A/HRC/13/39/Add.2
The Special Rapporteur is particularly concerned that minors and children are at
greater risk of ill-treatment in police stations and detention facilities. He also found
consistent allegations of beatings after arrest, as well as excessive use of force and
collective punishments after riots and rebellions in detention facilities.
The punitive approach applied in the penitentiary system and the lack of activities
do not allow for rehabilitation. The use of imprisonment as the first rather than a last resort
has failed to reduce the rates of criminality or prevent recidivism. On the contrary, most of
the prisons in Uruguay are severely overcrowded and there exists a serious risk of a total
collapse of the penitentiary system.
Although some efforts have been made to improve overall conditions in prisons and
prevent overcrowding, the conditions in some detention facilities, particularly Libertad
Penitentiary and the Santiago Vázquez Prison Complex (Complejo Carcelario Santiago
Vázquez, known as COMCAR), amount to inhuman and degrading treatment. The
overcrowding, the non-separation of pretrial and convicted detainees as well as the limited
access to medical services is of concern in practically all of the places visited. A
comprehensive reform of the whole administration of justice system, aimed at the
rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, should be a high priority.
Although the Government has recently introduced the crime of torture in the Law on
Cooperation with the International Criminal Court, the provision is unlikely to be applied to
perpetrators of individual crimes, as reflected since its entry into force in 2006.
Nevertheless, the provision should serve as an inspiration for the reform of the criminal
code.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes the creation of a National Action Plan on
Fighting Domestic Violence and acknowledges that some first steps were taken in this
regard. However, its full implementation has been delayed, leading to a situation of
inadequate preventive and protective measures afforded by the State.
In light of the above, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government of
Uruguay fully implement its obligations under international human rights law. In particular,
he urges the Government to criminalize torture in line with the Convention against Torture,
to prevent the use of excessive use of force by the police, to expedite judicial proceedings,
to ensure that the perpetrators of human rights violations committed during the dictatorship
are brought to justice without further delay and to fully implement the National Action Plan
on Fighting Domestic Violence. Moreover, the Government should undertake, without
delay, a fundamental reform of the criminal justice and penitentiary systems aimed at the
rehabilitation and a better reintegration of offenders into society, introducing and
strengthening, inter alia, non-custodial measures of punishment, and continue its efforts to
improve the conditions of detention. The Special Rapporteur also urges the closure of
prisons with inhuman conditions of detention; particularly “Las Latas” of Libertad
Penitentiary and Modules 2–4 of COMCAR.
The Special Rapporteur calls upon the international community to assist the
Government of Uruguay in its fight against torture and ill-treatment by providing financial
and technical support.
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