Situation during visit (A/HRC/4/33/Add.3) (m) All allegations of torture and ill-treatment be promptly and thoroughly investigated by an independent authority with no connection to the authority investigating or prosecuting the case against the alleged victim. - No ex officio investigations Non-governmental sources: A prosecutor were undertaken even in the appointed by the director of the PSD, who is at the face of serious injuries same time an official of the PSD, carries out sustained by a criminal suspect. investigations into allegations of torture and ill- Impunity was total. treatment against officials and prosecutes them in a police court staffed by judges who are PSD officials appointed by the PSD director as well; - Following encouragements by the international community and HE King Abdullah, the police prosecutor brought charges of ―beatings leading to death‖ against prison guards in Aqaba, who beat a detainee to death in May 2007. A/HRC/19/61/Add.3 156 Steps taken in previous years (to be found in A/HRC/7/3/Add.2, Information received in the reporting A/HRC/10/44/Add.5 and A/HRC/16/52/Add.2) period may also dispute, before the public prosecutor and the court, the statement obtained from him by the law enforcement officer on the grounds that it was obtained under pressure or through physical or mental coercion. - The Court of Cassation handed down a number of rulings annulling verdicts of courts, because defendants had been put under physical and mental duress during questioning. Ruling No. 450/2004 of 17/3/2004 states: ―If the court concludes that the confession which the defendant made to the police was obtained under circumstances which must cast doubt on its veracity and under the effects of physical duress and torture, then the court is entitled to disregard the confession.‖ Also, ruling No. 1513/2003 of 4/5/2006 stipulates: ―Statements obtained as a result of violence or coercion cannot be relied upon to convict defendants.‖ Other similar rulings annulling court verdicts include: No. 820/2003 of 23/11/2003; No. 552/99 of 23/8/1999; No. 256/98 of 19/5/1998; No. 51/98 of 23/3/1998; No. 746/97 of 20/1/1998; No. 327/94 of 22/8/1994; and No. 271/91 of 1/10/1992. Recommendation (A/HRC/4/33/Add.3)