E/CN.4/2004/56 page 11 facilitate cases of impunity and jeopardizes the right to seek and receive remedy. The Special Rapporteur again draws the attention of the Commission to the recommendation he made in this connection: “When a detainee or relative or lawyer lodges a torture complaint, an inquiry should always take place and, unless the allegation is manifestly ill-founded, the public officials involved should be suspended from their duties pending the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent legal or disciplinary proceedings. Where allegations of torture or other forms of ill-treatment are raised by a defendant during trial, the burden of proof should shift to the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the confession was not obtained by unlawful means, including torture and similar ill-treatment. Serious consideration should also be given to the creation of witness protection programmes for witnesses to incidents of torture and similar ill-treatment which ought to extend fully to cover persons with a previous criminal record. In cases where current inmates are at risk, they ought to be transferred to another detention facility where special measures for their security should be taken. A complaint that is determined to be well founded should result in compensation being paid to the victim or relatives. In all cases of death occurring in custody or shortly after release, an inquiry should be held by judicial or other impartial authorities. A person in respect of whom there is credible evidence of responsibility for torture or severe maltreatment should be tried and, if found guilty, punished. Legal provisions granting exemptions from criminal responsibility for torturers, such as amnesty laws (including laws in the name of national reconciliation or the consolidation of democracy and peace), indemnity laws, etc. should be abrogated. If torture has occurred in an official place of detention, the official in charge of that place should be disciplined or punished. Military tribunals should not be used to try persons accused of torture. Independent national authorities, such as a national commission or ombudsman with investigatory and/or prosecutorial powers, should be established to receive and to investigate complaints. Complaints about torture should be dealt with immediately and should be investigated by an independent authority with no connection to that which is investigating or prosecuting the case against the alleged victim. Furthermore, the forensic medical services should be under judicial or another independent authority, not under the same governmental authority as the police and the penitentiary system. Public forensic medical services should not have a monopoly on expert forensic evidence for judicial purposes. In that context, countries should be guided by the principles on the effective investigation and documentation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (the Istanbul Principles) as a useful tool in the effort to combat torture” (ibid., para. 26 (k)). The Special Rapporteur strongly recommends that States consistently implement the Istanbul Principles. 41. The Special Rapporteur points out again that inappropriate conditions of detention may amount to a form of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. He underlines the principle codified in article 10 of ICCPR which states that “all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. This principle has been interpreted as “a norm of general international law not subject to derogation” by the Human Rights Committee in its general comment No. 29 on article 4 (para. 13 (a)). The Human Rights Committee has developed its views on the meaning of this principle in its general comment No. 21. 42. Persons deprived of their liberty shall have access to prompt and adequate medical care. In his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-third session (E/CN.4/1987/13), the then Special Rapporteur on torture, Peter Kooijmans, presented a brief study on the role of medical personnel and torture. The Standard Minimum Rules,