E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.5 page 3 The Special Rapporteur was deeply concerned with the prevailing culture of impunity for torture in Nepal, especially the emphasis on compensation for acts of torture as an alternative to criminal sanctions against the perpetrator. Domestic law, namely the 1996 Compensation Relating to Torture Act, does not contain a definition of torture in line with article 1 of the Convention, nor does it provide for effective remedies; it does not provide for the criminalization of torture, nor the imposition of punishment commensurate with the gravity of torture. According to the Special Rapporteur, the sanction of “departmental action” against perpetrators provided for in Nepali legislation such as demotions, suspensions, fines, delayed promotions, etc. is so grossly inadequate that any preventive or deterrent effect that may have been envisaged is meaningless in practice. The conditions of detention in the facilities he visited were generally poor, especially in terms of overcrowding and sanitation. The places of detention of suspects at army barracks consisting, for example, of converted garages and steel-plated boxes, were found to be unacceptable. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur recommends a number of measures to be adopted by the Government in order to comply with its commitment to prevent and suppress acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.