E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.2 page 9 B. State of São Paulo 1. Police stations 16. The Special Rapporteur visited several police stations. In all of them, overcrowding was the main problem. For example, cells of the 50th district police station were holding five times more people than their official capacity. In all police stations visited, detainees were held in subhuman conditions in very dirty and smelly cells without proper light and ventilation. It was unbearably humid in most cells. Detainees had to share thin mattresses or sleep on the bare concrete floor, and often had to sleep in shifts because of the lack of space. Recent and long-term detainees were mixed together, some having just been arrested while others were in pre-trial detention; a large number had already been sentenced, but could not be transferred to prisons because of lack of space. 17. In all police station lock-ups, the Special Rapporteur heard from detainees the same testimonies of beatings with iron and wooden sticks or bars or being subjected to telefone, in particular during interrogation sessions to extract confessions, after attempted escapes or revolts, and to maintain calm and order. Plastic bags sprayed with pepper were said to be put over the detainees’ heads in order to suffocate them and a large number of allegations referred to electroshocks. 18. On 26 August, the Special Rapporteur visited the 50th district police station where 166 persons were detained in six cells built to hold up to 30; 10 days before the visit of the Special Rapporteur, there were said to have been more than 200 persons. Some had spent more than a year in these cells. Five police officers per shift were said to guard all the detainees, which posed serious problems with respect to security and order. According to the authorities, during the week before the visit of the Special Rapporteur, there had been four attempted escapes. 19. In one cell measuring approximately 15 square metres 32 persons were detained. They indicated that they were sleeping in shifts on the six very thin mattresses they possessed. A hole was used as a toilet and shower. From Monday to Friday, they were reportedly let out of their cells and could use the little patio. According to the information received, relatives and friends of detainees were humiliated and harassed by police officers during visits. Detainees were allegedly also insulted by the guards during the visits. Only close relatives were said to be authorized to visit and only basic food, such as crackers and noodles, were allowed. 20. The Special Rapporteur visited the cell where the so-called seguros were detained, i.e. those allegedly in need of protection from other detainees and therefore held separately. The cell measured approximately nine square metres and contained five beds. Sixteen persons were held there. Some confirmed that they had fought with other inmates while others did not know why they were detained in the seguros cell. One detainee believed he had a contagious disease. It is also believed that some were held in the seguros cell because they could not afford to buy space in a normal cell. They were allegedly never taken out of their cell, even during visits by their relatives.