A/HRC/4/40/Add.3
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fine for such offences, which, given the general inability of offenders to pay it, is converted to an
additional year’s imprisonment; and it notes the institution of enforcement by committal, under
which a civil court judge is able to order the detention of a person for up to one year for failure to
comply with the conditions of a loan agreement. The report also notes concern at the conditions
which the Working Group observed in police cells and in the detention arrangements in
Bluefields.
In its recommendations, the Working Group advocates strict monitoring of compliance
by the police with its obligation to bring every detainee physically before a judge within a
maximum period of 48 hours following his or her arrest; substantial improvements to the system
for booking detainees in police stations; the revision of the country’s drug laws, given the
problems experienced in rehabilitating and socially reintegrating prisoners under sentence, in
particular those provisions preventing them from being released on bail, paroled, pardoned or
granted amnesties; or from working in the detention facility in return for a reduction in their
sentences. It also recommends that the conditions in which detainees are kept in Bluefields be
reviewed as a matter of urgency.
In general, the Working Group recommends the adoption of crime and violence
prevention and control methods which are consistent with respect for human rights.