E/CN.4/2004/3/Add.3 page 11 to ensure that no one is detained on these grounds in the future. The Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials are being incorporated into domestic legislation, and human rights observatories have been set up in the interior of the country to tackle urgent human rights problems; the observatories include a facility to deal with complaints. 30. While the Working Group was in Argentina, the Government dismissed the chief of the federal police. It had previously dismissed a dozen senior police superintendents from this force. The new Government had barely taken office before it dismissed 19 generals from the army, 14 from the navy and 10 from the air force. The Government has opened neighbourhood prosecutors’ offices in Saavedra-Núñez, La Boca-Barracas and Nueva Pompeya-Parque Patricios. The Working Group was able to visit the Saavedra-Núñez office. The establishment of national prosecutors’ offices in local neighbourhoods has increased the contact between locals and prosecutors. V. AREAS OF CONCERN 31. Although the Working Group welcomes the new Government’s concern for and interest in the promotion and protection of human rights, it is aware of the serious difficulties the Government has inherited in various areas, particularly legislation and practice concerning the deprivation of liberty. These areas of concern are summarized below. A. Arrest and detention within the framework of criminal proceedings 32. The Working Group is extremely concerned about the physical conditions that it found in most of the detention centres that it visited in Argentina. The Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations on Argentina’s third periodic report (CCPR/C/ARG/98/3), expressed deep concern that prison conditions failed to meet the requirements of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR/CO/70/ARG, para. 11). The Committee stated that severe overcrowding and the poor quality of the basic necessities and services provided to detainees, particularly with regard to food, clothing and medical care, were incompatible with Argentina’s international obligations. 33. The Working Group endorses this conclusion. Although the Working Group’s mandate does not cover conditions of detention or the treatment of prisoners, it must consider to what extent detention conditions can negatively affect the ability of detainees to prepare their defence as well as their chances of a fair trial. One of the circumstances that the Working Group took into consideration before giving an opinion on the arbitrariness of detention is the serious violation, in full or in part, of international standards relating to due process of law. Detention may then become arbitrary. One of the fundamental principles of due process is equality of arms between the prosecution and the defence. A detainee who has to endure detention conditions that affect his or her health, safety or well-being is participating in the proceedings in less favourable conditions than the prosecution.