CAT/C/SYR/CO/1 be informed of their rights at the time of detention, including about the charges laid against them, and to appear before a judge within a time limit in accordance with international standards (art. 2). The State party should promptly take effective measures to ensure that all detainees are afforded, in practice, all fundamental legal safeguards from the very outset of their detention, including the rights to have prompt access to a lawyer and an independent medical examination, to notify a relative, to be informed of their rights at the time of detention, including about the charges laid against them, and to appear before a judge within a time limit in accordance with international standards. State of Emergency 10. Notwithstanding the information provided by the State party delegation during the dialogue, the Committee expresses its concern that the State of Emergency, issued by Legislative Decree No. 51 of 22 December 1962 and amended by Decree-Law No. 1 of 9 March 1963, which was intended to apply to exceptional circumstances where there is an internal or external threat to national survival, now has quasi-permanent nature and allows the suspension of fundamental rights and freedoms. The Committee notes with concern that the State of Emergency attributes broad emergency powers to various branches of the security forces outside any judicial control, which in practice leads to serious breaches of the Convention by State authorities. In particular, the Committee is concerned that the State of Emergency is inconsistent with the commitments undertaken by the Syrian Arab Republic under article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and under article 2 and other relevant articles of the Convention (arts. 2, 4, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16). The State party should ensure that the principle of the absolute prohibition of torture is incorporated in its legislation, and ensure its strict application, in accordance with article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention, which stipulates that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. Moreover, the State party should take immediate steps to bring the legislation into full conformity with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention. Supreme State Security Court 11. While noting the information provided to the Committee by the State party on the composition, functions and procedures of the Supreme State Security Court, the Committee is deeply concerned at the numerous, consistent and serious allegations that this court fails to function in accordance with the international standards for courts of law. The Committee notes that the Supreme State Security Court was established under Decree No. 47 of 1968 and has been created as an exceptional court outside the ordinary criminal justice system accountable only to the Minister of Interior. The Court, composed of two judges, one civilian and one military, has the competence to adopt sentences and impose penal sanctions for crimes that are very widely defined, such as “weakening the national sentiment” or “awakening racial or sectarian tensions, while the Syrian Arab Republic is at war or is expecting a war��. According to information before the Committee the Court is exempt from the rules of criminal procedure and permits the use of prolonged incommunicado detention without judicial supervision. In addition, lawyers are not allowed to meet with their clients until the trial begins and the decisions of the court cannot be appealed (arts. 2, 11 and 12). The State party should take immediate steps to ensure that the composition and the functioning of the Supreme State Security Court are brought into full conformity with 4