E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.3 page 15 78. The Special Rapporteur has been informed that a national health plan for the Penitentiary System was created in April 2002. The plan’s priorities are to reform outpatient care, buy equipment, supply medicines, provide immunization and carry out laboratory tests. According to the plan, each prison should have a medical team (composed of a doctor, a nurse, a dentist, a psychologist, a nurse’s assistant, a dentist’s assistant and a social worker) responsible for every 500 inmates, medical care, available through the Single Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, SUS), to treat the detainees, as well as programmes to prevent tuberculosis, leprosy and HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). The national plan reportedly obliges states to implement its objectives by creating plans at the state level. According to the available information, only Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná and Pernambuco have approved such plans. However, it is reported that even in those states, medical care continues to be insufficient and frequently depends on the authorization of relevant authorities. 79. It is further reported that medical examinations are conducted in places removed from penitentiary units. A number of inmates are believed to have been subjected to torture when taken to these places by agents of the Special Operations Service. Allegations have been received that inmates are generally prescribed aspirin when sent to outpatient care, regardless of their health situation. It is also reported that in some states inmates’ injuries are not properly registered, due to the alleged subordinate status of doctors within the Secretary for the Administration of Prisons. 80. The Special Rapporteur has received information on the work and guidelines established by the Centro de Perícias Cientificas (Centre for Scientific Expertise) “Renato Chaves”, in the state of Pará, which is seen as a positive practice. This forensic centre is allegedly the only one in the country that does not depend on the Secretary for Security. It is a pioneer in the area of forensic medical services. Comprised of professionals who were selected in a competitive process, the Centre is divided into the Forensic Medicine Institute (Instituto de Medicina Legal) and the Institute of Criminology (Instituto de Criminalística) where any person can directly request service without going through the police. 81. Recommendation (v) stated: The forensic medical services should be under judicial or other independent authority, not under the same governmental authority as the police; nor should they have a monopoly of expert forensic evidence for judicial purposes. 82. According to the information received, that the Forensic Medicine Institutes (IML) come under the jurisdiction of the Secretaries of Public Safety (with the exception of the Centro de Perícias Cientificas “Renato Chaves”) contributes to the problem of impunity in cases of torture. It is reported that the gathering of elements for inclusion in a medical report is not done by experts, but by the judge assigned to the case, thereby limiting the ability to adequately gather the facts relevant to the case. 83. Recommendation (w) stated: The appalling overcrowding in some provisional detention facilities and prisons needs to be brought to an immediate end, if necessary by executive action, for example by exercising clemency in respect of certain categories of prisoners, such as first-time non-violent offenders or suspected offenders. The law requiring separation of categories of prisoner should be implemented.