E/CN.4/1989/15 page 46 221. If a torture complaint is made, the public prosecutor is obliged to carry out an investigation. If the evidence is sufficient, a criminal case must be opened. If the prosecutor is of the opinion that there is not enough evidence, the case will be dismissed. The individual can then appeal against this decision. 222. Although the figures given by various authorities do not coincide, it is clear that investigations have been carried out concerning torture complaints against a large number of members of the security forces, and that well over a hundred of them have been on trial. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur asked the authorities to provide him with recent data, but he has not yet received them. In 1987, the Special Rapporteur was informed by the Turkish authorities that legal action had been taken in 1986 against 1,459 public officials accused of maltreatment of individuals and that 100 of them had been convicted. In that same year, the Special Rapporteur received information that, in the period from 1980 until 26 May 1987, 1,513 persons had been indemnified for having been arrested or detained in a manner that was not in conformity with the law. 2 23. Concern was expressed on various sides that only a minority of the reliably attested cases of torture had been brought to court and that the penalties imposed were usually relatively light. Too many complaints had been summarily dismissed. During his visit, the Special Rapporteur received information to the effect that two leaders of the banned Communist Party, Haydar Kutlu and Nihat Sargin, who had returned to their country from exile on 16 November 1987 but were immediately arrested at the airport, had filed a petition with the European Commission of Human Rights after their torture complaints had been dismissed in Turkey. 224. Torture is not a separate crime under Turkish penal law. If a person is tortured and subsequently dies, this is categorized as manslaughter and is punishable by eight years' imprisonment, whereas in other cases punishment may range from three to five years. At present, the Criminal Code is being revised and it has been proposed that the penalty for torture should be increased up to 16 years in cases where it results in death. 225. Complaints about prison conditions have been made quite regularly, and from time to time lead to hunger-strikes by prison inmates. In 1987, a parliamentary committee was set up to supervise the prison situation and the treatment of prisoners. The committee regularly visits prisons and can make recommendations. As a result of one of these recommendations, it was decided to transfer all civilian prisoners held in military prisons to civilian prisons. Such visits can also have a preventive effect on the occurrence of torture. 226. Since 1983, education and training programmes for police personnel have been revised and updated. According to the information received, human rights are now an important part of the curriculum. The Special Rapporteur has visited the police High School in Ankara and was informed about the teaching programme. Human rights is taught as part of constitutional law. When asked whether the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners were among the material used, the Director of the School answered that he did not know of those documents.