CAT/C/23/D/60/1996 page 19 present when Faisal Baraket died. It is not without relevance to note in this regard that in pursuance of principle 12 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted on 9 December 1988,6 as well as article 13 bis of the Tunisian Code of Penal Procedure,7 a record must be left of every person detained. - Next, the magistrate might have sought to identify the accused officials, examine them and arrange a confrontation between them and the witnesses mentioned as well as the complainant. - Lastly, in view of the major disparities in the findings of the forensic officials as to the causes of some of the lesions observed on the victim, the Committee considers that it would have been wise to order the exhumation of the body in order at least to confirm whether the victim had suffered fractures to the pelvis (confirming the accident hypothesis) or whether he had not (confirming the hypothesis that a foreign object had been introduced into his anus); this should have been done, as far as possible, in the presence of non-Tunisian experts, and more particularly those who have had occasion to express a view on this matter. 11.10 The Committee considers that the magistrate, by failing to investigate more thoroughly, committed a breach of the duty of impartiality imposed on him by his obligation to give equal weight to both accusation and defence during his investigation, as did the Public Prosecutor when he failed to appeal against the decision to dismiss the case. In the Tunisian system the Minister of Justice has authority over the Public Prosecutor. It could therefore have ordered him to appeal, but failed to do so. 12. Consequently, the State party breached its obligation under articles 12 and 13 of the Convention to proceed to an impartial investigation wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction. 13. In pursuance of rule 111, paragraph 5, of its rules of procedure, the Committee calls on the State party to inform it, within 90 days from the date of the communication provided for in rule 111, paragraph 3, of its rules of procedure, of the steps it has taken in response to the observations made above. [Done in French (original text) and translated into English, Russian and Spanish.] Notes 1 A summary of the allegations relating to the Baraket case appears in Amnesty International document MDE 30/04/92 dated March 1992. 2 CAT/C/14/D/14/1994. 3 See above, para. 6.1.