CAT/OP/CRI/ROSP/1 The Subcommittee observed a noticeable reluctance to speak about ill-treatment for fear of reprisals. 42. Allegations of ill-treatment were more common in the San Rafael special prison ward (formerly the “maximum security” ward of the Jorge Arturo Montero Castro closed rehabilitation centre), which housed high-risk prisoners. According to the information received, if a prisoner knocked on the door to make a request, prison guards arrived with wooden sticks and protective gear (these were found in the guards’ office) in order to search the cell block yards for the prisoner in question; once located, the prisoner was beaten by several guards with sticks. After the beating, the prisoner was locked up and might spend hours in the sun or an entire night exposed to the elements. One prisoner indicated that during one such beating, the bridge of his nose and his clavicle had been broken. (His broken clavicle was visible to the naked eye and he provided an X-ray as proof of his fractured nose.) 43. The Subcommittee is also concerned at allegations by women prosecuted for crimes against minors that they were beaten by the other prisoners, with the acquiescence of prison personnel, upon arriving at the cell block. 44. The Subcommittee urges the State party to introduce a system for effectively filing and investigating complaints of acts of torture and ill-treatment and to offer training to personnel working at places of detention, including instruction concerning the importance of upholding the rights of persons deprived of their liberty. The Subcommittee also recommends that the Public Prosecution Service visit prisons periodically in order to receive complaints from persons deprived of their liberty, while observing all the relevant safeguards. Overcrowding 45. At the time of the Subcommittee’s visit, the country had a prison population of 15,547, with significant overcrowding; it also had one of the highest incarceration rates in Latin America. Those rates, combined with inadequate prison infrastructure, have led to severe overcrowding in certain prisons. 46. The Subcommittee was informed that the Ministry of Justice and Peace was developing a new method for determining prison capacity. The method would be used to establish reliable overcrowding indices and a baseline for new prisons. 47. The Subcommittee recommends that the new method be developed in line with relevant international standards, including those that set a minimum size for prisons based on the projected size of the prison population in that facility. The Subcommittee further recommends that public policies designed to reduce overcrowding should not focus exclusively on the construction of new prisons, but should also include new penal policies that emphasize the granting of prisoner credits and non-custodial alternatives as a priority. 48. In several of the prisons visited, the Subcommittee found living conditions that amounted to inhuman and degrading treatment. The space in which the prisoners moved about in the dormitories was covered by mattresses. There were also mattresses under the beds (a space that was about 30 cm high) and in the bathroom, where they were in contact with water. In some cell blocks, there were beds sitting atop the toilets. 49. Overcrowding, degrading in itself, produces collateral effects, such as the spread of communicable diseases, poor hygiene and violence both among persons deprived of their liberty and on the part of prison personnel. Moreover, overcrowding creates an environment conducive to corruption. 50. Because there is no space to dry clothes, persons deprived of their liberty hang their clothes from the ceiling, creating a serious fire hazard. Makeshift electrical installations and unsafe wiring add to this risk. 51. The Subcommittee urges the State party to promptly adopt the necessary measures to address the health risks associated with overcrowding. It also urges the State party to have the dangerous wiring found in a few prisons removed in order to reduce the risk of fire. The Subcommittee urges the State party to redouble its efforts GE.21-00153 9