CAT/OP/CRI/CSPRO/1 • The Judiciary-Ministry of Justice and Peace Liaison Commission and the standing committee on the functioning of the Rehabilitation Centre for Persons with Mental Illness in Conflict with the Law. 16. The Public Defence Service has also worked together with the Office of the Deputy Prosecutor for Probity and Misconduct in Public Office to help persons who claim to have suffered some kind of institutional abuse or violence. 17. Moreover, pursuant to the international cooperation strategy promoted by the Regional Programme for social cohesion in Latin America (EUROSOCIAL) and the InterAmerican Association of Public Defenders, the Public Defence Service is helping to introduce a System of Registration, Communication and Comprehensive Care for Victims of Institutional Prison Violence, which will enable the reporting and monitoring of cases of such violence, the identification and care of victims, and the support of victims’ families and relatives. 18. On 24 July 2020, in compliance with the Subcommittee’s recommendation, the Attorney General of the Republic, Emilia Navas Aparicio, issued Administrative Circular No. 16-ADM-2020 on the registration and prioritization of cases in which the victim is a person deprived of liberty. This circular emphasizes that representatives of the Public Prosecution Service should prioritize the handling and processing of such cases and remove any barriers that might prevent this vulnerable population from actively participating in criminal proceedings and from exercising their rights as victims. 19. Similarly, representatives of the Public Prosecution Service have been issued with instructions to make regular visits to prisons and detention facilities and meet with persons deprived of their liberty in order to detect possible cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, abuse of authority, injury or other offences committed during or as a result of imprisonment, and to proceed with informal investigations where necessary. 20. Regarding the judiciary, the Public Defence Service offers a workshop on human rights monitoring in prisons and a yearly course on tools for ensuring that persons deprived of their liberty have access to justice. 21. Furthermore, actions have been carried out in conjunction with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to train public defence personnel on topics related to the Court’s case law and its links with the subject of torture, and training has been provided on the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol). 22. The Public Prosecution Service provides various courses on subjects such as the importance of sentences and their effective enforcement, the investigation of offences against life, and the functions of the Crime Victim Support and Protection Office, in addition to the programmes of the Judicial Training College, the training programme for specialists in forensic medicine and the Public Defence Service training plan. 23. The Judicial Investigation Agency, which is in charge of criminal investigations, including investigations into cases of torture, ill-treatment and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, reports that its forensic physicians are familiar with the Istanbul Protocol and are willing and committed to applying it, if necessary. However, such practices are extremely unusual in Costa Rica. If a person deprived of liberty believes that his or her rights have been violated, he or she may file the corresponding complaint, which is brought to the attention of the Public Prosecution Service. 24. The Judicial Investigation Agency conducts training on human rights issues, focusing on the application of the Istanbul Protocol and the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death for the forensic documentation of suspected cases of torture. Training is also provided on the recommendations produced by the Colombian authorities on forensic procedures in cases where torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is under investigation or where there is evidence of its having been committed; and on the International Consensus on Principles and Minimum Standards for Psychosocial Work in Search Processes and Forensic Investigations in Cases of Enforced Disappearance or Arbitrary or Extrajudicial Execution. 4 GE.20-17766