ESSEX PAPER 3: INITIAL GUIDANCE ON THE INTERPRETATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UN NELSON MANDELA RULES documenting and reporting signs of torture or other ill-treatment. The experts noted the link to Rule 57(2) which calls for protection from reprisals in the context of complaints. This may imply the temporary transfer of any relevant officer to a different part of the facility, or even to a different prison. The experts noted that it may be necessary to move the alleged victim and others (if reprisals are feared on a larger scale); however, it was cautioned that this will usually have the effect of punishing the victim and experts noted risks of retaliation during the transfer/ transport itself which need to be prevented. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture recommended to take into account witness protection programmes ‘that fully cover persons with a previous criminal record and staff’.498 Both the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and the UN Committee against Torture have recommended that those potentially implicated in deaths, injuries or torture/ill-treatment ‘should immediately and for the duration of the investigation be suspended, at a minimum, from any duty involving access to detainees or prisoners because of the risk that they might undermine or obstruct investigations’.499 The experts noted that the modalities of the enquiry by the external, independent body go beyond the remit of the SMR, and referred to the Principles on Effective Investigation and the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions and the UN Istanbul Protocol (1999) Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment500 for guidance. The experts also recommended the Council of Europe document, Effective investigation of ill-treatment – Guidelines on European standards, for further guidance.501 Impediments documented with regard to the investigation of cases of torture included fear of reprisals which impede the ability to gather evidence, lack of effective legal representation for victims, failure to follow a protocol of investigation, lack of a systematic approach to investigations and lack of enforcement of penalties handed down where violations were established.502 Outcome of investigations Principle 34 of the UN Body of Principles503 stipulates that: ‘[t]he findings of such inquiry [into the cause of death or disappearance] or a report thereon shall be made available upon request, unless doing so would jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation’. The experts pointed to the view of the UN Committee against Torture that the family of the deceased should be informed of the outcome of an investigation.504 They shared the assessment of the Special Rapporteur on Torture that information related to the circumstances surrounding Special Rapporteur on Torture report 2013, A/68/295, para. 66, with reference to Commission on Human Rights, 60th Session, Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Theo van Boven, 23 December 2003, E/CN.4/2004/56, para. 40. 498  Special Rapporteur on Torture report 2013, A/68/295, para. 66, referring to Principle 3(b) of the Principles on Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment). CAT SMR revision observations, CAT/C/51/4, para. 44. 499  See respective recommendation in IACHR Report on Persons Deprived of Liberty, para. 518. 500  Council of Europe, Effective investigation of ill-treatment: Guidelines on European standards, Strasbourg, 2009. 501  SPT Report on visit to Argentina, CAT/OP/ARG/1, para. 104. 502  Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988. 503  CAT SMR revision observations, CAT/C/51/4, para. 42. 504  Penal Reform International and the Essex Human Rights Centre | 122