CAT/OP/12
measures decided by national and local authorities, or in the prevention of inhuman or
degrading treatment of persons in places of deprivation of liberty. They have proven to be an
essential part of the Optional Protocol system of oversight of places of deprivation of liberty,
including in some countries of the places of quarantine. Since the beginning of the pandemic,
the Subcommittee continued to support States parties and national preventive mechanisms
by advising and assisting them, despite temporary difficulties in fulfilling its visiting mandate.
7.
Owing to the variety of legal systems and the terminology used in different regions,
generic terms have been applied as much as possible in the present advice. Considering the
variety of information received about the measures taken by States parties and national
preventive mechanisms, only the information that is most relevant to the previous advice
issued by the Subcommittee has been included.
II. Synopsis of information received from States parties and
national preventive mechanisms
A.
States parties3
8.
The Subcommittee was informed about a number of measures adopted by States
parties to reduce the impact of the pandemic, which were in line with the previous advice of
the Subcommittee.
1.
Measures to reduce the population in places of deprivation of liberty
9.
The following measures were undertaken to reduce the population in places of
deprivation of liberty:
(a)
involving:
Development of non-custodial measures, which were applied in cases
(i)
Persons in excessively long pretrial detention;
(ii)
Persons serving custodial sentences of up to three years in prison;
(iii) Persons convicted of non-violent crimes who had served a significant part of
their sentence;
(iv)
Pregnant women or those incarcerated with their children;
(v)
Persons in detention who had high health risks, including older persons and
persons with disabilities;
(b)
Adoption and implementation of legislation on pardon or amnesty, or other
similar measures, for certain categories of detainees;
(c)
Expansion of the use of electronic monitoring means, including house arrest;
(d)
Reduction of the number of persons placed in police custody and of the
duration of their stay;
(e)
Temporary closure of detention centres or significant reduction of expulsion
centres for migrants.
3
2
In total, 49 of the 90 States parties to the Optional Protocol submitted information to the
Subcommittee. They include the following: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Guatemala,
Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Madagascar, Maldives,
Malta, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, State of Palestine, Sweden, Switzerland,
Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Uruguay.