A/HRC/16/52/Add.5 71. In the correctional institutions visited by the Special Rapporteur, the women’s sections of the facilities were better maintained. With the exception of the Baisu correctional institution, female detainees were only guarded by female officers. In the Bomana correctional institution, the section for women with children was overcrowded, and detainees were forced to sleep on the floor. In addition, the food given to the mothers was inappropriate for breastfeeding mothers and for children, although they were allowed to eat some vegetables that they grew themselves. Access to medical attention was limited and there was concern among the detainees about cases of tuberculosis. The Special Rapporteur also received many complaints from female detainees that they were not allowed to wear brassieres, which caused many of them severe pain. 72. In the Bihute correctional institution, women were provided with several educational and recreational opportunities. Counselling was also available for detainees, and officers were actively involved in rehabilitation processes. Medical attention was available and, in general, the facility offered a suitable environment for children living with their mothers in detention. The women’s section in Bihute should serve as an example to other prisons throughout the country. V. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 73. The Special Rapporteur expresses his deep appreciation to the Government of Papua New Guinea for the cooperation of the authorities during his mission, which he interprets as a sign of the Government’s willingness to open up to independent and objective scrutiny. He also appreciates the challenges faced by the Government in addressing the widespread violence in the country, a particularly challenging task owing to the very different cultures and beliefs and more than 800 languages spoken in the country. 74. The Special Rapporteur expresses his concern that the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary is not always in a position to enforce the rule of law, owing to insufficient human and financial resources, widespread corruption and lack of professionalism, the difficulties in reaching remote rural areas and the lack of political will. 75. On the basis of discussions with public officials, judges, lawyers and representatives of civil society, interviews with victims of violence and with persons deprived of their liberty, often supported by forensic medical evidence, the Special Rapporteur found isolated cases of torture in the classical sense of deliberately inflicting severe pain or suffering as a means of extracting a confession or information. He also found a considerable number of cases where persons were subjected to different degrees of beatings by the police during the arrest and as a form of punishment, which may also amount to torture. He found evidence of systematic beatings of detainees upon arrest or within the first hours of detention, including during interrogation. Impunity for these cases is fuelled by the absence of effective complaint mechanisms, independent investigations, monitoring and other similar safeguards. 76. The Special Rapporteur found a general atmosphere of violence in places of detention, as well as neglect in all police lock-ups and some correctional institutions. The conditions of detention in police stations did not comply with international minimum standards for the humane treatment of detainees. Detainees were locked up in overcrowded and filthy cells, without proper ventilation or natural light for periods 16