CAT/C/QAT/CO/3 Inspection of detention centres 21. While taking note of the prison monitoring activities carried out by the Office of the Public Prosecutor and the Human Rights Department of the Ministry of the Interior, the Committee regrets that the State party has not provided information on the specific measures taken by prison authorities or prosecutors in response to the recommendations made and complaints of ill-treatment received by representatives of these public bodies. It also regrets the lack of information provided about the action taken by the State party in response to the recommendations issued by the National Human Rights Committee, generated by its monitoring activities (arts. 2, 11 and 16). 22. The State party should: (a) Ensure effective follow-up of recommendations arising from the monitoring activities at detention centres, including those under the authority of the State security forces, and systematically collect data on the outcome of any complaints of ill-treatment received by monitors, as well as on any investigations undertaken and criminal or disciplinary proceedings resulting from such complaints; (b) Ensure that the personnel of the National Human Rights Committee are able to access all places of deprivation of liberty, without prior notice or authorization, and ensure that this institution has adequate resources to conduct regular monitoring of all places of detention and follow up on the response of authorities to complaints it brings to their attention; (c) Ensure that non-governmental organizations have unhindered access to all places of detention through, in particular, unannounced visits and the ability to speak with detainees in private; (d) Consider ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Prompt, thorough and impartial investigations 23. The Committee notes with concern that, despite its reiterated requests, the State party has not furnished specific information on the number of complaints of torture or illtreatment or on the corresponding investigations and prosecutions during the reporting period. The Committee has not yet received comprehensive information about the sentences and criminal or disciplinary sanctions imposed on offenders, or an indication of whether the alleged perpetrators of those acts have been removed from public service pending the outcome of the investigation of the complaint (arts. 2, 12, 13 and 16). 24. The Committee urges the State party to: (a) Ensure that all complaints of torture or ill-treatment are promptly investigated in an impartial manner by an independent body, that there is no institutional or hierarchical relationship between the body’s investigators and the suspected perpetrators of such acts, and that the suspected perpetrators are duly tried and, if found guilty, punished in a manner that is commensurate with the gravity of their acts; (b) Ensure that the authorities launch investigations whenever there are reasonable grounds to believe that an act of torture or ill-treatment has been committed; (c) Ensure that, in cases of alleged torture and/or ill-treatment, suspected perpetrators are suspended from duty immediately for the duration of the investigation, particularly when there is a risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act, commit reprisals against the alleged victim or obstruct the investigation; (d) Compile disaggregated statistical information relevant to the monitoring of the Convention, including data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions in cases of torture and ill-treatment. 5