CAT/C/KAZ/CO/3 policies are inconsistently implemented in practice. The Committee is particularly concerned about persistent allegations of torture and ill-treatment committed by law enforcement officials, including the threat of sexual abuse and rape, in temporary detention isolation facilities (IVSs) and remand centres (SIZOs) under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Security Committee for the purpose of extracting “voluntary confessions” or information to be used as evidence in criminal proceedings (art. 2). The State party should take effective measures to fully implement its legislation in practice, particularly to: (a) Apply its declared policy of zero tolerance of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by publicly and unambiguously condemning torture in all its forms, directing the policy especially at police, accompanied with a clear warning that any person committing such acts or otherwise complicit or participating in torture or other ill-treatment will be held responsible before the law for such acts and subject to penalties proportional with the gravity of the crime; (b) Amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide for mandatory video recording of interrogations and equip all places of deprivation of liberty with video and audio-recording devices; (c) Conduct effective criminal investigations into all allegations of torture and provide investigators with adequate resources to carry out their mandate. Effective investigation of allegations and prosecution of perpetrators of torture and ill-treatment 8. While welcoming the creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor with responsibility for overseeing investigations into allegations of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, by State officials, the Committee is concerned at reports that most allegations of torture and ill-treatment continue to be referred for preliminary investigation to the same department as that in which the persons accused of torture are employed. The Committee is further concerned that allegations of torture and ill-treatment received from persons deprived of their liberty by members of the State party’s Public Monitoring Committees and the National Preventive Mechanism are reported back to the authorities with responsibility for the place of detention rather than to an independent investigating authority, with the result that individuals who complain of torture are made vulnerable to reprisals. The Committee is also concerned at the data based on official sources revealing that less than 2 per cent of the complaints of torture received by the State have led to prosecutions (arts. 12 and 13). The State party should: (a) Establish an effective, fully resourced, independent and accountable body that is able to carry out prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations, including preliminary investigations, into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment, ensuring that such investigations are never undertaken by personnel employed by the same ministry as the accused persons; (b) Ensure that such an independent body is also empowered to receive and act on complaints of alleged torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials, including complaints of sexual violence; ensure that persons deprived of their liberty are able to transmit confidential complaints to such bodies; and ensure that this body is able to protect effectively complainants from reprisal; (c) Provide the Committee with information on the number of complaints of torture made by persons deprived of their liberty, the number of claims of acts of 3