CAT/OP/TGO/1 had to wait more than an hour for access to the National Intelligence Agency in Lomé and the Central Gendarmerie in Kara, which disrupted its schedule of visits. 11. The Subcommittee notes with appreciation the frank and constructive dialogue established with the authorities during the end-of-mission meeting, and it acknowledges the commitment made at the highest levels of government for addressing the shortcomings found. 12. The Subcommittee wishes to extend warm thanks to the OHCHR Country Office in Togo, in particular to Ms. Ige Olatokunbo, for the assistance provided and for helping to make the visit a success. III. Key challenges and recommendations 13. The Subcommittee takes note of the positive developments in Togo with regard to policies, programmes and initiatives, in particular the reform of the National Intelligence Agency, the training of prison guards and of new criminal investigation police officers, and the undertaking of health system reforms. 14. The Subcommittee observes, however, that because such measures are insufficient, torture and ill-treatment continue to be prevalent, and are exacerbated by a number of troubling structural and systemic problems linked to substandard conditions of detention, serious gaps in the provision of health services, low levels of compliance with fundamental safeguards and impunity. A. 1. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment Police and gendarmerie 15. During conversations held with persons deprived of their liberty, the Subcommittee heard allegations of torture and ill-treatment of persons held in custody in police stations and gendarmeries with a view to extracting confessions or meting out punishment for the acts committed. These allegations refer to severe beatings with the use of clubs and cords, as well as threats of slitting individuals’ throats with a machete in order to extract confessions. 16. The Subcommittee reports that in offices serving as interrogation rooms in four of the police stations visited, the delegation found such instruments as machetes and other knives, wooden sticks, clubs and tongs. The Subcommittee stresses that such instruments, which may be used to inflict torture and ill-treatment, should never be kept in areas used for the interrogation of suspects. If confiscated during an investigation, they must be stored as evidence, sealed and inventoried, in strict accordance with the administrative rules for handling criminal evidence. 17. During a visit to one of the gendarmeries, the Subcommittee noted that persons in custody were naked — a measure described as protecting them against the risk of suicide. The Subcommittee maintains that this treatment is contrary to the principle of respect for human dignity. 18. The Subcommittee recommends that police staff and prison guards be given regular, clear and unequivocal instructions to the effect that the prohibition of any form of torture and ill-treatment is absolute and mandatory, and that an impartial inquiry must be initiated systematically and without delay in any case where there are reasonable grounds to believe that torture or ill-treatment may have been committed. The Code of Criminal Procedure must stipulate that statements obtained under torture are not admissible and must require judges to initiate an inquiry every time such allegations are brought to their attention and to prosecute the perpetrators of torture or ill-treatment. 4 GE.17-06858