Case No Country Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted Reply USA 3/2013 18/03/2013 United States AL of America Torture; 05/08/2013 Alleged practices throughout New York state prisons that subject thousands of incarcerated persons to prolonged solitary confinement, other extreme isolation practices, and inhuman or degrading conditions in detention. According to the information received, in 39 prisons across New York state, nearly 4,500 prisoners are held in isolation cells, or Special Housing Units (SHUs), each day. It is further reported that more than 68,000 sentences placing inmates in SHUs have been imposed as punishment or disciplinary sanctions for prisoners’ violations of prison rules between 2007 and 2011. It is alleged that while the average length of the sentences is five months, many prisoners are held in extreme isolation for multiple years. It is alleged that the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) places no limits on the number of consecutive SHU sentences a prisoner may be forced to serve. Mr William Blake, 49 years old, has allegedly been held in a barren concrete cell with no furnishings other than a steel bed frame for 25 consecutive years. Mr Stephan Poole received a sentence of 36 months in the SHU for allegedly planning an escape and has reportedly accumulated additional lengthy SHU sentences for non-violent prison infractions. Mr Kenneth Wright has been repeatedly confined to SHU as punishment for the infraction of using marijuana, despite proactively seeking treatment from the DOCCS. ARG 3/2013 28/03/2013 Argentina AL Indigenous peoples; Observaciones del Relator Especial sobre los posibles efectos del proceso de reforma del 30/07/2013 código civil y comercial sobre los derechos de los pueblos indígenas. En la carta, el Relator Especial nota que el proceso en curso para reformar el código civil y comercial, así como el futuro proceso de elaboración de legislación específica en materia de la propiedad comunitaria indígena, pudieran representar valiosas oportunidades para incorporar y hacer efectivos los derechos de los pueblos indígenas reconocidos en la Constitución Nacional y los instrumentos internacionales ratificados y aprobados por el Estado argentino. A la vez, enfatiza que el Gobierno debe tomar las medidas necesarias para asegurar que estos importantes procesos de reforma legislativa respondan a las necesidades y las aspiraciones expresadas por los pueblos indígenas del país. La carta da seguimiento a una carta de alegación enviada por el Relator Especial el 14 de diciembre de 2012 (ver A/HRC/23/51, ARG 3/2012). A/HRC/25/74 156 Date Type