- 61 135. During its twenty-seventh session (12-23 November 2001), the Committee decided to transmit the findings of the inquiry to the Government and invite it to inform the Committee by February 2002 of the measures taken with regard to those findings. On 11 March 2002 the Government of Sri Lanka provided its comments on the findings of the Committee. 3. Preliminary recommendations made by the Committee 136. The Committee made the following preliminary recommendations to the Government: the State party should undertake to: (a) Adopt precise instructions to be addressed to its agents to avoid the lack of practical effectiveness of legal, administrative and other measures adopted to combat torture; (b) Reduce and eventually suppress the many overlapping jurisdictions between agencies investigating offences under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations, and establish clear spheres of competence, conducive to enhancing efficiency in preventing torture in all its forms; (c) Introduce, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency Regulations, a provision requiring suspects to be produced before a judge within a short time; (d) Abolish the power of the Secretary of Defence to order preventive detention for a period of up to a year without judicial review; (e) Develop a central register for detainees in all parts of the country; (f) Establish an effective mechanism for the criminal prosecution of public officials who commit acts of torture; (g) Guarantee the access of counsel to detainees in police custody; (h) Establish a legal assistance scheme free of charge to the beneficiaries; (i) Establish a mechanism for regular monitoring visits to detention places to be made by magistrates; (j) Put an end to the illegal detention of suspects by para-military groups assisting the Sri Lankan armed forces in the war against the LTTE and bring groups such as PLOTE and TELO under the strict control of the State, or disband them; (k) Initiate prompt and independent investigations of every instance of alleged torture; (l) allegations; Grant the Attorney-General authority to initiate investigations into such