3.The Subcommittee’s work has two main aspects, namely visiting places of deprivation of liberty and advising States parties on the development and functioning of bodies designated to carry out regular visits – the national preventive mechanisms. The Subcommittee’s focus is empirical: its main task is to identify in situ the situations and factors that pose a risk of torture or ill-treatment and to determine the practical measures needed to prevent such violations. 4.Article 11, paragraph (c), of the Optional Protocol provides that, for the prevention of torture in general, the Subcommittee shall cooperate with the relevant United Nations organs and mechanisms as well as with the regional and national institutions or organizations working towards the strengthening of the protection of all persons against ill-treatment. During its visit to Honduras, the Subcommittee took account of all the available information, both from United Nations sources — in particular the Committee against Torture and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention — and from other national and regional monitoring bodies. 5.In ratifying the Optional Protocol, States parties undertake to allow visits by the Subcommittee to any place under its jurisdiction and control where persons are or may be deprived of their liberty, either by virtue of an order given by a public authority or at its instigation or with its consent or acquiescence (hereinafter referred to as “places of detention”). States parties also undertake to grant the Subcommittee unrestricted access to all information concerning the number of persons deprived of their liberty in places of detention, the number of such places and their location, as well as to all information concerning the treatment of those persons and their conditions of detention.They are moreover obliged to allow the Subcommittee to have private interviews, without witnesses, with persons deprived of their liberty. In this context, the Subcommittee is free to choose the places it wants to visit and the persons it wishes to interview. 6.This report on the Subcommittee’s first visit to Honduras sets out its findings and observations on the situation of persons deprived of their liberty, together with recommendations for improving that situation so as to protect those exposed to any form of ill-treatment. The work of the Subcommittee is guided by the principles of confidentiality, impartiality, non-selectivity, universality and objectivity, in accordance with article 2, paragraph 3, of the Optional Protocol. The report forms part of the ongoing dialogue between the Subcommittee and the Honduran authorities aimed at preventing torture and other ill-treatment. The report will remain confidential in nature, the decision on its publication resting with the Honduran authorities. 7.Preventive work by the State with regard to torture and ill-treatment is necessary in any case, regardless of the occurrence of such abuses in practice. This work should be broad and comprehensive in scope, so as to cover all forms of abuse against persons deprived of their liberty. It is justified by the particularly vulnerable situation of persons in State custody, which poses an inherent risk of excesses and abuses of authority prejudicial to the integrity and dignity of the detainee. Monitoring mechanisms and in particular training and sensitization of the State officials in direct contact with persons deprived of their freedom are one of the main tools for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment. 8.In this context, visits by the Subcommittee are intended to examine the prison system and other public agencies with authority to detain, with the aim of identifying any gaps in the protection of the persons concerned and of determining, where appropriate, the safeguards needed to strengthen the system. The Subcommittee adopts a comprehensive preventive approach. By examining examples of good and bad practice, it seeks to help protect the life and the physical and mental safety of persons held in State custody and ensure their humane and dignified treatment, and to eliminate or reduce to the minimum the possibilities of abuse. 9.The prevention of torture and ill-treatment hinges on respect for other fundamental human rights of persons deprived of their liberty, regardless of the form of custody in which they are held. The Subcommittee’s visits to States parties to the Optional Protocol focus on identifying factors that may contribute to, or avert, situations that could lead to ill-treatment. Beyond simply verifying whether torture and ill-treatment has occurred, the Subcommittee’s ultimate goal is to anticipate such acts and prevent their occurrence in the future by encouraging States to improve their prevention system. Introduction 10.In accordance with articles 1 and 11 of the Optional Protocol, the Subcommittee made its first periodic visit to Honduras from 13 to 22 September 2009. 11.The Subcommittee delegation consisted of the following members: Mr. Mario Luis Coriolano (head of delegation), Mr. Hans Draminsky Petersen, Mr. Miguel Sarre Iguínez and Mr. Wilder Tayler Souto. 12.The Subcommittee members were assisted by Ms. Carmen Rosa Rueda Castañón, Ms. Noemy Barrita Chagoya, Mr. Pablo Suárez and Mr. Enrique Martinel, all members of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 13.In the course of its visit, the Subcommittee considered issues in connection with the treatment of persons deprived of their liberty in the Marco Aurelio Soto State Prison, Tegucigalpa, and the State Prison in San Pedro Sula. In Tegucigalpa the Subcommittee visited Metropolitan Divisions Nos. 1 and 3, the Manchén district police station, the Kennedy district police station and the headquarters of the National Criminal Investigation Directorate (DNIC). In San Pedro Sula and its vicinity, the Subcommittee visited Departmental Division No. 5 in Choloma and Metropolitan Division No. 4–3. It also visited the Renaciendo Centre for minors, in Tegucigalpa. 14.Besides visiting places of detention, the Subcommittee met with representatives of the judiciary, including the Supreme Court; the Office of the Attorney-General, notably the attorneys for human rights of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula; and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Director-General of Special Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Security, including the Inspector-General of Police. It also met with the National Commissioner for Human Rights (CONADEH) and his regional representative in San Pedro Sula. 15.The Subcommittee also held numerous meetings with NGOs and with persons deprived of liberty, including victims of torture or

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