CAT/OP/CRI/ROSP/1
housed persons committed for failing to pay alimony or child support. At the Vilma Curling
closed rehabilitation centre, food was insufficient, as was medical and psychological care.
28.
The Subcommittee recommends that, in cases where there are other effective
means of obtaining the payment of alimony and child support, those measures should
be used first; enforcement by committal should be avoided to the extent possible,
especially in cases involving individuals who have failed to make the payments owing to
financial insolvency. In cases of drug addition, alcoholism and mental illness, the health
of the debtor should be taken into consideration when applying the law.
D.
Prisoner privileges
29.
The Subcommittee received information according to which prison authorities have
broad discretionary powers in granting prisoner privileges and tend to favour prisoners with
greater purchasing power. In addition, there have been delays in carrying out prisoner
assessments, especially in cases involving transfers from closed facilities to other, less
restrictive holding centres. Moreover, the lack of a sentence enforcement law hampers the
courts’ ability to monitor the granting of prisoner privileges on the basis of the regulations
governing the extension of such privileges, as regulations are of an inferior rank in law. The
Subcommittee was also informed that, in certain facilities, prisoners are not offered the
rehabilitation programmes they need and there are not enough staff to allow for their transfer
to prisons with such programmes.
30.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party adopt a sentence
enforcement law in order to reduce the scope for discretion in granting prisoner
privileges. The Subcommittee recommends that prison authorities observe the
safeguards and rights of persons deprived of their liberty and that they take the steps
necessary to ensure that all convicted persons may enjoy prompt access to rehabilitation
programmes.
E.
Transparency and access to information
31.
The Subcommittee found that there is no publicly available, up-to-date information
on prison rates of occupancy, disaggregated by status of proceedings.
32.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party take the necessary steps to
achieve greater transparency in the administration of the country’s prisons and to
improve access to information. In particular, it recommends that the State party
publish online updated statistics on the prison system, including, at a minimum, the
information mentioned in the previous paragraph.
IV. Situation of persons deprived of their liberty
A.
Criminal investigation police and security forces
33.
The Subcommittee received information about situations in which some people were
kept in police holding cells in excess of the six-hour maximum, especially on weekends and
when arrests took place at night.
34.
The Subcommittee recommends that the authorities ensure strict compliance
with holding time limits and that, to that end, they take such necessary measures as
approving special working hours for the Public Prosecution Service and the courts.
35.
The Subcommittee was informed that the police take detainees to the hospital only if
an injury is discovered during their time in detention. The Judicial Investigation Agency, for
its part, employs physicians to visit the cells in San José and Alajuela. If ill-treatment is
identified, a report is drawn up and delivered to the person responsible for cell management.
In the Subcommittee’s opinion, the report should be reviewed by a separate, independent
authority.
GE.21-00153
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