It is also important that independent bodies with a mandate to conduct visits to places of detention are also able to examine the facilities and vehicles for transporting persons arrested or detained. This is essential to ensure that such vehicles comply with international standards for the humane treatment of detainees, and that they are not being used to remove detainees during visits in an attempt to deny that a particular individual is being held or to temporarily reduce overcrowding within a place of detention. (See Chapter 5.2.)
3.2.5 RECORDS OF ARREST Proper arrest procedures need to be backed up by accurate and comprehensive record-keeping. The existence of official records that are open to scrutiny helps to ensure that proper procedures are followed and that law enforcement officials can be held accountable for their actions. The Mandela Rules set out the standards for managing prisoner files, which must be kept in every place where persons are imprisoned.46 This will include recording precise information to determine the prisoner’s identity, including their name and address.47 In addition, in relation to arrested persons, Principle 12 of the Body of Principles states that records should include: • The reasons for the arrest; • The time of the arrest and the time that the arrested person was taken to a place of custody, as well as that of his first appearance before a judicial or other authority; • The identity of the law enforcement officials concerned; • Precise information concerning the place of custody. Principle 12(2) also states that this information must be “communicated to the detained person, or his counsel, if any, in the form prescribed by law”. The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture have also noted that proper record-keeping is not only a crucial safeguard against torture and other ill-treatment but also assists the work of law enforcement officials by enabling effective supervision of their activities and protection against false allegations of a failure to follow proper procedures.48
46 See Rules 6 and 7 of the Mandela Rules. See also Chapter 4.6 on records in places of detention. Details of information to be kept in registers is also set out in Guidelines 15-19 of the Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa. 47 See Rule 7(a) of the Mandela Rules. 48 SPT visit report: Maldives, UN Doc. CAT/OP/MDV/1 (2009) §§116-117; European Committee for the Prevention of Torture 2nd General Report, CPT/Inf (92) 3 (1992) §40.
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Combating torture and other ill-treatment