E/CN.4/1989/15 page 44 one of the most effective instruments for the prevention of torture, and the fact that the Turkish Government has declared that it is prepared to accept such outside monitoring must, therefore, be seen as an expression of its firm decision to eradicate the evil of torture. Another highly important step was taken in January 1987, when Turkey recognized - be it under certain conditions - the right of individual complaint under the European Convention on Human Rights which, inter alia in its article 3, states that no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 211. In view of these strong commitments, it is all the more remarkable that reports about torture being practised continue uninterruptedly, although the number of arrests has decreased considerably since the civilian Government took over from the military. It is alleged that those who are arrested are often subjected to torture, in particular during the earlier stages of the investigation. The Turkish daily papers regularly report alleged cases of torturej torture is a hotly debated issue in parliament and various members of parliament and leading politicians have frequently stated that torture is still widespread in the country. 212. The Special Rapporteur himself continues to receive allegations, though they no longer refer to torture practised in prisons, but exclusively to the practice of torture in police stations. 213. Under the law, a person can be arrested and held in custody for a period of 24 hours without charge. The public prosecutor has to be informed immediately of the arrest. if the person is not released after 24 hours, the period of detention may be extended to 15 days by court order. If, however, the offence is committed by three or more persons collectively, detention for up to 15 days is possible without a court order. For offences involving State security, the period of 15 days can be extended to 30 days. After that period, the detainee has to be arraigned before a judge or released. 214. During this entire period, the detainee may be kept incommunicado. The Special Rapporteur was informed that if the arrested person already had a lawyer at the time of arrest, the police were legally obliged to give the lawyer access to the detainee after the 2 4-hour period, if the lawyer so requested. It was admitted, however, that, although the rule existed, police personnel were not well aware of it, and that therefore administrative instructions should clarify the procedure. It was also said that the family of the detainee had a similar right. It was submitted, on the other hand, that those rules might also be ineffective because a lawyer or the family were generally not aware that a person had been arrested, let alone where he was detained. 215. When an arrested person does not have a lawyer at the time of arrest, he is only allowed to appoint one after the period of 15 or 30 days. 216. When asked by the Special Rapporteur why the detainee did not have an opportunity to appoint a lawyer immediately after his arrest, the reply was that it was quite common for a lawyer to be chosen who belonged to the same political group or faction, and that contacts between the detainee and the lawyer during the preliminary steps of an investigation could easily lead to valuable evidence being destroyed and to the leaking of important information.