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

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