CAT/C/46/D/341/2008 gendarmerie as part of the inquiry into the cause of death. By a letter dated 21 November 2007 the State security officer reported that the application had been denied. The services had concluded that the victim had died a “normal death” and that consequently the link between his death and the national tragedy had not been established. The complainant points out that the inquiry was conducted by the same gendarmerie that had arrested and tortured the victim. 2.6 On 16 February 2008 the complainant and her family once again sent a request to the Tiaret prosecutor with a view to obtaining a copy of the autopsy report. The authorities have still not replied to her request or acknowledged their responsibility in the death of the victim. Furthermore, the complainant has been legally incapable of bringing her case to court since the promulgation of Order No. 06-01 of 27 February 2006 implementing the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation. Domestic remedies, previously useless and ineffective, have now become unavailable. The complaint 3.1 The complainant points out that Djilali Hanafi was subjected to extremely serious ill-treatment. The victim himself told his family, before dying from his injuries, that he had been violently beaten, treatment qualified as torture by the Committee.1 Furthermore, his torturers did not provide him with the necessary care, despite the fact that he was in a serious state of health. Moreover, there was clearly an intention to inflict such pain, given the state of the victim. In light of the treatment inflicted also on those detained with him, the complainant deduces that the practice was systematic, planned and coordinated at that place of detention. The complainant alleges that the aim of such treatment was to obtain information or a confession, to punish the detainee or intimidate him, or to bring pressure to bear on him because of his supposed political affiliation. As for the perpetrators, there was no doubt that they were public officials. The complainant therefore considers that the treatment constitutes torture under article 1 of the Convention, and at the very least constitutes cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under article 16 of the Convention. 3.2 The complainant recalls that the State party has not adopted the legislative or regulatory measures required to prevent the commission of torture in its jurisdiction. It has therefore failed to fulfil the obligation set out in article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention. It has also failed in its duty to carry out an investigation in respect of the victim. The measures set out by Order No. 06-01 of 27 February 2006 prohibiting the filing of charges against members of the Algerian security forces for serious crimes committed during the period of “national tragedy” further foster impunity. Furthermore, Algerian law contains no provisions prohibiting the use as evidence of confessions or statements extracted under torture, which does nothing to dissuade the police from using illicit means to obtain statements for later use in criminal trials against suspects or third parties. Furthermore, the Committee has cited a series of guarantees to prevent torture and ill-treatment of persons deprived of their liberty, including keeping an official register of detainees. The State party has numerous secret detention centres with no registers of detainees, and the families of the detainees have no way of locating them. Furthermore, Algerian law provides for police custody of up to 12 days with no possibility for contact with persons outside, including the family, counsel or an independent doctor. This long period of incommunicado detention exposes detainees to a greater risk of torture and ill-treatment. In such circumstances, detainees are materially unable to ensure that their rights are respected through legal proceedings. 1 4 Communication No. 207/2002, Dragan Dimitrijevic v. Serbia and Montenegro, decision adopted on 24 November 2004, para. 5.3; communication No. 269/2005, Ben Salem v. Tunisia, decision adopted on 7 November 2007, para. 16.4. GE.11-43885