A/HRC/10/44/Add.5 page 64 Nepal Follow-up to the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur in the report of his visit to Nepal in September 2005 (E/CN.4/2006/6/Add.5, paras. 33-35). 20. On 2 December 2008, the Special Rapporteur sent the below table to the Government of Nepal requesting information and comments on measures taken with regard to the implementation of the recommendations made after his fact-finding mission in 2005. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government has not provided input. He looks forward to receiving information on Nepal’s efforts to follow up to his recommendations and he reaffirms that stands ready to assist in all efforts to prevent and combat torture and ill-treatment. 21. The Special Rapporteur notes that the political situation in Nepal has changed significantly since the visit. In this context, he welcomes that the elections of April 2008 were widely found to have been free and fair, but he regrets the upsurge of violence ahead of the polls. 22. The Special Rapporteur notes with satisfaction that under the new Government that took office in August 2008, a 50-point Common Minimum Programme (CMP) was agreed, focusing on constitutional supremacy, judicial independence, the rule of law, and fundamental rights. He welcomes that the CMP aims at ending the culture of impunity and provides for the establishment of several commissions, including the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and a Commission on Disappearances, but regrets that in practice the issue of impunity for past and current human rights violations has not received sufficient attention from the authorities. He further expresses concern regarding reports that suggest that torture allegations continue to frequently not be properly investigated and that perpetrators are not prosecuted or punished. 23. While noting that efforts are under way to reform the criminal legislation, he remains concerned that the definition and criminalization of torture in Nepalese law does not satisfy the requirements of articles 1 and 4 of the Convention against Torture. The Special Rapporteur notes that long periods of illegal and/or incommunicado detention are less frequent but still occur and is concerned that lack of access to adequate medical and legal assistance is common. 24. The Special Rapporteur further notes that no independent monitoring mechanism supervising all places of detention has been created. In this context, he strongly re-iterates his recommendation to the Government to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture.