CAT/OP/MNG/1 necessary for the detainee to “cooperate” before the detaining authorities would permit meetings with family members or next of kin. 46. The Subcommittee recommends that: (a) All arrested persons be immediately informed of the reasons for their arrest and their rights as detainees; (b) Persons deprived of their liberty must be able to contact, and have the right of access to, a lawyer of their choosing, unless there are legitimate grounds for preventing them from being in contact with a particular lawyer, in which case an alternative may be chosen; (c) The system of legal aid be reviewed to ensure that timely and effective assistance is provided to all those who are deprived of liberty; (d) All persons deprived of their liberty must be able to inform a family member or next of kin of their detention without delay. The exercise of this right must not be dependent upon the goodwill or decision-making of the detaining authorities, prosecutor or investigator or the administration of the detention facility. B. Issues relating to the legal regime of detention Police detention 47. The Subcommittee is concerned that, although the law limits the duration of time a person may be held in police custody for the purposes of questioning to 6 hours, in practice persons are held in police custody for periods which considerably exceed this time frame, without prosecutorial or judicial scrutiny. The Subcommittee also received information that, in exceptional circumstances, the police could extend that period to up to 48 hours, but that this was practised frequently, not exceptionally, including over weekends when investigators might be unavailable. 48. The Subcommittee is concerned that not all police stations, in particular those located in the countryside, keep a register of persons who are detained by the police for initial questioning. This means that, in effect, there may be no systematic records of who has been interrogated by a police investigator, given that registration often only takes place once such persons have been admitted to a temporary or pretrial detention facility or are transferred to a police station at the aimag (province) level. 49. The Subcommittee is concerned to have learned that those held in initial police custody, sometimes for up to 48 hours, are often held in inappropriate settings, such as in investigators’ offices or corridors. Moreover, they are often not provided with food or drink and may be denied unhampered access to toilets. Some detainees have been handcuffed throughout their period of initial investigation. 50. The Subcommittee is also of the understanding that the close relationship that often exists between the police and the prosecutors can give the impression that prosecutors tend to merely endorse, rather than evaluate, the cases presented to them by the police. 51. The Subcommittee recommends that: (a) The period of initial detention by the police should not exceed that provided for by law, while ensuring that that period commences at the moment the person is first deprived of their liberty. Any extensions to that period must be authorized in accordance with the law by independent authorities; (b) Initial police detention should be properly recorded in detention registers. Senior police officers should be responsible for the maintenance of registers, and all officers should receive appropriate training on the record keeping; (c) Detainees should be offered food and, at a minimum, water during their detention and given proper access to toilet facilities; 10