A/HRC/34/54/Add.2 103. Authorities informed the Special Rapporteur that the situation would be solved by the Protection of Victims and Witnesses Act No. 4 of 2015. However, while the Act includes the right of a victim to obtain copies of medico-legal reports, this right is neither absolute nor exercised directly: the victim needs to apply to the magistrate, who can refuse the application if it might prejudice the ongoing investigation (sect. 3 (i)). 104. Stakeholders further indicated a great need for more female judicial medical officers. 8. Lack of monitoring of places of detention by a national preventive mechanism 105. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a visiting committee and the National Human Rights Commission, as well as some non-governmental organizations, monitor places of detention. Monitoring by the Commission is severely limited owing to insufficient resources. 106. There is an urgent need for robust, independent and regular monitoring of places of detention by a national preventive mechanism, which should be given unrestricted, unannounced access to all places of detention and the right to conduct confidential interviews with any detainee. 9. Transitional justice 107. By supporting the adoption of Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, the Government of Sri Lanka committed itself to address the legacy of serious and widespread human rights violations that occurred during and immediately after the lengthy armed conflict. If implemented in good faith, a transitional justice mechanism can fulfil the country’s obligations under the Convention against Torture, specifically those relating to investigation, prosecution and punishment of torture, to provide reparations and to prevent torture in the future. 108. However, progress has been slow and differing opinions on the type of mechanism and the extent of its powers seemingly have paralyzed the process. Impunity for past crimes continues to be an obstacle to reconciliation and sustains mistrust between the communities, especially in the North and East, breeding impunity for present instances of abuse. It is therefore essential that any transitional justice mechanism provide for effective remedies to victims of torture and other serious violations that occurred during or in connection with the armed conflict. V. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 109. The issue of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is part of the legacy of the country’s armed conflict, and one of the reasons why the citizens of Sri Lanka continue to live without minimal guarantees of protection against the power of the State, in particular its security forces. 110. Torture and ill-treatment, including of a sexual nature, still occur, in particular in the early stages of arrest and interrogation, often for the purpose of eliciting confessions. The gravity of the mistreatment inflicted increases for those who are perceived to be involved in terrorism or offences against national security. The police resort to forceful extraction of information or coerced confessions rather than carrying out thorough investigations using scientific methods. 17