CAT/C/CHN/CO/4 page 6 (a) This Law prevents the disclosure of crucial information that would enable the Committee to identify possible patterns of abuse requiring attention, such as disaggregated statistical information on detainees in all forms of detention and custody and ill-treatment in the State party, information on groups and entities deemed to be “hostile organizations”, “minority splittist organizations”, “hostile religious organizations”, “reactionary sects”, as well as basic information on places of detention, information about the “circumstances of prisoners of great influence”, violations of the law or codes of conduct by public security organs, information on matters inside prisons; (b) This Law provides that the determination of whether a piece of information is a State secret lies with the public body producing this information; (c) This Law prevents any public process of determination as to whether a matter is a State secret and the possibility of appeal before an independent tribunal; (d) The classification of a case falling under the State Secrets law allows officials to deny detainees access to lawyers, a fundamental safeguard for preventing torture, and such denial appears to be in contradiction with the 2007 amended Lawyers Law (arts.2 and 19). The State party should review its legislation on State secrets with a view to ensuring that information, including statistics, relevant to the assessment of the State party’s compliance with the provisions of the Convention throughout its territory, including in the Special Administrative Regions, is available to the Committee. The State party should provide information on the criteria used to establish that a piece of information is a State secret and on the number of cases falling under the purview of the legislation on State secrets. The State party should ensure that the determination as to whether a matter is a State secret can be appealed before an independent tribunal. The State party should ensure that every suspect is afforded the right to have prompt access to an independent lawyer, where possible of their own choosing, including in cases involving “State secrets”. 2. Data collection 17. Despite its previous conclusions and recommendations that the State party provide the Committee with statistical information (A/55/44, para.130), the Committee regrets that this was not provided. The absence of comprehensive or disaggregated data on complaints, investigations, prosecutions and convictions of cases of torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement personnel, as well as on detention conditions, abuses by public officials, administrative detention, death penalty cases, and violence against women, ethnic and religious minorities severely hampers the identification of possible patterns of abuse requiring attention (arts. 2 and 19). The State party should compile statistical data relevant to the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention at the national level, disaggregated by gender,