CAT/C/NER/CO/1 (f) Systematically order impartial investigations into all suspicious deaths in police custody or detention, including forensic examinations by doctors duly trained in the Istanbul Protocol. Conditions of detention 21. Despite the legislative and institutional steps taken by the State party and the refurbishment of several prisons in recent years, the Committee is deeply concerned about the fact that the conditions of detention in many of the country’s prisons and police stations amount to ill-treatment. The Committee is concerned at the unsanitary conditions, lack of ventilation, poor lighting, insufficient food and water and alarming overcrowding (up to 300 per cent) in some prisons. With regard to remand prisoners, whose conditions of detention are a matter of particular concern, the Committee notes that their cells are cramped, poorly lit and poorly ventilated and that no food is provided, which means that prisoners are entirely dependent on their family members, if they have any, for food and water. The Committee also regrets the lack of effective separation between different categories of inmates, the lack of adequately trained and qualified prison staff, the lack of medical examinations on admission and the alarming rates of morbidity and mortality in places of detention. In Niamey remand prison, for instance, recent reports indicate that the death rate due to malaria and other diseases is around 1 per cent. This situation is exacerbated by the lack of adequate medical care and treatment as prisons are equipped only with infirmaries (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 22. The Committee calls on the State party promptly to take all necessary measures to bring conditions of detention in prisons and police custody facilities into line with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), and in particular to: (a) Improve the material conditions in all places of deprivation of liberty by ensuring that prisoners have access to water and sufficient quantities of adequate food and that they enjoy decent sanitary conditions and adequate ventilation in cells in keeping with the climatic conditions; (b) Reduce overcrowding in all prisons by making greater use of alternatives to detention; (c) Provide prisons and other places of detention with a sufficient number of qualified, trained staff, including professional guards and medical personnel, with a doctor in each facility, to ensure the provision of appropriate care; (d) Carry out a routine medical examination at the start of detention and compile an individual, comprehensive and confidential medical file for each detainee; (e) Take every necessary measure to combat infectious diseases in prisons and ensure that all deaths in custody are promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated, including by means of independent forensic examinations. National Human Rights Commission and national mechanism for the prevention of torture 23. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission and is pleased to note that: (a) it has been granted category A status as it is fully in line with the Paris Principles; (b) it is tasked with receiving complaints, conducting investigations and carrying out regular scheduled or unannounced visits to places of detention in accordance with article 19 of Act No. 2012-44; and (c) the delegation of the Niger has stated that it accepts the recommendations made by the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment following the Subcommittee’s visit in 2017. However, the Committee is concerned at the inadequacy of the resources allocated to the Commission, whose overall annual budget, which was 300 million CFA francs in 2019, has prevented it from opening five out of eight planned regional branches. This lack of resources is of particular concern to the Committee as plans are in place to expand the Commission’s mandate to allow it to undertake the mandate of the national preventive mechanism, which should have been established in 2015. 6 GE.19-22137