CAT/C/LKA/CO/5 the fact that the police have been identified as being responsible in the majority of alleged cases of torture (arts. 13 and 14). 18. The State party should establish an independent, effective, confidential and accessible complaints mechanism for victims of torture, including for persons deprived of their liberty, and ensure that complainants can file their complaints safely without risk of reprisals. It should also revise the Assistance to and Protection of Victims of Crimes and Witnesses Act to ensure that witnesses to and victims of human rights violations, including torture, sexual violence and trafficking, are effectively protected and assisted, in particular by ensuring that the Victims and Witness Protection Division is an autonomous entity independent of the police hierarchy and that its members are fully vetted. The State party should also take prompt criminal and disciplinary action against police officers responsible for threats or reprisals against victims of and witnesses to torture. Inadequate investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment 19. The Committee remains deeply concerned that, according to numerous reports from United Nations and non-governmental sources, impunity prevails in most cases of torture in the State party. The Committee notes with concern that only 17 cases of torture have been filed under the Convention against Torture Act since 2012 and only 2 have resulted in convictions, suggesting that only a small number of allegations of torture have actually been investigated. The Committee notes with concern the considerable discrepancy between the low number of complaints of torture reportedly received by the police since 2012 (150 cases) and the high number of allegations of torture received by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka during the same period (2,259 cases). The Committee did not receive the information it requested on the number of prosecutions of torture cases that have been initiated on the basis of allegations forwarded to law enforcement officers by the Commission. It also notes with concern the information shared by the delegation that although the Commission forwards all allegations of torture to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution, the Office does not open ex officio investigations into those complaints, but rather refers them to the police for further investigation. Similarly, the Committee notes the State party’s confirmation that prosecutors generally do not launch investigations into torture ex officio, but rather only act in cases where a complaint of torture is first submitted to the police and investigated by them. The Committee is seriously concerned that this institutional arrangement has impeded the carrying out of impartial, effective investigations into allegations of torture, as responsibility for launching such investigations rests solely with the Special Investigative Unit of the police, which remains within the police hierarchy (arts. 2, 4, 12, 13 and 16). 20. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendation (see CAT/C/LKA/CO/3-4, para. 18) that the State party establish an independent body tasked with investigating complaints against law enforcement officers that is independent of the police hierarchy. The Committee also urges the State party to strengthen the independence of the prosecutorial authority responsible for acting on cases of torture and consider vesting prosecutors with the ability to mandate ex officio investigations into torture. The State party should also ensure that persons under investigation in cases of torture are immediately suspended from duty for the duration of the investigation, particularly when there is a risk that they might otherwise be in a position to repeat the alleged act, to commit reprisals against the alleged victim or to obstruct the investigation; and that those responsible for committing, ordering, consenting to or acquiescing in the commission of torture are duly prosecuted, tried and, if found guilty, punished in a manner that is commensurate with the gravity of their acts. 6