CAT/C/52/D/503/2012 and thus proceeds to its consideration of the merits of the claims submitted by the complainant under articles 2 (para. 1), 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16 of the Convention. Consideration of the merits 6.1 The Committee has considered the complaint in the light of all the information made available to it by the parties in accordance with article 22, paragraph 4, of the Convention. As the State party has not provided any observations on the merits, due weight must be given to the complainant’s allegations. 6.2 The Committee notes that, according to the complainant, on the night of 17 October 2010, the mayor of Bujumbura, the municipal police commissioner of Bujumbura and 11 national police officers arrived at Prince Regent Charles Hospital, where the complainant was working. During the subsequent altercation, the mayor and the police officers struck him repeatedly, leaving him bleeding and in severe pain. Referring to the victim, the mayor ordered his men to “finish off this drug addict”. The complainant was then handcuffed, put into a vehicle and beaten until he lost consciousness on the way to the jail of the criminal investigation police. The Committee has taken note of the complainant’s allegations that the blows he received caused extreme pain and mental suffering and were deliberately inflicted by agents of the State with the objective of punishing and intimidating him. In the absence of any refutation by the State party, the Committee concludes that due weight must be given to the complainant’s allegations and that the events in question, as described by the complainant, constitute acts of torture within the meaning of article 1 of the Convention. 6.3 The complainant also invokes article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention, under which the State party is enjoined to “effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction”. The Committee observes, in the case in question, that the complainant was beaten, then detained without being allowed to contact his family or being given access to legal or medical assistance. The Committee recalls its concluding observations concerning the State party’s initial report, in which it called on the State party to take legislative, administrative and judicial measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment and to take steps, as a matter of urgency, to bring all places of detention under judicial control and to prevent its officials from making arbitrary arrests and from engaging in torture.21 The apparent lack of any mechanism to provide oversight of the criminal investigation police jail where he was held without doubt exposed him to an increased risk of being subjected to torture and deprived him of any possible remedy. The Committee consequently finds a violation of article 2, paragraph 1, read in conjunction with article 1 of the Convention.22 6.4 With regard to articles 12 and 13 of the Convention, the Committee has taken note of the complainant’s claims that, on 17 October 2010, he was beaten and detained by police officers who were accompanying the mayor of Bujumbura and was held without legal justification until 20 October 2010. He lodged formal complaints with the Public Prosecutor on 5 November 2010, and with the President of the Supreme Court on 22 July 2011 and 2 February 2012, with no result. Although the perpetrators were clearly identified, the State party has still not conducted any investigation four years after the incidents in question. The Committee considers that so long a delay in initiating an investigation into allegations of torture is patently unjustified and clearly breaches the State party’s obligations under article 12 of the Convention, which requires it to proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed. 21 22 10 CAT/C/BDI/CO/1, para. 10. See communication No. 376/2009, Bendib v. Algeria, decision adopted on 8 November 2013, para. 6.4. GE.14-04314