E/CN.4/1999/61/Add.1 page 17 have any expertise or knowledge about diagnosis of torture, or how to carry out forensic examinations and prepare reports. The President of the FA suggested that a starting point would be to provide general practitioners with standard checklist forms, to ensure that no areas of examination are missed. The Special Rapporteur was subsequently informed by the President of the CFM that a pilot scheme, providing doctors with standard forms for guidance as to examination methods, was to be implemented in Istanbul city centre, Izmir and Ankara. It is to be hoped that such a scheme will be rapidly extended to the rural areas where, according to both official and non-official sources, the problem of lack of expertise is particularly acute. Other relevant developments of which the Special Rapporteur was informed, as being in their initial stages, include an overall increase in the number of forensic doctors and the issuance of government guidelines as to how physicians should deal with victims of torture. 59. Also worthy of note is the shortage of specialized techniques available to doctors for the diagnosis of torture. The prison doctor of Diyarbakir E-type prison indicated that when he receives allegations of torture not leaving marks susceptible to visual confirmation, such as electric shocks, the facilities to permit the detection of subcutaneous trauma are not available to him. 2. Issuing of medical certificates 60. According to several public prosecutors with whom the Special Rapporteur met during his visit, in order for an investigation into an allegation of torture to be opened, the alleged victim must be able to support his claim with either a medical certificate or an eyewitness. Clearly, the very nature of torture makes it difficult to provide eyewitness testimony and, consequently, the accuracy of medical certificates takes on decisive significance in the context of potential impunity of perpetrators. New regulations in force since 1 October 1998 (see above, para. 34) provide that all persons in police custody or making statements must be given medical examinations immediately upon arrival and prior to departure from custody, as well as during the custody period if transferred for any reason. According to the Minister of State in charge of Human Rights, a draft amendment to article 345 of the Penal Code incriminates the issuing of false medical reports that conceal torture and ill-treatment, and punishes perpetrators with from four to eight years of imprisonment. With respect to the punishment of officials who exert pressure on doctors to issue such reports, the Minister of State explained that they would be prosecuted for abuse of power. The Minister of Health also emphasized that physicians are fully independent and would not prepare false certificates. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur received consistent information from a range of sources both before and during his visit to the effect that the circumstances in which medical examinations take place make false reports a common occurrence, while those doctors who refuse to issue such reports are often subject to a variety of pressures as a result. 61. According to the information received, various factors influence the production of false medical certificates, but the central reason is the direct involvement of the alleged perpetrators of torture in the process of obtaining the certificates. According to one report, they have occasionally gone so far