E/CN.4/2004/56/Add.2 page 21 V. RECOMMENDATIONS 64. The highest authorities, in particular those responsible for national security and law enforcement, should officially and publicly reaffirm and declare that torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited under all circumstances and that information on and allegations of the practice of torture in all its forms will be promptly and thoroughly investigated. 65. Taking into account the recommendations of international monitoring mechanisms, the Government should draw up a comprehensive plan to prevent and suppress torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 66. Since incommunicado detention creates conditions that facilitate the perpetration of torture and can in itself constitute a form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or even torture, the incommunicado regime should be abrogated. 67. All persons held in detention by law enforcement agencies should promptly and effectively be ensured (a) the right of access to a lawyer, including the right to consult the lawyer in private; (b) the right to be examined by a doctor of their own choice, it being understood that such examination may take place in the presence of a State-appointed forensic doctor; and (c) the right to have relatives informed of their arrest and place of detention. 68. Each interrogation should begin with the identification of all persons present. All interrogation sessions should be recorded, preferably video-recorded, and the identity of all persons present should be included in the record. In this regard, the practice of blindfolding and hooding should be explicitly forbidden. 69. Complaints and reports of torture or ill-treatment should be investigated promptly and effectively. Legal action should be taken against the public officials involved, and they should be suspended from their duties pending the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent legal or disciplinary proceedings. The investigation should be independent of suspected perpetrators and the agency they serve. Investigations should be carried out in accordance with the Principles on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 55/89. 70. Legal provisions should be effectively and expeditiously implemented to ensure that victims of torture or ill-treatment obtain redress and adequate reparation, including rehabilitation, compensation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. 71. In assigning prisoners from the Basque country to prisons, due consideration should be given to maintaining social relations between the prisoners and their families, in the best interests of the family and the prisoners’ own social rehabilitation.