CAT/C/TUN/CO/3 judicial authorities, as confirmed by the additional information from the State party regarding the cases of Ali Khemais Louati, Mohamed Ali Snoussi, Walid Denguir, Abdelmajid Jedday, Rachid Chammakhi and Fayçal Baraket. While the Committee appreciates the fact that the State party has provided statistics on the number of deaths in detention since 2013, which has averaged 34 deaths per year, the Committee regrets the lack of information on inquiries into these deaths (arts. 2, 11, 12, 13 and 16). 30. The State party should take the measures required to ensure that: (a) All deaths in detention are subject to impartial inquiries conducted with due diligence by independent bodies, and that the persons considered responsible for them are brought to justice and, if found guilty, appropriately punished; (b) Victims and their families can take part in the judicial investigations as a civil party, and on the same footing as the prosecutor. Monitoring of places of detention 31. While welcoming the measures taken and agreements reached with various national and international bodies to strengthen monitoring at places of detention (see paras. 5 (d) and 6 (c) above) and the recent establishment of the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, the Committee notes with concern that several bodies have been denied access to the Gorjani judicial police facility on the grounds that it is not a place of deprivation of liberty (arts. 2, 11-14 and 16). 32. The State party should provide all monitoring mechanisms with free access to all places of detention, including pretrial detention and interrogation centres. Such mechanisms should be able to conduct unannounced visits and to interview inmates without witnesses. National Authority for the Prevention of Torture 33. While welcoming the recent establishment of the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, the Committee is concerned about the lack of resources available for it to become operational immediately (art. 2). 34. The State party should provide the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture with sufficient resources to allow it to begin to carry out its mandate immediately and to operate in accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). Non-retroactivity of the law and non-applicability of the statute of limitations to the crime of torture 35. The Committee notes with satisfaction that article 24 of Organic Act No. 2013-43, which set up the National Authority for the Prevention of Torture, amended article 5 (4) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, establishing that the crime of torture is not subject to the statute of limitations, and that, in accordance with article 9 of Act No. 53 of 2013 on transitional justice, legal proceedings brought before the specialized judicial divisions authorized to hear cases of torture committed since 1955 are not subject to prescription. Considering the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal law and the fact that the crime of torture was introduced into the Criminal Code only in 1999 under article 101 bis, the Committee remains concerned about the application of the law to acts of torture committed prior to the entry into force of the provision. In this respect, it notes that in two cases concerning torture committed prior to 1999 the perpetrators were prosecuted for 8 GE.16-09569