complete their investigations. Incidentally, some of the police officers interviewed by the Committee members during their visits to police stations claimed that they lacked modern equipment for crime investigation and had to use very rudimentary tools. 186. In his meeting with the Committee members the Public Prosecutor underlined the efforts being made to change the police mentality. In his opinion, such change had to accompany the changes with regard to personnel and the internal reorganization of the police force currently under way. The police approach to the collection of evidence had to change too. The police had to understand that evidence of a crime could only be obtained through legal means. This was very important for his Office since, under the Yugoslav legal system, public prosecutors did not direct the police investigation and could not give instructions to the police on how to collect evidence. 187. The need to change the police mentality was underlined by several interlocutors, as well as in a report published in October 2001 by OSCE, entitled “Study on Policing in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”. According to this report, “the reason why so many situations are accompanied by assaults, resistance and resentment is because the police officers not only fail to act, but fail to understand that it is their duty to act, according to a professional code of conduct. In the absence of a Code of Ethics or Policing Principles, this latter unsatisfactory situation would seem to prevail throughout Yugoslavia. It is therefore proposed that a major programme of education in human rights for police officers be introduced throughout the police forces of Yugoslavia that is credible and practically related to operational police situations”.4 E. Investigation and punishment of those responsible for torture 1. Disciplinary proceedings 188. The Chief of Public Security for Serbia, who is responsible for Internal Police Oversight at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, explained to the Committee members that each regional police department had a unit of internal control that reviewed and supervised every police officer. If a unit received information on police abuses from any source, it could initiate an investigation and bring the case before the corresponding disciplinary tribunals established by the Ministry. Disciplinary measures included a reduction in monthly salary of up to 30 per cent for one to six months and transfer to a lower salary level for a certain time. Ultimately, the officer concerned could be dismissed from service. Disciplinary proceedings could be conducted, regardless of any criminal procedure under way. The Committee members were subsequently informed by the Ministry that 392 complaints had been submitted against the police in the period January-June 2002, of which 43 cases were considered to be well founded and resulted in the initiation of disciplinary proceedings. However, the information did not specify how many complaints included allegations of torture or ill-treatment and whether any criminal proceedings had been initiated. 189. The members note that, according to the Decree on Disciplinary Responsibilities in the Ministry of Internal Affairs,5 which regulates internal disciplinary proceedings, the decision whether to proceed with such proceedings lies with the officer immediately in command of the officer against whom a complaint has been made. The commanding officer assesses whether the evidence gives rise to suspicion that a violation has taken place and passes the case on to the prosecutor of the disciplinary tribunal. This gives commanding officers the opportunity to block 76