CAT/C/39/2 page 38 2. The application of the 1997 Torture Law 156. The Committee members requested statistics on the application of the 1997 Torture Law. It was indicated by some authorities that the number of convictions is low, partly due to the lack of forensic reports proving the occurrence of an act of torture. However, the Committee members were informed that there is no compilation of data at the national level regarding the application of the Torture Law. Each state has its own data. For instance, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo said that six public agents had been condemned in first instance under the Torture Law in São Paulo. Research by one international NGO demonstrated the existence of just one known conviction for torture of personnel since 1994 in the abusive juvenile detention system of Rio de Janeiro.35 157. The Vice-President of the Federal Supreme Court informed the Committee members that there are currently several draft bills on the federalization of the crime of torture that are being considered in the National Congress. Representatives of the Ministry of Justice of the Federal District informed the Committee members about the enactment by the National Congress of the Constitutional amendment number 45/2004 whereby the Superior Court of Justice is competent, upon request of the Federal Prosecutor General, to transfer a case concerning serious violations of human rights (including torture) from the local courts to the federal courts. 3. Compensation 158. According to the Association of Judges for Democracy, compensation, even if there is a judicial decision establishing the right to this, has not been provided in any case since 1998. Furthermore, the presidents of the superior judicial bodies with whom the Committee members met expressed concern at the inefficiency and slowness of the implementation of judicial decisions which provide for compensation to be paid by the State. 4. Complaints of torture and administrative investigations 159. The number of complaints of torture received is low. For instance, the police ouvidor of São Paulo indicated that in the year 2004, he received 3,300 complaints, out of which only 1.26 per cent related to torture. The ouvidor indicated that torture takes places mainly in police stations that hold public jails. According to the data provided by the police ouvidor of Rio de Janeiro, 104 complaints of torture were received in the last 75 months, amounting to approximately 1 per cent of the complaints received. Complaints concerned the military police in 66 cases and the civil police in 34 cases. 160. The police ouvidor in Belo Horizonte indicated that it was difficult to gather statistics on convictions of police following complaints of torture, as the procedure was predominantly administrative with up to six opportunities for appeal. He indicated that there had been eight 35 Human Rights Watch, “In the dark: hidden abuses against detained youth in Rio de Janeiro”, June 2005, vol. 17. No 2 (B).