of prisoners in this facility, together with its age and the dirtiness and lack of maintenance all help to create inhuman living conditions and an approach to the management of inmates that is no less inhuman. 78. The Subcommittee considers that Unit 1 Lisandro Olmos should be closed down or completely refurbished. 79.The Subcommittee received reports about the use of torture as a disciplinary measure and to prevent prisoners from making complaints. One such report was from a prisoner in a federal facility who had injuries on his arm as a result of a beating by prison staff during a search carried out in the presence of the prison director, the deputy director and medical staff from the unit. He said that he had been beaten on his hands, feet and head and that he had been burned with a hot iron. In one facility operated by the Buenos Aires Prison Service, the Subcommittee received complaints about physical and verbal assaults by guards on women prisoners. 80.The Subcommittee received allegations that during the searches carried out by the guards inside the wings and after visits the prisoners were forced repeatedly to bend over, naked, and that the searches were used as a form of punishment and to frighten inmates. 81.The Subcommittee is concerned about the recurrent and systematic use of weapons and excessive force in the prison system. The Subcommittee witnessed a security swoop in U3 during a search. Several witnesses said that minutes before, the guards had fired rubber bullets directly at the prisoners at close quarters in response to disturbances. The warders forced each prisoner to undress and to lay out their clothes in front of them and the prison authorities. 82.The Subcommittee is also concerned about the number of deaths treated as suicides and those caused by fires, and by the lack of investigations to shed light on them and determine responsibility. 83.This violent picture matches the information obtained from other human rights organizations at the time of the Subcommittee’s visit and is confirmed by the adoption of precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of persons detained in Units 46, 47 and 48 of the Buenos Aires Prison Service. 84. The Subcommittee considers that torture and ill-treatment constitute a situation of structural violence in places of incarceration and are practices that are deeply rooted in the behaviour of prison staff in Argentina . Judicial and governmental authorities in the province of Buenos Aires described to the Subcommittee the measures taken to combat torture and ill-treatment; however, they said that the system of prevention is in its infancy, that much remains to be done and that coordination and cooperation is required between the different institutions competent in the field. 85. The Subcommittee recommends the preparation and implementation of a national plan for prisons to combat such structural violence, which should include: (a) Improvements in the working conditions and professionalism of prison staff through training and regular refresher courses on human rights in prison, with a view to changing the institutional culture so that questions of security cease to be given priority and an emphasis is placed on support and decent treatment for persons deprived of their liberty. Protocols on training and work in prisons should be revised to the same end and adapted to the doctrine of human rights during incarceration; (b) Ensuring that the amount allocated in the budget for prison services is sufficient to ensure that the services are made up of motivated, properly paid and sufficiently numerous staff to satisfy the needs of prisons; (c) An assessment of jobs and performance at all levels, with a particular focus on prison staff who have initial contact with inmates; (d) Strengthening external control mechanism and effective policies for the protection of the victims and witnesses of acts of violence, torture and ill-treatment. In this connection, the Subcommittee recommends that the Office of the Procurator for Prisons be guaranteed access to reports on administrative responsibility; (e) The creation of a transparent and secure system enabling all persons deprived of their liberty to file complaints and administrative appeals for cases of torture and ill-treatment or for any other reason. In this connection, the Subcommittee notes that following its visit, the Buenos Aires Prison Service decided to introduce a system of boxes to collect confidential complaints, to which only the director of each unit will have access. The Subcommittee would appreciate information on the results and impact of that system. 86. The Subcommittee also urges the State party to: (a) Unambiguously reaffirm the absolute prohibition of torture and publicly condemn such practice of torture, accompanied by a clear warning that anyone committing such acts or otherwise complicit or participating in torture will be held personally responsible before the law for such acts and may engage the international responsibility of the State (objective responsibility); (b) Guarantee diligent and impartial investigation into all complaints of torture and ill-treatment within the prison system. In this respect it requests the State party to provide it with statistics on administrative and judicial investigations carried out into cases of violent death, torture and ill-treatment; (c) Ensure that in cases of torture and ill-treatment, suspects are suspended from duty immediately for the duration of the investigation, and dismissed from the service if found guilty; (d) Amend regulations on searches to guarantee respect for the dignity and human rights both of persons deprived of