Information is also provided on the measures being taken or under consideration to implement the CPT’s recommendations concerning inter-prisoner violence, and to enhance the programme of activities in prison. The authorities also state that they have no objection to reducing the maximum duration of disciplinary confnement from 21 to 14 days but that this will require legislative amendments. 82. As regards Monsanto High Security Prison, where prisoners were confned alone in their cells for some 21 hours a day, recommendations are made to develop the range of purposeful activities and to promote better contacts between staf and prisoners. Further, the authorities are again requested to institute rigorous safeguards concerning the placement of prisoners, and any extension thereof, in the high-security estate. The report also invites the Portuguese authorities to phase out the carrying of truncheons by custodial staf in detention areas at both Lisbon Central and Monsanto Prisons, stating that it is not conducive to promoting positive relations between staf and inmates. In parallel, steps should be taken to upgrade the skills of prison staf in handling high-risk situations without using unnecessary force, in particular by providing regular training in averting crises and defusing tension and in the use of safe methods of manual control and restraint. 83. In the course of the May 2013 visit, the CPT’s delegation also examined in detail the investigation into a serious allegation of ill-treatment of a person by a National Republican Guard (GNR) ofcer, which it had raised in the report on the 2012 visit to Portugal. The Portuguese authorities had been requested to carry out an investigation into this case; however, the response of the authorities appeared to indicate that no efective investigation had in fact been carried out. The 2013 report highlights a series of defciencies undermining the efectiveness of the investigation of this case, notably as regards the promptness, thoroughness and independence of the investigation. Further, it raises concerns as to the fow of information between the GNR, the Inspectorate General of Home Afairs (IGAI) and the Public Prosecutor’s Ofce. In their extensive response, the Portuguese authorities concur with the CPT’s fndings concerning the investigation into this specifc case and refer to the steps being taken to ensure that the Public Prosecutor’s Ofce and the relevant inspectorates are informed directly of any allegation of ill-treatment in the future. Report and response published in November 2013, CPT/Inf (2013) 35 and CPT/Inf (2013) 36 Report on the periodic visit to the Russian Federation in May/June 2012 and response of the Russian authorities (torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement ofcials, impunity, safeguards against ill-treatment, conditions of detention in law enforcement establishments and prisons) 84. In the course of the visit, the CPT’s delegation assessed progress made since previous visits and in particular the extent to which the Committee’s recommendations have been implemented in the areas of police custody and pretrial detention in Moscow and Leningrad Regions as well as in the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan. The delegation also visited a closed-type prison (t’yurma), in Vladimir Region, and paid a follow-up visit to Yagul Strict-Regime Colony No. 1 in the Republic of Udmurtia. Publication highlights ► Page 41