CAT/OP/BOL/3
country’s prisons. In San Roque Prison, in Sucre, the Subcommittee observed classrooms
that are used for a university course of study in agronomy.
80.
The Subcommittee notes with concern that only a limited number of inmates have
access to such activities and that the organization of activities and the provision of working
materials and inputs are largely controlled by inmate representatives.
81.
Access to reading materials such as magazines, newspapers and books is almost
non-existent, except at the Arani facility, where the Subcommittee observed a cell that is
used as a library and contains a computer for the prisoners’ use. However, this space also
serves as the inmate representative’s office and is rented out to other inmates for use for
conjugal visits.
82.
While the Subcommittee noted the presence of social workers, paramedics,
psychologists and nurses in some of the facilities it visited in La Paz, Cochabamba and
Sucre and at Palmasola Prison, it did not see professional teams at work and notes that, in
many cases, only a single professional (who had no medical supplies) was responsible for
the care of the entire prison population. This situation must be addressed as a matter of
urgency.
83.
The lack of a systematic, organized range of activities open to all persons deprived
of their liberty in prisons and jails means that there is very little chance that the objective of
sentencing, namely social rehabilitation, will be achieved.
84.
The Subcommittee recommends that the State party:
(a)
Strengthen the role of sentence enforcement judges in monitoring the
material conditions of detention, oversee their performance and ensure that prison
authorities improve living conditions in those facilities;
(b)
Strengthen the capacity of departmental authorities to mainstream a
human rights approach in prison policy and ensure that inter-agency measures are
such as to meet the minimum standards for prison infrastructure, particularly in
respect of air quality, floor space 25 and the separation of untried prisoners from
convicted prisoners;
(c)
Allocate public resources for the improvement of material conditions in
prisons, with priority being placed on the facilities where the needs are greatest, and
invest in areas such as infrastructure upgrades, health and hygiene, drinking water
supply and the space allocated to cells, sleeping areas and common spaces;
(d)
Develop prison policy guidelines and allocate funds for the organization
of vocational, educational, cultural, sport and recreational activities in prisons. In
developing activity programmes, prison authorities should take the good practices in
use at San Roque Prison in Sucre as a reference point and ensure that persons
deprived of their liberty who have been marginalized by reason of disability,
migration status, age, sex, gender or race have equal access to those activities.
C.
Social reintegration centres for adolescents in conflict with the law
85.
The Subcommittee welcomes the adoption of the new Children and Adolescents
Code (Act No. 548) in 2014 and appreciates the State party’s efforts to incorporate a
restorative justice approach into the new juvenile criminal justice system. However, the
Subcommittee is concerned by the fact that the State party has reduced the age of criminal
responsibility from 16 to 14 years.
86.
The Subcommittee had the opportunity to visit two social reintegration centres for
adolescents in conflict with the law, namely the Cometa Centre in Cochabamba and the
Nueva Vida Santa Cruz Social Reintegration Centre for Juvenile Offenders (CENVICRUZ)
25
GE.18-12272
Reglas Mínimas de las Naciones Unidas para el Tratamiento de los Reclusos (Reglas Nelson
Mandela), regla 10.
15
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