to keep appropriate records of the use of coercive measures, including information on the circumstances justifying the decision to apply the measures, the staff member who applied the restraints and the starting and ending times of the measure’s application. 24. The Subcommittee recommends that, in keeping with rule 49 of the Nelson Mandela Rules, persons responsible for applying coercive measures be properly informed and trained and that the handbook on good practices in the use of mechanical restraints published by the national preventive mechanism be followed. D. Solitary confinement 25. During its visit, the Subcommittee observed that the rules on prison discipline provide for the use of solitary confinement. Article 42 of the Prison Act lists solitary confinement as a possible disciplinary sanction whose application is not to exceed 14 days. However, pursuant to article 42 (5), when two or more periods of solitary confinement are imposed and are to be completed consecutively, it can last up to 42 days. Articles 236 and 253 ff. of the Prison Regulations also set 42 days as the maximum duration of solitary confinement. In addition, the aforementioned provisions establish that, if solitary confinement is to exceed 14 days, judicial authorization must be sought and that, in all cases, the person concerned must undergo a medical examination prior to being placed in isolation and then each day for the duration of the measure. 26. The Subcommittee observed that, when solitary confinement is applied, a report is included in the file of the person deprived of liberty and the information is transmitted to the sentence administration judge. It also observed that doctors do rounds during which they attend to the detainee being held in solitary confinement. However, the doctors merely ask whether all is well, without lingering to ask further questions or perform a more detailed medical examination. Similarly, the Subcommittee was informed by some inmates that solitary confinement had been enforced for longer than 14 days. 27. The Subcommittee recommends that the State party review and modify the maximum duration of solitary confinement such that it does not exceed the 15 consecutive days provided for in rule 44 of the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Subcommittee also recommends that the State party ensure that solitary confinement is used only as a last resort in exceptional cases. It urges the State party to ensure that a proper medical examination is carried out when persons are in solitary confinement and that all the safeguards provided for in the Prison Act and rules 45 and 46 of the Nelson Mandela Rules are upheld. E. Closed regime 28. The Subcommittee is concerned at the manner in which the closed regime is applied to inmates who are considered extremely dangerous or those for whom the ordinary or open regimes are not suitable, inasmuch as the closed regime places considerable restrictions on the daily lives and group activities of detainees. For example, there were reports that detainees subject to this regime do not have access to the library or to organized physical activity like the other detainees and that they are subjected to daily body searches, including 6 GE.19-17184