E/CN.4/1999/61/Add.1 page 21 police officers include articles 181 and 228 of the Penal Code. Article 181 provides “Where a government official, by abuse of his duty or failure to adhere to legal procedures and conditions, deprives a person of his personal liberty he shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year and no more than three years.” Similarly, article 228 provides “A public officer who, by misuse of his authority, and in violation of laws and regulations, takes an arbitrary action regarding a person or a public officer or orders or causes others to order such an action, shall be punished by imprisonment for three months to one year; and if the offender had a special purpose for taking such action, the punishment shall be increased by not more than one third...” 71. While most government officials whom the Special Rapporteur met concede that there are cases of torture committed by State agents, they all deny that they are systematic and routine, but rather are isolated incidents in which the perpetrators are punished. In practice, there does appear to be an increase in the number of prosecutions of police. This may signal a greater commitment on the part of the Government, but also reflects greater public awareness due to increased media attention in several high-profile cases. 72. Nevertheless, the statistical information provided by both government officials and non-governmental organizations demonstrates that very few allegations lead to prosecutions, and even where there is a conviction, the punishment meted out is incommensurate with the gravity of the offence. There are several reasons, including jurisdictional hurdles, the efforts of the police leadership to protect its officers, the lack of will on the part of prosecutors to investigate and bring criminal charges against perpetrators and the failure of courts to hand down appropriate sentences. 73. In Diyarbakir, the Chief Public Prosecutor provided the following statistical information for cases investigated falling under the scope of article 243 (torture) and article 245 (ill-treatment) of the Penal Code. Under article 243, 12 allegations of torture were referred to his office during 1998, in which 5 investigations remain pending, there was 1 decision of non-jurisdiction, there were 4 decisions of non-jurisdiction because of geography, 2 decisions not to prosecute and 1 decision to proceed with prosecution. In the 20 cases under article 245, there were 9 investigations pending, 1 decision of non-jurisdiction, 3 decisions of non-jurisdiction because of geography and 7 decisions not to prosecute. 74. In Istanbul, the Chief Public Prosecutor provided the following statistical information. In 1996, 113 cases were prosecuted, in 1997, 93 cases, and in 1998 39 cases. Although many of the cases are still pending, the Public Prosecutor informed the Special Rapporteur that these prosecutions led to 15 convictions and 120 acquittals. The longest conviction was three years for a violation of article 243 of the Penal Code. 75. The Acting Director-General of Security informed the Special Rapporteur that between 1995 and 1997 there had been 152 cases falling under article 245 of the Penal Code (ill-treatment), involving a total of 411 police officers. In these 152 cases, only 4 officers had been convicted, while cases involving 140 officers remained pending. There had been 105 cases under article 243 (torture), involving 313 police officers. In those cases, 123 officers were acquitted, there were 47 decisions of non-lieu, 6 cases in which permission