CAT/C/COG/CO/1 systematic and statutory limits thereon are not observed, that there is no regular assessment of the lawfulness of pretrial detention and that lawyers are not present from the moment a person is taken into police custody. The Committee is concerned that access to free legal aid, as provided for under Act No. 1/84 of 20 January 1984 on the reorganization of legal aid, is not available in practice owing to the lack of an implementing decree. Although there is cooperation through the Project of Activities to Strengthen the Rule of Law and Associations, under which a 100,000 euro subsidy has been awarded to the National Bar Association to provide legal defence services to poor detainees, this solution remains limited and short term (arts. 2, 6 and 11). The State party should take effective measures to ensure that the fundamental legal safeguards designed to protect persons arrested by the police are upheld, in law and in practice, including the following: (a) The right of these persons to be promptly informed of the grounds of their arrest and their rights, in writing, in a language they understand, from the outset of detention; (b) The right to see a lawyer from the moment of arrest and the right to receive effective free legal aid where needed; (c) The right of these persons to be brought before a judge within the period provided for by law; (d) The right to be examined by an independent doctor free of charge; (e) The obligation to keep official detention registers; (f) detention. The right of all detained persons to inform their relatives of their The Committee also recommends that the State party strengthen the oversight of police custody by the public prosecutor’s office. Absolute prohibition of torture 12. The Committee is concerned at the lack of specific legal provisions establishing that the declaration of a state of emergency or any other exceptional circumstances do not permit any derogation from the absolute prohibition of torture (art. 2, para. 2). The State party should enshrine in its Constitution and specify in its laws the principle of the absolute prohibition of torture, according to which no extraordinary circumstances may be invoked to justify such acts. Conditions of detention 13. The Committee shares the alarming assessment of detention conditions provided by the State party itself, especially regarding the dilapidation of facilities, prison overcrowding, the lack of a social reintegration system in most prisons, the prison system’s insufficient infrastructure and the lack of training of prison officials. These issues are compounded by reports from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of violence, including sexual violence; the non-segregation of adults from minors and of remand prisoners from convicted prisoners; and inhuman and degrading living conditions, such as undernourishment, inadequate hygiene, bedding issues and the virtual lack of health-care services and of access to medication. The Committee has received allegations of corruption involving certain judges, prison officials and gendarmes to whom detainees reportedly pay money in exchange for their release or better detention conditions. The Committee notes the State party’s efforts to refurbish the short-stay prisons in Brazzaville, Pointe Noire and Dolisie with the financial assistance of the European Development Fund and to build 4 GE.15-10644