CAT/C/51/D/441/2010 is uncontested that the complainant was placed in pretrial investigation at the premises of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Astana at the time his injuries were incurred. Under these circumstances, the State party should be presumed liable for the harm caused to the complainant unless it provides a compelling alternative explanation. In the present case, the State party provided no such explanation and thus the Committee must conclude that the investigating officers are responsible for the complainant’s injuries. Based on the detailed account which the complainant has given of ill-treatment and torture, and the corroboration of his allegations in the medical forensic documentation, the Committee concludes that the facts as reported constitute torture within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention and that the State party failed in its duty to prevent and punish acts of torture, in violation of article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. 9.3 The complainant also claims that no prompt, impartial and effective investigation was carried out into his allegations of torture and that those responsible have not been prosecuted, in violation of articles 12 and 13 of the Convention. The Committee notes that, although the complainant reported the acts of torture the day after their occurrence, during his interrogation on 16 December 2008, and that his family reported the complainant’s illtreatment, inter alia, on 21 January 2009, a preliminary inquiry was initiated only after six months and resulted in a refusal to open a criminal investigation due to a lack of corpus delicti in the actions of the police officers. Thereafter, following the complainant’s appeals before the national courts, his complaints concerning acts of torture were disregarded; no investigation was initiated and no criminal responsibility was attributed to the officers responsible. 9.4 The Committee recalls that an investigation in itself is not sufficient to demonstrate the State party’s conformity with its obligations under article 12 of the Convention if it can be shown not to have been conducted impartially.9 In this respect, it notes that the investigation was entrusted to an investigator of the Internal Security Division of the Department of Internal Affairs of Astana, essentially the same institution where the alleged torture had been committed. In this connection, the Committee recalls its concern that preliminary examinations of complaints of torture and ill-treatment by police officers are undertaken by the Department of Internal Security, which is under the same chain of command as the regular police force and consequently do not lead to impartial examinations.10 9.5 The Committee recalls that article 12 of the Convention also requires that the investigation should be prompt and impartial, promptness being essential both to ensure that the victim cannot continue to be subjected to such acts and also because in general, unless the methods employed have permanent or serious effects, the physical traces of torture, and especially of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, soon disappear.11 The Committee notes that a preliminary investigation was started six months after the reported acts of torture on 10 December 2008. The Committee also notes that, according to the information contained in the decision of 8 June 2009 of the Internal Security Division, the investigation into the complainant’s allegations relied heavily on the testimony of the police officers who denied any involvement in the torture and attached little weight to the complainant’s allegations and the uncontested medical evidence documenting the injuries inflicted on him (medical forensic examination report No. 3393). A decision to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings was adopted only on 8 June 2009 and no criminal charges 9 10 11 See communication No. 257/2004, Kostadin Nikolov Keremedchiev v. Bulgaria, decision of 11November 2008, para. 9.4. See CAT/C/KAZ/CO/2, para. 24. Communication No. 59/1996, Encarnación Blanco Abad v. Spain, decision of 14 May 1998, para. 8.2. 15