CAT/C/NIC/CO/1 page 7 defending counsel were notified of their arrest; the date and time on which they were physically brought before a judge; and the date and time on which they left the police station and the authority into whose charge they were handed. Conditions of detention 21. The Committee expresses its concern over the serious problem of overcrowding and other unsatisfactory detention conditions in custodial centres, which adversely affect the health of detainees. The Committee has also taken note of the especially disturbing situation in the Atlántico Norte and Atlántico Sur Autonomous Regions, particularly with regard to the substandard detention conditions prevailing in the Tipitapa and Bluefields prisons (art. 16). The State party should immediately adopt measures to reduce overcrowding in prisons and to improve infrastructure and hygiene. It should provide the equipment, staff and budgetary resources needed to ensure that detention conditions throughout the country meet minimum international standards. 22. The Committee notes the information provided during its dialogue with the State party regarding detention conditions for women and minors in prison, according to which, because of overcrowding, there are no separate prisons for women and minors in some regions. Although the Committee appreciates the State party’s efforts to find practical solutions for this problem, such as, for example, applying different time schedules and using different parts of the facilities, it recalls that, in the context of the prevention of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, women must be separated from men, and juvenile prisoners must be held in facilities completely apart from those for adults. The Committee stresses the importance of having an independent monitoring body equipped with adequate human and financial resources in order to guarantee full compliance with the Convention (art. 16). The State party should ensure that women and men are held in separate facilities and, in particular, that minors are separated from adults. The State party should guarantee that training for prison staff who have to deal with women and minors incorporates gender considerations and the information they need in order to act with sensitivity. It also recommends that the State party strengthen independent procedures for prison inspection. Training 23. The Committee observes that the duration and quality of training for prison staff and police officers remains insufficient to ensure appropriate multidisciplinary instruction in human rights for staff of the justice and police system, particularly officials coming into contact with children and juveniles and with women who are victims of domestic violence. The Committee is also concerned about the inadequacy of personnel training in regard to the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment. The Committee also regrets the scarcity of information provided on the monitoring and evaluation of existing training programmes, as well as the lack of information on the results of the training given to all competent officials and on the usefulness of those programmes in reducing the number of cases of torture and ill-treatment (art. 10).