As mentioned above, on 14 May 2016, the President signed amendments to the Law on Detention Procedures and Conditions for Suspects, Accused Persons and Defendants (further Law on Detention Procedures) and to the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), improving legal safeguards in detention for those held under criminal proceedings. For example, the amendments provided for improved detention registration procedures and the rights to promptly inform family and legal counsel. The amendments also stipulated that detention begins from the moment of de-facto deprivation of liberty and that the identity of all detaining officers should be recorded. In addition, an obligatory medical examination was introduced prior to placement a suspect in a temporary police detention facility. On 2 January 2020, President Rahmon signed laws and amendments relating to torture/ill-treatment, some of which further strengthened legal safeguards in detention particularly in regard to minors. On 4 July 2020, amendments were made to the CPC removing “gravity of the punishment” as grounds for remanding a suspect in custody. Also, on 2 February 2021, amendments to the Law on Detention Procedures entered into force, meaning a lawyer can now access detainees on the basis of the legal license, and no longer requires permission from the investigator. However, the above amendments are not consistently implemented in practice. Most allegations of torture and ill-treatment continue to originate in the time between the arrest and the placing of the suspect in a temporary police detention facility. In addition to ensuring the consistent implementation in practice of existing legal safeguards, further amendments are needed. For example, Article 92, part 3 of the CPC, which applies to adults and minors alike, provides that a maximum of 72 hours may elapse from the moment of apprehension until a detainee is brought before a judge. The Human Rights Committee and the Special Rapporteur on Torture recommended that this period be limited to a maximum of 48 hours. In paragraph 83 of its 2007 General Comment No. 10, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that for minors this time period should not exceed 24 hours. After the May 2016 amendments the CPC now unequivocally stipulates that detainees are entitled to access to a lawyer as of the moment of their actual detention. However, this provision is not consistently implemented in practice (For additional information please see: https://www.iphronline.org/tajikistan-torture-ill-treatment-the-death-penalty-andthe- shrinking-space-for-ngos.html). The February 2021 amendments clarified that lawyers need only show their practice license in order to access their clients in detention; this legislation applies to all types of detention facilities in the country. This is a significant development, but further monitoring is required to assess its implementation. Independent lawyers faced major obstacles to accessing their clients in pre- and post-trial detention facilities. In the period under review, they were typically refused access to detainees held in pre-trial detention facilities under the State Committee for National Security. Staff of investigation-isolation facilities (SIZOs according to the Russian acronym), often referred to internal regulations preventing them from granting access to lawyers. Complaints and investigations: Complaints about torture and ill-treatment are often not investigated effectively because the investigating institutions are not sufficiently independent. No separate and independent mechanisms capable of carrying out effective criminal investigations and prosecutions have been set up in Tajikistan despite recommendations by the CAT, the Human Rights Committee (HRC) and the Special Rapporteur on torture. The authorities have repeatedly stated that what they claim to be a low number of torture cases does not warrant this. 50