IV. ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE UNDER ARTICLE 20 OF THE CONVENTION A. General information 151. In accordance with article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention, if the Committee receives reliable information which appears to it to contain well-founded indications that torture is being systematically practised in the territory of a State party, the Committee shall invite that State party to cooperate in the examination of the information and, to this end, to submit observations with regard to the information concerned. 152. In accordance with rule 69 of the Committee’s rules of procedure, the Secretary-General shall bring to the attention of the Committee information which is, or appears to be, submitted for the Committee’s consideration under article 20, paragraph 1, of the Convention. 153. No information shall be received by the Committee if it concerns a State party which, in accordance with article 28, paragraph 1, of the Convention, declared at the time of ratification of or accession to the Convention that it did not recognize the competence of the Committee provided for in article 20, unless that State party has subsequently withdrawn its reservation in accordance with article 28, paragraph 2, of the Convention. 154. The Committee’s work under article 20 of the Convention continued during the period under review. In accordance with the provisions of article 20 and rules 72 and 73 of the rules of procedure, all documents and proceedings of the Committee relating to its functions under article 20 of the Convention are confidential and all the meetings concerning its proceedings under that article are closed. However, in accordance with article 20, paragraph 5 of the Convention, the Committee may, after consultations with the State party concerned, decide to include a summary account of the results of the proceedings in its annual report to the States parties and to the General Assembly. Such a summary account is herewith provided in connection with Serbia and Montenegro. 155. In the framework of its follow-up activities the Committee appointed, at its thirty-first session, one of its members, Mr. Rasmussen, to carry out activities aiming at encouraging States parties on which inquiries had been conducted and the results of such inquiries had been published, to take measures to implement the Committee’s recommendations. Mr. Rasmussen initiated contacts with such States in order to obtain information about the measures they had taken so far. B. Summary account of the results of the proceedings concerning the inquiry on Serbia and Montenegro I. INTRODUCTION 156. On 19 December 1997 the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC), a non-governmental organization based in Belgrade, submitted information to the Committee containing allegations of systematic use of torture within the territory of Serbia and Montenegro and requested the Committee to examine the situation under article 20 of the Convention. In May 1998 the Committee invited HLC to submit additional information substantiating the facts of the situation. In November 1998 the information received from HLC was transmitted to the State party, which 69