A/HRC/43/49/Add.1 requisite knowledge of how to investigate and document allegations of ill-treatment and torture. Consequently, victims of torture or other ill-treatment are confronted with inaction from State authorities, which seems to be rooted in a marked lack of both technical capacity and political will. 55. Regarding the role of health professionals in the prevention and detection of torture, the forensic expert accompanying the visit noted that medical personnel did not appear to inquire about injuries or probe further for explanations. 56. Doctors have no forensic expertise and were unfamiliar with the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol) and thus have no specific knowledge on the identification, adequate description, documentation and interpretation of physical and psychological symptoms. 57. In fact, in the Comoros, there are no forensic medical experts, institutions or infrastructure, and no autopsies appear to be conducted in cases of death in custody. 58. The Special Rapporteur requested, but did not receive, any statistics on the causes of deaths occurring in detention, and the consequent liability, and is seriously concerned that such incidents do not receive a thorough investigation. 59. Furthermore, there are essentially no State rehabilitation services. Consequently, victims of torture or ill-treatment and their families are dependent on donor-funded programmes operated by civil society. 4. Monitoring of detention conditions 60. The National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms was promulgated on 18 February 2012 (Decree No. 12-042/PR) but only became operational in July 2017. 8 It has a broad mandate to promote and protect human rights. In addition, the composition of the members is robust, with lawyers, doctors and social workers, in addition to government representatives. However, in practice, the Commission lacks an independent budget and resources (for example, they lack vehicles) to undertake meaningful independent monitoring. 61. The Commissioner stated that she had carried out visits to three prisons and prepared reports, which first had to be shared with the Government before becoming public. The Special Rapporteur requested but has not received copies of these reports. The Commission has not been accredited under the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles); it is generally perceived to be a government institution rather than an independent national preventative mechanism. 62. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the International Committee of the Red Cross signed an agreement in October 2014 to establish prison visits in accordance with the standard procedures of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Regular visits were undertaken at the Moroni and Koki prisons until 2018, when the International Committee of the Red Cross concluded its monitoring programme in the Comoros.9 C. Places of detention 63. Official places of detention in the Comoros consist of holding cells in the nine regional stations under the authority of the gendarmerie and the National Police Intervention Unit and three prisons (holding remand and convicted inmates) on the islands of Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli. 8 9 8 The United Nations Children’s Fund funded the establishment and equipment of the National Commission for Human Rights and Freedoms. International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC Annual Report 2018 (Geneva, 2019), p. 134. Available at www.icrc.org/data/files/annual-report-2018/icrc-annual-report-africa_2018.pdf.