A/HRC/42/20
sexual violence and exploitation.169 Finally, detainees should be provided with a means to
lodge complaints when threatened with arbitrary deprivation of life or ill-treatment.170 This
can be by way of an anonymous hotline,171 a confidential complaint mechanism172 or
through internal or external investigations of places of detention.173 When dealing with
juvenile detainees, States should ensure that such mechanisms are child friendly.174
58.
Access to health care can be improved and incidents of self-harm reduced through
the implementation of a number of practical measures. For instance, providing prisoners
with access to a medical professional immediately upon arrival and 175 ensuring that each
person deprived of their liberty has an individualized medical file assists the authorities in
providing medical care tailored to their needs.176 Ensuring regular medical check-ups and
periodic meetings with trained psychosocial staff,177 combined with awareness-raising on
the prevention of suicide across the prison can help detect suicidal and self-harm tendencies
in prison populations.178
59.
Proper management of detention facilities can reduce inter-prisoner violence. States
should maintain effective control of the entirety of such facilities. 179 Prison officials should
therefore not limit their tasks to the monitoring of the perimeter of accommodation units,
they should also ensure the internal management of such units. Detention facility staff are
best positioned to prevent violence.180 States should therefore implement strategies to detect
and prevent violence in detention facilities to be carried out by such staff. Furthermore,
encouraging staff engagement with detainees and ensuring that detainees are heard can
reduce violence among detainees.181
60.
Measures related to the organization of the detention facility are equally important.
Prison management can establish institutional or external mechanisms for early detection,
monitoring and documentation of violence, 182 install cameras in facilities 183 and develop
policies to combat gang violence.184 Establishing a mechanism to keep detainees informed
of their administrative situation is also important as transparency can reduce dissatisfaction
and, consequently, the incidence of violence.185 The practice of ensuring cultural and ethnic
diversity in accommodation units instead of grouping detainees according to their ethnicity
or origin can also contribute to limiting tensions. 186 Substandard material conditions of
detention also contribute to violence, death and serious injury. Some States have made
strides to renovate detention facilities and improve the material conditions of prisoners. 187
61.
Proper management of detention facilities cannot be effectively implemented in the
absence of adequate resources. In order to execute the strategies that will improve detention
conditions and reduce violence, detention facilities must be adequately staffed. 188 Staff
ratios, pay levels, working conditions and proper training and supervision all facilitate
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
16
See CRC/C/CAN/CO/3-4.
See ICRC, “Guidelines for Investigating Deaths in Custody”.
Submission of Uruguay.
See CAT/C/CHN-MAC/CO/5.
See ICRC, “Guidelines for Investigating Deaths in Custody”.
See CRC/C/COL/CO/4-5.
Submission of Penal Reform International; submission of the Defensoría del Pueblo (Ecuador);
submission of Morocco.
Submission of the Defensoría del Pueblo (Ecuador).
Submission of Penal Reform International; submission of the Ombudsman (Luxembourg).
Submission of Penal Reform International.
See CCPR/C/BOL/CO/3.
Submission of the Ombudsman (Luxembourg).
Ibid.
See CRPD/C/ARG/CO/1; CAT/C/IRL/CO/2; CAT/C/ARM/CO/4; CCPR/C/CYP/CO/4; submission
of Jamaica; submission of Uruguay.
See A/HRC/32/31/Add.2.
See CRC/C/BRA/CO/2-4; Penal Reform International, Global Prison Trends 2019.
Submission of the Ombudsman (Luxembourg).
Ibid.
See CAT/OP/MNG/1.
See CCPR/C/LVA/CO/3; CAT/C/CPV/CO/1.
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