A/64/215 B. Country visits 7. With respect to fact-finding missions, the Special Rapporteur undertook visits to Uruguay and Kazakhstan. He also received an invitation from the Government of Cuba to visit the country in 2009 and hopes that this mission will take place in November. He is waiting for the confirmation of dates to visit Zimbabwe in October. He also hopes that dates for the visit to the Russian Federation, originally postponed in October 2006, will be forthcoming. 8. The Special Rapporteur visited Uruguay from 21 to 27 March 2009. At the conclusion of the visit, he expressed his appreciation to the Government for the full cooperation extended to him. Although he received few allegations of torture, he received numerous credible allegations of ill-treatment and excessive use of force in prisons, police stations and juvenile detention centres. However, he was encouraged by the fact that police custody was safeguarded by habeas corpus and that people were brought before a judge within a maximum of 48 hours. With regard to prison conditions, the Special Rapporteur found some sections inhuman and degrading, with conditions that included severe overcrowding and a lack of water, sanitation and access to medical treatment. Many, if not all, of the problems faced by the penitentiary system and the juvenile justice system were a direct result of the lack of a comprehensive criminal or penitentiary policy. As such, the Special Rapporteur recommended to the Government that it undertake a fundamental reform of the criminal justice and penitentiary systems aimed at the prevention of crime and the resocialization of offenders, moving away from a punitive penal and penitentiary system directed at locking up people to one that aimed to reintegrate prisoners into society. He encouraged the Government to put into practice the national plan to fight domestic violence, and to criminalize torture, in full accordance with the definition contained in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. 9. The Special Rapporteur also undertook a visit to Kazakhstan from 4 to 11 May 2009. At the conclusion of his mission to that country, he thanked the Government for its invitation and cooperation. He also complimented the Government for its efforts to improve the conditions in places of detention, while taking note of the challenges that territory-wide monitoring is presenting in the country. He noted, however, that the detention facilities were prepared before his inspection, something that contradicted the idea of unannounced visits and independent fact-finding. He further added that rehabilitation and reintegration were not achieved through the current penitentiary system. Regarding the use of torture and ill-treatment, the Special Rapporteur expressed concern over numerous credible allegations that led him to conclude that those practices went beyond isolated cases. With regard to protection mechanisms, the legal framework was in line with international norms. However, many safeguards were not effective in practice; notably, there were no meaningful complaint mechanisms, as illustrated by the fact that there had been no allegations of torture against police officials in the past five years. Also, there was no independent body mandated to investigate those allegations. Finally, he noted that violence against women was a widespread phenomenon and that the State had not taken the appropriate measures to protect the victims. 10. The Special Rapporteur would like to recall requests for invitations sent to the following States: Algeria (request first made in 1997); Afghanistan (2005); Belarus (2005); Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (2005); Côte d’Ivoire (2005); Egypt (1996); 09-43792 5