The Committee considers that failure to prosecute and to provide adequate rehabilitation all contribute to a failure of the State party to meet its obligations under the Convention to prevent torture and ill-treatment, including through educational and rehabilitation measures. The State party should ensure prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into all such motivated acts and prosecute and punish perpetrators with appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of their acts, and provide rehabilitation measures to the victims, including steps to prevent impunity. Prohibition of any statement obtained under torture from being invoked as evidence (18) The Committee expresses its concern at the fact that the State party does not have uniform legislation ensuring that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, as required by article 15 of the Convention. The State party should ensure that legislation concerning evidence to be adduced in judicial proceedings is brought in line with the provisions of article 15 of the Convention so as to exclude explicitly any evidence obtained as a result of torture. Rights of vulnerable groups and discrimination (19) While noting a number of measures adopted by the State party, including the Strategy for the Development of the Ethnic Minorities Policy until 2015, the Programme for the Integration of the Romany into the Lithuanian Society for 2008-2010 and the National Antidiscrimination Programme for 2006-2008, the Committee is concerned at reports of ill-treatment and discrimination of ethnic minorities, especially Roma. In this respect, the Committee is concerned at information indicating that instances of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, in particular the police, are often directed at persons belonging to ethnic minorities. The Committee is also concerned at the lack of information on the number of hate crimes in the country and on the existence of a recording and monitoring system in respect of hate crimes (art. 16). The State party should intensify its efforts to combat discrimination and ill-treatment of ethnic minorities, in particular Roma, including through the strict application of relevant legislation and regulations providing for sanctions. The State party should ensure prompt, impartial and thorough investigations into all such motivated acts and prosecute and punish perpetrators with appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of their acts, and ensure adequate training and instructions for law enforcement bodies and sensitization of the judiciary. The State party is encouraged to provide detailed information in its next periodic report on the number of hate crimes and the effective measures adopted to prevent and combat such acts. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the State party that a new national antidiscrimination programme for 2009-2011 is being prepared and calls upon the State party to ensure the necessary budgetary allocations for its effective implementation. Domestic violence (20) The Committee takes note of various measures taken by the State party, including the approval by the Government on 22 December 2006 of the long-term State Strategy on the Reduction of Violence against Women and the Plan of Implementing Measures 2007-2009. However, the Committee expresses concern about the high prevalence of violence against women and children, including domestic violence, and it regrets the absence of a definition of domestic violence in national legislation and that such violence is not recognized as a specific crime. The Committee also regrets that the number of crisis centres, which have mostly been established and are operated on the initiative of NGOs, is insufficient due to lack of financial governmental support. While noting that territorial police establishments have started collecting, compiling and analysing data related to domestic violence, the Committee regrets the lack of State-wide statistics on domestic violence and that statistical data on complaints, prosecutions and sentences in matters of domestic violence were not provided (arts. 1, 2, 12 and 16). The State party should increase its efforts to prevent, combat and punish violence against women and children, including domestic violence. The Committee calls upon the State party to allocate sufficient financial resources to ensure the effective implementation of the State Strategy on the Reduction of 56