United Nations
General Assembly
A/HRC/16/52/Add.3
Distr.: General
11 October 2010
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Sixteenth session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred
Nowak
Addendum
Mission to Jamaica*
Summary
The present report contains the findings and recommendations of the Special
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on
his mission to Jamaica, 12 to 21 February 2010.
The Special Rapporteur did not find that torture, in the classical sense of deliberately
inflicting severe pain or suffering as a means of extracting a confession or information,
constitutes a major problem in Jamaica. He did find, however, a general atmosphere of
violence and aggression in almost all police stations, as well as discriminatory practices
against detainees. At police stations, the overall conditions reflected a complete disregard
for the dignity of detainees. Detention in such conditions for up to several years amounts to
inhuman treatment. The conditions at remand and correctional facilities were generally
better than in police stations; however, many prisons were found to be overcrowded,
lacking sanitary facilities and any meaningful opportunities for education, work and
recreation. The Special Rapporteur also received consistent allegations that corporal
punishment was routinely applied in remand and correctional centres. The conditions for
women were generally better, and there was a strict separation between male and female
detainees. Children in conflict with the law, those deemed uncontrollable and those in need
of care and protection from the State were held together in detention facilities without
distinction.
* The summary is circulated in all official languages. The report itself, contained in the annex
to the summary, is circulated in the language of submission only; for reasons of length, the
appendix thereto is circulated as received.
GE.10-16926