CAT/C/GAB/CO/1 by the fact that this training is not given to all persons involved in the application of the law and medical personnel who work with prisoners. Sufficient outreach and awareness-raising activities are also lacking. The Committee is equally concerned by the lack of information on the impact that such training has had in combating torture and ill-treatment and on its evaluation. Finally, it notes with concern that the State party has not indicated whether or not this training covers the application of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Istanbul Protocol). (art. 10) The State party should reinforce the training programmes that it offers to civilian law enforcement officers and military personnel. It should also provide that training to medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may be involved in matters pertaining to the custody, questioning or treatment of persons subject to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. It should assess the effectiveness of the training that is being offered and make certain that the Istanbul Protocol is covered in its training programmes. It should, in addition, carry out public awareness campaigns regarding the prevention of torture. Prison conditions 17. The Committee has taken note of the State party’s efforts to improve prison conditions, including its plan to build new prisons and renovate older ones, and its undertaking to significantly reduce overcrowding in its prisons starting in late 2012. It is nonetheless concerned about those conditions, particularly with regard to hygiene and access to health care and to adequate food. It is, in addition, concerned about the high rate of overcrowding, especially in Libreville Central Prison, and by reports that the principle whereby different categories of inmates are to be held separately is not always observed in prisons located in rural areas. The Committee is also concerned about the lack of information on the enforcement of the law adopted on 26 December 2009 that provides for improved monitoring of persons serving their sentences and better prison management, as well as about the absence of specific information on complaints filed by prisoners and on how those complaints have been processed. (arts. 11 and 16) The State party should redouble its efforts to improve prison conditions and to ensure that they conform to the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by the Economic and Social Council in its resolutions 663 C (XXIV) and 2076 (LXII). To this end, it should: (a) Significantly reduce prison overcrowding, especially in Libreville Central Prison, through a greater use, in particular, of non-custodial measures as outlined in the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the Tokyo Rules); (b) Reduce the duration of pretrial detention and release prisoners who have served most of their prison sentences and whom the relevant authorities consider to be ready to rejoin society; (c) Ensure that, in accordance with international standards, minors are separated from adults, remand prisoners are separated from convicted prisoners, and women are separated from men, particularly in rural prisons; (d) Ensure that prisoners have genuine access to a means of filing a complaint regarding their conditions of detention and/or ill-treatment and that impartial, independent investigations into such complaints are promptly carried out; (e) Bring its sentencing policy regarding minors into line with international standards; and 6 GE.13-40305

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