CAT/C/VEN/CO/3-4 (a) Ensure that alleged acts in breach of the Convention committed against its political opponents during their detention are duly investigated and the perpetrators punished; (b) Ensure that solitary confinement is used only as a last resort, for the shortest time possible, under strict supervision and judicial control; (c) Bring conditions in police holding facilities into line with international human rights standards; (d) Take steps, as a matter of urgency, to increase the resources allocated for the provision of food, water, sanitation and medical and health care for detainees in all prisons and police holding facilities in the State party; (e) Adopt the necessary legislative amendments to facilitate access to noncustodial penalties and encourage their use, in accordance with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules) and the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules); (f) Take steps, as a matter of urgency, to strengthen existing action plans for reducing procedural delays by allocating them sufficient resources. Prison violence 19. The Committee is alarmed at reports describing high levels of prison violence, with 4,791 recorded deaths and 9,931 injuries since January 2004. The Committee notes that the official death toll for persons deprived of their liberty in 2014 is 140, despite the explanation given by the State to the effect that violence has been eradicated under the country’s new prison regime. The Committee notes with serious concern the high number of violent confrontations during the reporting period, both among inmates and, allegedly, between inmates and the authorities tasked with restoring order — for example, at the Centre-West Regional Penitentiary (Uribana prison) — and finds it regrettable that all of those confrontations are still under investigation. The Committee is also concerned that inmates are forced to perform military training drills (close order drills) and that women wishing to visit prisons have reportedly been subjected to body cavity searches (arts. 2, 11 and 16). The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Continue making every effort to prevent inter-prisoner violence and eliminate the possession of weapons in all prisons; (b) Conduct prompt, exhaustive and impartial investigations into all cases of prison violence, assessing any possibility that prison officers or other staff might bear responsibility for violence connected with arms trafficking, operations to restore order in certain prisons or cases of collusion. Where appropriate, the State should punish those responsible appropriately and provide compensation to the victims’ families; (c) Ensure that the Remote Control and Security System is effectively implemented and that searches are conducted in a manner that is least intrusive and most respectful of the individual’s integrity; (d) Refrain from involving the prison population in military training and increase activities geared towards the social reintegration of prisoners. GE.14-24172 9

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