B. Positive aspects (5) The Committee commends the State party for the peaceful transition from the apartheid regime and the establishment of a democratic South African society as well as for the adoption of the Constitution of 1996, which includes a Bill of Rights enshrining, inter alia, the rights “to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources”, “not to be tortured in any way” and “not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way”, and sets legal safeguards for detained persons. (6) The Committee acknowledges with appreciation the wide ratification of international human rights instruments by the State party since the end of apartheid, in particular: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and its Protocols; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and its Protocol; and the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. (7) The Committee welcomes the adoption of numerous legislative measures designed to entrench, promote and enforce human rights, including the abolition of the death penalty and solitary confinement, the adoption of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and, especially, the enactment of: (a) the Correctional Services Act of 1998, prescribing the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Correctional Officials; (b) the Refugees Act of 1998; (c) the Domestic Violence Act of 1998; (d) the Immigration Act of 2002; and (e) the Prison Act of 2004. (8) The Committee also welcomes the establishment of the Law Reform Commission, the South African Human Rights Commission, the Independent Complaints Directorate, with specific investigation powers regarding allegations of torture and the appointment, under the Correctional Services Act, of Independent Prisons Visitors, who report to the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons. (9) The Committee notes with satisfaction the State party’s assurances that more financial and human resources have been allocated to the Independent Complaints Directorate, that its independence is guaranteed, and that an amendment to its structure is being considered to reinforce and broaden its powers. (10) The Committee also acknowledges with satisfaction the establishment of a Policy on the Prevention of Torture and Treatment of Persons in Custody of the South African Police Service, and the issuing of Standing Orders for the Police. C. Factors and difficulties impeding the implementation of the Convention (11) The Committee recognizes that the heritage of the apartheid regime, in which torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and other grave human rights violations, were widespread and institutionalized, continues to have some impact on the State party’s criminal justice system and presents obstacles impeding the full implementation of the Convention. (12) Beyond the dismantling of the former apartheid structures, the Committee acknowledges that the establishment of a justice system respectful of human rights in general, and of the provisions of the Convention in particular, represents a challenge for South Africa and it encourages the State party to strengthen this reform. The Committee points out, however, that, as stated in article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention, no exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification of torture. D. Principal subjects of concern and recommendations (13) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Constitution and the fact that courts may consider torture as an aggravating circumstance, the Committee is concerned with regard to the absence of a specific offence of torture, as well as of a definition of torture, in the State party’s criminal law, more than seven years after the Convention entered into force (arts. 1 and 4). 38