E/CN.4/2003/68 page 9 Special Rapporteur met with the Committee against Torture in a public meeting of the Committee and discussed with the Committee means and methods of enhancing cooperation and coordination. On 14 July 2002, the Special Rapporteur addressed the third Summer Course on International Humanitarian Law organized by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy (“Prevention and Prohibition of Torture”). On 25 and 26 October 2002, he attended an international expert meeting on security equipment and the prevention of torture organized by the international secretariat of Amnesty International in London. 24. With respect to country visits, the Special Rapporteur would like to inform the Commission on Human Rights that since the last session of the Commission consultations have been held with the Governments of Bolivia, Georgia and Uzbekistan with a view to finalizing arrangements. At the time of writing, a mission to Uzbekistan had been scheduled for December 2002. A mission to Bolivia is planned for early 2003 while a mission to Georgia may take place in early summer 2003. Mission reports available before the fifty-ninth session of the Commission will appear as addenda to the present report. 25. The Special Rapporteur notes with regret that his requests for invitations to carry out visits to Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, the Russian Federation with respect to the Republic of Chechnya, and Tunisia have not been complied with so far. He hopes that ongoing consultations with the Governments of China and Nepal will lead to concrete results shortly. III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 26. A revised version of the recommendations made by his predecessor (A/56/156, para. 39) is presented below. The Special Rapporteur would like again to encourage States to reflect upon them as a useful tool in efforts to combat torture. Since these recommendations are presented in the language of recommendations, the word “should” is consistently used. It must, however, be understood that whenever these recommendations are directly based on obligations contained in legal instruments, the wording of these recommendations in no way detracts from these obligations. The recommendations are: (a) Countries that are not party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its two Optional Protocols should sign and ratify or accede to these legal instruments. Torture should be designated and defined as a specific crime of the utmost gravity in national legislation. In countries where the law does not give the authorities jurisdiction to prosecute and punish torture, wherever the crime has been committed and whatever the nationality of the perpetrator or victim (universal jurisdiction), the enactment of such legislation should be made a priority; (b) Countries should sign and ratify or accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court with a view to bringing to justice perpetrators of torture in the context of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes; (c) Legislation providing for corporal punishment, including excessive chastisement ordered as a punishment for a crime or disciplinary punishment, should be abolished. In particular, countries should take adequate legal and other measures, including educational ones,