CAT/C/CR/31/3
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5.
(ii)
The transfer, as of November 2003, of all Latvian prisons under the
surveillance of trained professional guards;
(iii)
The setting up of training programmes, in accordance with article 10 of
the Convention, for law enforcement and judicial personnel.
Furthermore, the Committee would like to commend:
(a)
The involvement of national NGOs and civil society in the preparation of the
initial report of Latvia;
(b)
The launching of a new project involving NGOs in monitoring places of
deprivation of liberty in Latvia;
C. Subjects of concern
6.
The Committee expresses concern about the following:
(a)
Allegations of serious ill-treatment of persons which in some cases could be
considered as amounting to torture, by members of the police, especially at the time of
apprehension and interrogation of suspects;
(b)
The lack of independence and impartiality of the Internal Security Office of the
State Police, which is competent to deal with complaints on alleged violence by police officers;
(c)
The conditions of detention in places of deprivation of liberty, especially police
stations and short-term detention isolators;
(d)
The length of legal proceedings and the excessive periods of pre-trial detention,
especially in short-term detention isolators;
(e)
The fact that the new Asylum Law stipulates that neither “alternative status” for
asylum-seekers shall be granted to a person who has arrived in Latvia from a country in which
he/she could have asked for and received protection. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned
at the long periods that asylum-seekers may spend in detention after the rejection of their asylum
request;
(f)
The overcrowding in prisons and other places of detention, taking into account,
inter alia, the potential risk of this situation for the spread of contagious diseases;
(g)
The fact that although the draft new Criminal Procedure Law has addressed many
of the existing shortcomings, the Criminal Procedure Law currently in force does not include the
right of a detainee to contact family members. Concern is also expressed about the information
that access to a doctor of choice is subject to the approval of the authorities;