CAT/C/GIN/CO/1 In general, the State party should ensure that its customary law and practices are compatible with its human rights obligations, particularly those arising from the Convention. Trafficking in persons 18. While noting with satisfaction the establishment in 2012 of a special unit to combat trafficking in persons, the Committee nevertheless remains very concerned by reports of internal and cross-border trafficking (in particular with Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Senegal) of men, women and children for purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour and domestic slavery. The Committee is also concerned by the lack of clarity in article 337 of the Criminal Code on the various forms of trafficking and servitude, which hampers enforcement of the law and causes legal uncertainty for the victims (arts. 2, 8, 9, 12 and 16). The State party should: (a) Step up its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, including by implementing its anti-trafficking legislation, providing protection for victims and ensuring that they have access to the courts, to medical, social and legal services and to means of rehabilitation and reintegration; (b) Invite the Legislative Reform Commission to amend article 337 of the Criminal Code to categorize the different forms of trafficking in persons as crimes punishable by law; (c) Ensure adequate conditions so that victims can exercise their right to make a complaint; (d) Conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations into cases of trafficking and ensure that convicted individuals are given sentences commensurate with the serious nature of their crimes; (e) Conduct national awareness-raising campaigns and provide training for law enforcement officers; (f) Actively engage in a policy of mutual legal assistance with other countries of origin, destination or transit in the cross-border trafficking of persons. Excessive use of force 19. The Committee is very concerned by credible reports that the national police, the national gendarmerie, the crime squad, the police special rapid intervention force, the police rapid intervention squad, the banditry control squad, the mobile intervention and security force, the Red Berets special presidential guard and the special electoral process security force, under the effective control of the State, make widespread, excessive and disproportionate use of force, particularly of firearms and knives, and carry out many acts of torture, including at peaceful political, social and student demonstrations (arts. 2, 10, 12, 13 and 16). The State party should: (a) Ensure that law enforcement officers receive training that emphasizes the absolute prohibition of torture, the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, adopted in Havana in 1990, and the fact that they may be held liable for excessive use of force and acts of torture; GE.14-05766 9