CAT/OP/CRI/ROSP/1 B. Use of pretrial detention 24. The Subcommittee is concerned about the use of pretrial detention and its relation to overcrowding. Its concern stems from several findings: (a) Insufficient use is made of non-custodial measures, despite the fact that the use of such measures has been authorized by the legislature; (b) In cases of flagrante delicto, the prosecutor may request pretrial detention from the outset, and a decision to grant that request cannot be appealed. Approximately one third of people arrested are detained unnecessarily for short periods of time; 5 (c) Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, pretrial detention is mandatory for certain offences; (d) The media and the public put pressure on judicial authorities to deal with security concerns by imprisoning the persons in question. 25. The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Train judges in correctly interpreting and applying legislation on alternatives to detention; (b) In cases of flagrante delicto, use precautionary measures only in exceptional circumstances and avoid short-term imprisonment; (c) Consider making the required changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure in order to ensure that pretrial detention is not used arbitrarily, but only in accordance with the principles of legality, presumption of innocence, necessity and proportionality; (d) Uphold the principle of the independence of judges and adopt an effective strategy to prevent them from being harassed. C. Enforcement by committal for failure to pay alimony or child support 26. The Alimony and Child Support Act provides that a person may be committed to prison for up to 6 months for failing to pay alimony or child support. 6 Unemployment or a lack of income does not exempt a person from having to make such payments, although the Act gives the courts discretion in granting a grace period of one month to allow the debtor to obtain paid employment.7 Nonetheless, judicial practice suggests that such extensions are rarely granted. 8 Furthermore, the Subcommittee has received reports indicating that enforcement by committal is used in the case of individuals who are unable to pay alimony or child support because of financial insolvency, problems relating to drug or alcohol consumption or mental illness or because they live in street situations. In such cases, enforcement by committal is applied, rather than hospitalization or some other form of treatment of the individual in question, owing to the complexity of the proceedings involved; the result is an illegitimate deprivation of liberty. 27. The Subcommittee found that people who are imprisoned for failing to pay alimony or child support are held in overcrowded conditions under the same prison regime as persons deprived of their liberty for having committed or being suspected of committing criminal offences.9 At the Jorge Arturo Montero Castro closed rehabilitation centre, the Subcommittee found that cockroaches were rampant and sanitary services were lacking in the units that 5 6 7 8 9 6 Londoño, M., Raíces judiciales del encarcelamiento: ¿Quiénes son y por qué están en prisión?, National Council of Public University Rectors and Ombudsman’s Office, 2016, p. 27. Act No. 7654 of 1996. Ibid., art. 31. Sentences contained in decisions No. 2018011117, No. 2015009858 and No. 2018007071 of the Constitutional Chamber. The prison population was13 per cent over capacity at the Jorge Arturo Montero Castro closed rehabilitation centre at the time of the visit. GE.21-00153