CAT/OP/CHE/ROSP/1 (c) Living arrangements (i) Persons detained under criminal law 105. The Subcommittee delegation noted that conditions varied from one canton and one establishment to another. Pretrial detainees were generally subjected to maximum restrictions: for example, they did not have the right to telephone their families, except with the prosecutor’s permission, or were separated from visitors, including their children, by a glass screen. 106. The Subcommittee recommends that pretrial detainees be able to receive visitors and be authorized to communicate with their families and other persons under the same conditions as convicted prisoners, unless a judicial authority has imposed, in an individual case and in keeping with the principles of necessity and proportionality, a specific prohibition for a given period. The Subcommittee is of the view that respect for the right to family contact is particularly important for pretrial detainees, in the light of the principle of presumption of innocence and the rights to privacy and family life.33 (ii) Persons detained under administrative law (law on foreign nationals) 107. The Subcommittee is deeply concerned about the detention in prisons for relatively long periods of foreign nationals subject to coercive measures. 34 108. In the Bern regional prison, administrative detainees were in principle to be accommodated solely on the floor set aside for them, but some had been placed on the floors intended for persons detained under criminal law. 109. The administrative detainees had an open-door regime, which, however, was applied only from 7.30 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and they had just one hour’s exercise per day. Those held in the area intended for criminal detention were subjected to a closed-door regime. They were offered work (packing, helping in the kitchen and carrying out various tasks within the prison). 110. In the prison at Zurich airport, administrative detainees, mainly foreign nationals awaiting removal, enjoyed an open-door regime from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, but only from 9.30 a.m. to 11.30 a.m. and from 1.30 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. at weekends and on public holidays. On Wednesdays, the doors remained closed. Only 60 workplaces were available, in the laundry, and were filled in rotation. Inmates had access to a sports hall twice per week for one hour. No visitors could be received at weekends or on public holidays. 111. The Subcommittee reminds the State party that: (a) Detention pending removal is a last resort and should be proportionate;35 (b) Persons subject to coercive measures under the law on foreign nationals should be accommodated not in prisons but in centres designed specifically for that purpose;36 33 34 35 36 GE.21-03779 Pacte international relatif aux droits civils et politiques, art. 14, par. 2, art. 17 et art. 23. Voir aussi le rapport du CPT sur sa visite de 2015 (note de bas de page 8). Certains détenus rencontrés ont passé six mois soumis à un régime pénitentiaire. Le respect du principe de proportionnalité suggère qu’une telle détention n’est licite que si aucune autre mesure suffisante, moins coercitive, ne peut être appliquée dans le cas d’espèce. Voir le rapport du CPT sur sa visite de 2011 (note de bas de page 26) ainsi que les différents rapports de la CNPT. Dans les cas où il a été estimé nécessaire de priver les détenus administratifs, qui n’ont commis aucune infraction pénale, de leur liberté en vertu de la législation relative à l’entrée et au séjour des étrangers, après un examen rigoureux de la proportionnalité de la mesure, ceux-ci devraient être placés dans des centres ayant vocation à accueillir cette catégorie de population. De tels centres devraient être caractérisés par un régime ouvert, et conçus de telle sorte qu’ils ne donnent aucune impression de milieu carcéral. Les personnes y séjournant devraient avoir un accès important à de l’exercice en plein air, à des activités, et à des moyens de communication et de divertissement (radio, télévision, téléphone, jeux de société). Une telle offre devrait être d’autant plus diversifiée que la 15